Ransomware is, possibly, the worst infection you can get on your computer. The most prevalent is one called CryptoLocker. It has been around for a few years, but recently CBC reported on a family that paid $800 to get their files back and that inspired me to inform people what they can do to avoid it. Ransomware is a form of malware that can get into your computer in various ways (opening an infected file in an email, downloading an infected program from a website, or even being infected through "free" movies you've downloaded, illegally, from the internet). What this very scary malware does is encrypt (scramble) all your files (documents, pictures, music, etc.) so you can't open them anymore unless you pay a ransom within a couple of days to the people who created this malware. Once you pay, anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, you are then given a complicated and time consuming method to decrypt your files. That's if the criminals involved are actually honest enough to give you anything after you pay. If you don't pay then your files will stay encrypted with no way to decrypt them.

To avoid this there are two things that can be done - safe computing practices and backing up your files.

Safe Computing Practices

I've written about tips on safe computing practices previously and these can help you avoid the possibility of getting this nasty piece of malware, but to summarize here are a few quick tips:

don't open suspicious emails
be careful where you surf
make sure you have an up-to-date anti-virus. I use the free, and very good, Microsoft Security Essentials. This is built into Windows 8 as Windows Defender
an anti-malware program like Malwarebytes can add another layer of safety
most importantly, and what I suspect the people in the CBC story were doing, do not download illegal files (movies, music, books). If something that normally costs money and you can get it for free then the risk of it being infected greatly increases - nothing is free! This is how the criminals make their money - pull you in with something free and then reap the rewards when their free file gets your computer infected.

Backing Up Your Files

Even if you are doing all the safe computing practices there is no guarantee that you won't get infected. The most important thing you can do is back up your files. There are two backup methods: 1. external hard drive or USB drive, and; 2. Cloud backup.

External Drive

Backing up to an external drive is great, but you have to remember to backup to this device and if the drive is connected to your computer when you get infected then that drive will also be infected. The only way to ensure your external hard drive backup is safe is to stick to a regular backup schedule and then disconnect the hard drive from your computer. While this method is better than no backup, it still depends on you keeping up with your back up. Unfortunately, due to human nature, our basic laziness and "it can't happen to me" feelings this usually leads to poor back ups.

Cloud Backup

Since many people are still confused about Cloud Backup here is a summary, plus I also wrote a detailed article previously. Cloud backup is where everything you have is automatically backed up to the cloud (secure computers on the internet). This is my preferred option for backing up since it doesn't take any thought and your documents are safely stored outside of you home/office in case of fire or theft. My two cloud backup methods are Microsoft's OneDrive and Carbonite, both of which are unique in that they are one of the few programs that work across all platforms - Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android Phones and tablets, Blackberry, and Windows Phone. These two programs are similar but different. OneDrive works as a virtual hard drive on the internet that you can then access all your files from anywhere. Carbonite is a dedicated backup program that stores all your files and settings on the internet where they can be retrieved in times of disaster. There are many other online options (Google Drive, iCloud, Crashplan, Norton, etc.) but I have found these work the best and are very cost effective.

In regards to Ransomware hitting you the same problem that exists with external hard drives exists with cloud backup - your encrypted, and now useless, files are backed up. The other problem is that unless you have the time disconnect your internet and turn off your cloud backup there is no way to stop the encrypted files from being backed up. Fortunately, with online backup there is a work around for this - Version History. Version history is a feature that keeps many previous saved versions of your files. The examples below show how, with OneDrive, you can access your version history by right-clicking on your file.

With OneDrive you can, so far as I can tell, retrieve up to 30 previous versions no matter when they were last updated. I checked an Excel file I change multiple times a day and another file I changed a few times in 2012 - all the version history files were there. Carbonite keeps only the last 30 days of changes.

It may be a time consuming task, but at least with Version History you could restore all your files by choosing to restore not the current version (which would be encrypted) but the previous version which would not be encrypted. I had hoped that Carbonite offered a solution where you could simply do a complete backup from a previous day or two. I've written them to ask if this is possible and will update this post when I hear back (see update below).

Conclusion

While Ransomware is one of the worse case scenarios these days, if you properly prepare yourself you can survive the encryption of all your files with two simple and inexpensive steps

1. Safe computing practices

2. Have a backup plan

UPDATE: I have heard back from Carbonite with good news!
"Although we don't have a way to do a blanket restore of all files from a specific time period you can restore previous versions of individual files. If you are ever hit with a CryptoLocker virus then we do have a tool available that will purge any encrypted files from your back up so you will be in luck with Carbonite."
So with Carbonite you can contact them directly and they have a tool on their end that will fix the problem. Another reason to use Carbonite.