We here at KnowBe4 have been getting a lot of system admins calling us with the request for security awareness training because end users have been tricked into opening up attachments of phishing emails and infected their workstation with the cryptolocker malware. This started last September and it's not going away but actually getting worse.
This malicious hijacker code detects the personal files of a user and wraps them in strong encryption. This is both the local user Docs and remote shared folders. It encrypts every file with standard Office extensions, including images and PDFs!
The bad guys ask $300 to "give your files back". Initially they asked for just $100 but realized they were too cheap and people would pay more so they bumped up the price.
In many cases, system admins and repair professionals come to the conclusion that the...