WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:07.359 Ordinarily, falling victim to a ransom plot means that you are the son or 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:11.280 daughter of some rich person and the only way to get out of it is by paying 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.719 tons of money or waiting for Arnold Schwarzenegger or Kurt Russell to come 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:19.600 and rescue. At least that's what TV would have us believe. These days, being 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:24.640 held for ransom can actually happen quite differently with your computer of 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:30.080 all things. I'm talking, of course, about ransomware, a particularly 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:34.719 diabolical type of malware, that is to say, bad software, that's been making 00:00:32.239 --> 00:00:38.960 headlines recently. So, here's how it works. Once ransomware gets on your 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:44.879 computer, usually through an infected email attachment or the all too common 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:47.600 Trojan horse attack, it will lock your 00:00:44.879 --> 00:00:52.239 computer or your data in some way, and demand payment in exchange for giving 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:56.640 control of your system back to you. Some of the simpler forms of ransomware will 00:00:54.239 --> 00:01:00.480 simply try to fool you into thinking there's something wrong with your 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:04.320 computer and get you to pay money to fix it. A common tactic that we see in those 00:01:02.879 --> 00:01:09.600 banner ads that tell you that you've been inexplicably infected by something. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:14.400 Now, often times with those, you've probably got at least rudimentary 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:18.240 control over your system still. So, the only real issue is that you have to deal 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:23.600 with these constant popups until you find a way to get rid of the malware. A 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:27.360 much more irritating kind of ransomware will lock your computer entirely and 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:32.079 keep you from logging into your operating system unless you cough up the 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:37.040 money. Many of these varieties of ransomware will display a threatening 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:41.360 message purporting to be from the FBI or some other super hardcore police agency 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:45.439 saying that your computer was used for something highly illegal, but you can 00:01:43.119 --> 00:01:50.560 get your computer back and avoid doing hard time just by paying a few hundred. 00:01:48.399 --> 00:01:54.880 Sounds absurd, right? But people have fallen victim to this and even if you 00:01:53.040 --> 00:02:00.799 recognize the scam immediately, those ones can be a real pain to remove. Worst 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:06.399 of all is the ransomware that not only locks your system but also encrypts your 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:11.440 files and won't provide you with the keys to decrypt them unless you pay up. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.440 The most notable of these being crypto locker, although many other variants 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:20.400 have popped up since that one first made the news back in 2013. Some other issues 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:24.560 with these. Unsurprisingly, cyber criminals aren't exactly the most 00:02:22.160 --> 00:02:28.720 trustworthy folks, and many people have reported not getting their files back, 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:31.280 even after paying the ransom. And on top of that, there are some kinds of 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:35.200 ransomware that don't even ask permission. They just hit your Bitcoin 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:38.640 wallet and take the money without even giving you a chance to say, "Well, hold 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:43.840 on. Let me think about whether this data is actually worth paying for." So then, 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:48.640 how can you rescue your computer and protect your cash if you get infected? 00:02:46.640 --> 00:02:53.040 Many of the non- enrypting types of ransomware can be removed by booting 00:02:50.640 --> 00:02:57.840 into safe mode and running an up-to-date anti-malware tool or if that fails 00:02:55.680 --> 00:03:03.599 downloading a bootable removal tool to a flash drive and running that. However, 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:07.200 if you've been hit by an encrypting variety of ransomware, you're not going 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:12.480 to want to hear this, but you're probably out of luck as most of these 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:17.280 use a very strong encryption algorithms. In fact, the FBI, the real one, has 00:03:15.040 --> 00:03:21.120 advised people to just pay these ransoms in the past. So, if you don't like the 00:03:19.519 --> 00:03:26.800 idea of your money going to online criminals, back up your data somewhere, 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:31.680 preferably offline. And remember, please, to explain to your grandparents 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:38.000 what a banner ad is if they call you in a panic over having 50 viruses on their 00:03:35.200 --> 00:03:43.280 all-in-one PC. Speaking of getting educated, with alinda.com membership, 00:03:40.720 --> 00:03:46.560 you can get educated. You can watch and learn from top experts who are 00:03:44.799 --> 00:03:50.799 passionate about teaching. They have thousands of video courses that you can 00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:54.480 either stream on demand at your computer, or you can download to your 00:03:52.720 --> 00:03:58.959 mobile device, like your phone or your tablet, and watch on the go. You can 00:03:56.959 --> 00:04:02.959 make notes yourself, or you can just browse the course transcripts to follow 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:06.640 along or search for an answer. Then you can skip to that point in the video. You 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:10.319 can create playlists so you can learn alongside your friends or your other 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:16.880 peer group or whoever it is you happen to be learning with. You can learn all kinds of things. Digital photography, 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:22.960 video editing, uh business, coding, productivity software, um Photoshop, all 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:26.320 kinds of cool stuff. And the best part, actually there's two best parts. Number 00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:30.880 one is that you can get the first 10 days for free simply by going to the 00:04:28.960 --> 00:04:35.040 link in the video description. And number two is that if after your 10day 00:04:33.440 --> 00:04:40.120 all you can eat free trial, you decide, "Hey, this is pretty freaking sick," you 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:44.479 can sign up for a flat rate starting at $25 per month. So head over to 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:48.000 linda.com/techwicki and sign up for your free 10-day trial. Thanks for watching, 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:52.000 guys. If you liked this video, hit the like button. If you disliked it, well, there's the other button for you. And 00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:56.720 don't forget to check out our other channels. We've had some great stuff going up on channel. Super fun lately. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:00.720 We've had some great stuff going up there recently, like Keep Talking and No 00:04:58.960 --> 00:05:04.960 One Explodes. We did a playthrough with that with an actual bomb with, you know, 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:09.919 whipped cream. So, don't worry, it wasn't dangerous. So, check that out and 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.919 I'll see you guys next time. Oh, yeah.