Last night my computer got hit by HELP_DECRYPT which is a particular shitty piece of malware business that encrypts your files then it puts up a message that dares ask for money to help you decrypt those files.
I do have security on my computer with virus and malware protection and I guess its worked pretty well. Until now. Somehow this bad boy got past the moat.
While this virus got past my computer's defenses, it appears that same security software at least stopped the virus from creating much more damage. I would estimate maybe 10 to 20% of my files are encrypted. Where I've attempted to do so, I have managed to restore some photos from my back ups. That's a meticulous and slow process but so far my efforts to get any kind of solid answer on how to decrypt these files en masse have not been successful.
I'm trying to look at this as a positive. Some of the encrypted files are in folders that I haven't been to or used in years. A lot of stuff was due for a purge to free up some memory space so I'm taking advantage of this circumstance to do some wholesale deleting of files. If nothing else, it gets rid of the clutter.
OK, so there is a bright side. Fine. I'm still pissed off!
My main concern are family photos, things that are unique to me and my family. So far so good, I have not found any of those files blocked. Let's hope it stays that way.
What appears to have been hit mostly were photos and art I've "collected" from the internet. I'm not sure why that difference exists but there it is. So most of the blocked files are things that I could, if I wanted to, go back online and replace.
In the end it's only stuff and ephemeral stuff at that, bits and pieces of data and light stored in a box. That doesn't mean I'm not fucking pissed off at the assholes who created this virus and others like it and inflict them on the world for no other gain than to show off how clever they are. Hey, so you make things that tear other things down. Big fucking deal. You're not clever; any idiot can destroy things. It takes talent, imagination and will to build something worthwhile.
And damn it, that's what I'm going to do! As God is my witness I will rise from this dire circumstance and if I have to do it one bit at a time, I will rebuild my digital shrine to Morgan Fairchild!
Wait! What?
Hey! Don't judge me!
And I'm so glad my suffering amuses you.
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