[Sidious]

This was one of the biggest viruses I had. And it's on the top ten list of the world's most dangerous computer viruses.
It's called "CryptoLocker". It was asking me for $1500USD bitcoin to decrypt my files. I thought it was fake and opened a few
files, but all of them did not want to open and asked for a password on zip and rar files. I had no choice but to reset my PC.
Anyone ever had this virus?

[DudeThatsErin]

I haven't, thank God but it is a horrible virus... I work at Best Buy in a mini call center and I hear tons of people getting this virus. I feel so bad for them because some of them call the number to get it unlocked and others are smart and just get it repaired by out geek squad.

[Streamguy69]

Whenever I have someone asking me for money especially a big amount of money, I just delete it I never start clicking on links

[Shailabh]

I have heard a lot about it but it has not yet to see in India.

[Wyvh]

This is called a ransomware. Unfortunately, these are getting easier and easier to build and spread and what you've experienced is only a small one. In the next few years, there will be even more ransomwares that will be even more malicious and difficult to patch. The best you can do so far is to keep applying your OS's recent security patches. Trust me, you don't want to snub the security patches, especially at this moment.

[purple19]

i haven't encountered this virus but i always use antivirus software on my laptop and perform weekly virus scan

[ladyninja]

That can be such a scary experience! There are also horror stories of website hijacks and you have to pay a huge amount to have it unlocked.

[Angie10]

Luckily for me, no! But it's definitely not something I want to become tangled up with, sounds like a nightmare. I avoid clicking things I don't recognise but if I did do it and I was asked for even a penny, I'd click off it so quick they'd never know I was ever there LOL Nobody's getting their grubby hands on my money!

[bestwriter]

This was in the news some time ago. I never open anything that I am not familiar with.

[suny]

I have heard some people having a few warnings like that but luckily for me I have never got them. It's always the result if one opens certain sites which are considered adult as the cheats want to take advantage. But what you stated was reported in media as it happened with many.

[nerdonforumcoin]

I hope that virus won't attack my computer and the software. It would be scary.

[castbound]

This is called a ransomware. Unfortunately, these are getting easier and easier to build and spread and what you've experienced is only a small one. In the next few years, there will be even more ransomwares that will be even more malicious and difficult to patch. The best you can do so far is to keep applying your OS's recent security patches. Trust me, you don't want to snub the security patches, especially at this moment.

Thank you for explaining what ransomware is. I had no idea what it was. Im really aware of what I am opening on the internet but still, the more you know the better.

[sprite1950]

I wasn't sure what this did even though I remember hearing about it so I googled it. I was surprised to see that the report says it happened between 2013-14. I thought it was more recent that this. For those that aren't sure what it did here is the Wikipedia explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker

[thisnthat]

There isn't just one ransomware out there. The number of these attacks has been increasing. I never had it on my system, but it did happen on one of our phones. Thankfully, it was a non-service phone that the kids just play games on, but still. It was very upsetting for the one who got hit with it, since it said they had done some bad things and would be reported to the FBI if they didn't pay up. Even though they had done nothing wrong, they were scared. Terrible.

My husband was able to get rid of it, but it's not a nice experience.

[Angie10]

@thisnthat...you're rise, these attacks are on the rise and can be so scary if you don't know what's happening or how to deal with them! I'm glad your husband was able to get rid of it. It makes you wary of everything and everyone. Definitely not something I want to go through at all.

[japsalm]

There's an actual virus that is THAT malicious!? I'd like to ask if you recently downloaded something that could've led to that or if you ever visited some weird site.

[HMASERV]

Back at year 2011 i encountered one of the most dangerous virus in computer world.I don't remember the name of it.It happened when i execute the appz or software that time then my pc countdown from 60-1 after that my pc won't turn on and disable task manager everytime i reformat.i reformat it 8 times and try so many antivirus and virus remover but still the problem exist.Thank's to this norton 360 i solved it

[thisnthat]

There's an actual virus that is THAT malicious!? I'd like to ask if you recently downloaded something that could've led to that or if you ever visited some weird site.

It has it's own "genre" so to speak. It's called ransomware. They lock up your system or otherwise threaten it, unless you pay them (or know how to get rid of it). With so many sites asking people to click, download, turn off protection, it's not surprising that more and more people are experiencing this.

[germainebull]

It's called "CryptoLocker". It was asking me for $1500USD bitcoin to decrypt my files.

It is sad that you had to contend with this ramsomware.
$1,500 is a huge sum.
It would be very difficult to part with such large amount of money, unless the affected files are hugely important.

[Wyvh]

This is called a ransomware. Unfortunately, these are getting easier and easier to build and spread and what you've experienced is only a small one. In the next few years, there will be even more ransomwares that will be even more malicious and difficult to patch. The best you can do so far is to keep applying your OS's recent security patches. Trust me, you don't want to snub the security patches, especially at this moment.

Thank you for explaining what ransomware is. I had no idea what it was. Im really aware of what I am opening on the internet but still, the more you know the better.

Pleasure. Just be careful, as the lastest ransomwares are even more malicious than what you've described.