Hackers ransom company computer system for Bitcoins

Hey guys. Haven't posted anything in a while but I thought this would make for an interesting topic. Wasn't sure where to put this actually but I think this is an appropriate forum for it.

Tuesday May 20th, after picking up my husband from his work he began complaining that the entire computer system at his work was down due to some virus and they had to keep track of all their orders by hand (he works in the shipping department at a gourmet seafood company, it's a small business). He was hoping it would all be fixed the next day. Well the next day, yesterday, I find out from him that apparently their system was hijacked by a virus that only the hackers could reverse and what they wanted was $5,000 in Bitcoins.

So this is the first time I've ever heard of hackers ransoming companies for Bitcoin but it's happening and mainly because Bitcoins are harder to trace. I don't know what virus it was specifically but I did find an article HERE that is similar to what happened at my husband's work. In the article it mentions a virus called CryptoLocker.

CryptoLocker is a form of a virus called "ransomware," meaning hackers do something bad to your computer and then demand money to reverse what they've done. In this case, CryptoLocker encrypts the files on your computer. Then you get a pop-up notice on your computer telling you that you must pay if you want your files back.

Also, my husband had noticed ever since he first started using their computer system many months ago that they never used any anti-virus software. He had told them for months that it was a big risk but I guess they kept putting it off or didn't care, I dunno. Well I'm sure the owners are kicking themselves for that one now.

so did you husband get his $5000 bitcoins ok in the end?

originally posted by: solentsunrise
so did you husband get his $5000 bitcoins ok in the end?

I'm not quite sure what you mean. From what he told me I guess they were Brazilian hackers. I don't know what the protocol is for that stuff. They must have contacted the police about it. I'll have to update when I get more info.

I was also thinking that for a company that does 99% of their business online, you would think that computer security would be a priority.

So I was doing a little bit more research on it. I am thinking that the virus known as CryptoLocker is what was used but not 100% sure yet. What it does is it uses a pretty sophisticated encryption that freezes access to every file, including photos, documents and programs with a secret pass key known only to the hacker. Which is just what happened to my husband's work. The solution so far? None....

So just a bit of caution to those out there, especially business owners large or small, this ransomware is pretty malicious.
At home, we use Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes. I love Malwarebytes. Works like a charm.