1. Security Alert: Locky Ransomware Attack
ITU would like to draw your attention to the recent occurrence of the 'Locky' ransomware attacks.
According to the press released on 18 Mar 2016 from Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT),
HKCERT recorded a sudden surge in the number of incidents of the captioned ransomware attacks in the past couple weeks.
The victims included local SMEs and non-Government organizations. Hackers have launched the attacks through globalized massive spam
campaigns and compromised many websites to host the malicious code. Once the computer was infected, all the files in the victimized
computer will be encrypted with a '.locky' file extension. Victims will be threatened to pay the ransom in bitcoins to get the
decryption key, but there is no guarantee they can obtain the key to recover their data.
In order to protect data from the ransomware attacks, HKCERT advises users to take the following precautions and measures into place:
- Perform regular data backup and keep an offline copy of the backup
- Keep anti-virus security software updated, patch system and other software
- Delete any suspicious emails received
- Don’t open email attachments or click the hyperlinks in any suspicious email
Should you have any enquiries, please contact ITU Helpdesk at 3746-0818 / 3746-0819 or email to
pfitoper@cpce-polyu.edu.hk.
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