No Surprise—Ransomware On the Rise for @McAfeeConsumer

All right, Gene, so Skyping with a loved one miles away, or maybe you're working from home right now and using Skype to attend a meeting. Of course, it's pretty much the new norm for any of us who have computers, and with that comes a new virus or worm designed to attack you and your computer. They're always thinking of new ways. Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. He joins us live this morning from our Beacon Hills studio. Good morning. Good morning. Another way to sort of get into our privacy and attack our stuff. Tell us about this worm.

So instant messaging has been used for quite some time for— by criminals to send over viruses to us that we might click on or download and essentially infecting our PCs with the virus. This particular one is designed to work with Skype. So you're on Skype, you get some type of IM, something pops up, they say, hey, there's There's a funny picture of you right here, and you click a link, you download a zip file. That zip file is a compressed file. Once you open it, there's an executable, which essentially is a software program that when it's opened, again, is a virus. It allows backdoor access onto your machine, which allows a bad guy to remotely control your computer.

So would you know that you had that situation? Would you be able to tell? How would you know that you have it?

So first of all, you're not going to be getting from a legitimate human being a link saying there's a funny any picture of you here. It is a scam. Anytime you see that, you know it is a scam. Uh, and that's it. You know, just don't open up or click on links in the body of emails or text messages, especially this one, 'cause it, uh, it definitely will cause your PC to become what's called a zombie. It's essentially, uh, allowing your PC to be on a network of other PCs infected, and you're gonna be sending out spam from your computer, hosting viruses, using your PC for phishing emails. It really does a horrible job on your computer.

Yeah, and I feel like I've seen those things like, "Oh, look at this crazy video of you," or, "Look at this picture," on Facebook, on Twitter. So the more and more that we have social media, the more we are at risk. But what's the difference between a worm and a virus?

They're basically the same thing. Okay. And this type of virus, worm, it preys upon our vanity. You know, so there's a funny picture of you, look at this picture of you, and you click on a link thinking, oh, it's all about me, it's all about you. And once you click on that, it compromises your entire PC. So really, as long as your computer has the most updated virus definitions, so your antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing, right, and a firewall. Beyond that, having an updated version of Skype and making sure that your computer's operating system is also updated. So if you're Windows XP, You want to download the most updated critical security patches. Windows 7, same thing. Even if you're on a Mac, you're vulnerable as well.

Alright, a lot of kids use Skype though too to talk to even their friends right here locally. Kids need the same warning as far as, you know, this is a funny picture of you, but are there any other little sneaky ways that they might try to get into your computer?

Yeah, kids are just as naive and as vulnerable as adults are in regards to these scams. You know, we're not taught that there are bad guys out there around every corner trying to get us, and on the internet there certainly are. So they need to be educated just like adults do. You know, walk them through the process. You can install software on your machine that monitors their activity, letting you know what they're clicking, what they're not clicking, to kind of educate them in the process of online safety and security.

And Rob, is it just Skype, or is it any sort of thing that allows instant messaging and communication like that?

All instant messages programs at some level are vulnerable. The older they are, the more vulnerable they are. So what Skype is telling everybody is to update to the latest, greatest version of Skype so that you have the most security that Skype has to offer right now. So whether it's Microsoft's IM or AOL's IM or Yahoo's IM, you want to update to the latest version of their product because that generally has the most security in it.

Because once you do have your computer compromised, you might not know it, that it's being remotely watched or controlled, right?

Yeah, today's viruses— the bad guys are creating viruses that work in the background, and they don't they don't generally cause any problems on our computer, meaning that they want your computer to run smooth and efficiently. So they don't create viruses to take down and damage your PC. They really want it to run smooth and efficiently so in the background they can record your keystrokes, they can visit the websites that you visited, get your usernames and passwords, log into your online banking account. And this particular virus is also requesting ransomware. So they'll actually lock down your PC. They lock it down and they request $200 from you to unlock your PC.

Wow, holding your computer hostage. This is— it gets crazier. All right, Robert Siciliano, thanks so much. A lot to be aware of when we're Skyping.

Thank you.

Thanks for being with us this morning. Now let's check in with Brett.

All right.