About two weeks ago my computer was fragged by an unknown source. I sent it to be fixed by the manufacturer.
While waiting for it to return to me I started sleuthing for a source.
A massive cyber attack started in Hong Kong and has spread to 150 countries as of the report I found this morning. It has spread to be a worldwide issue however.
Now the purpose of this is not to tell everybody on these boards to panic but to put information out there. I have found several details that I would like to share with you all.
It spreads through public networks like those at schools, wi fi cafes, and workplaces. Home networks should be safe.
It damages your computer in a way that prevents it from being rebooted from the normal partition.
If you back up your data in a separate physical object such as a flash drive or dedicated backup device it should be saved.
I’ve only seen this virus infect computers so phones and other devices should be safe.
There are several copycat viruses that are similar but not quite the same.
Everything I have said may change as the creator upgrades the virus or as the copies get more advanced.
While this virus is going through every antivirus out there the antiviruses will catch up in a matter of days. You need to protect your computer until then.
Protip: Don’t use public Wi-fi unless it’s a device that cannot be infected by viruses. I’d never hook up my laptop to public Wi-fi.
I don’t get virus programmers. They just HAVE TO destroy other people’s computers. We’re going to get to the point where there is a robot apocalypse that will be lead by a computer virus made by some doodoo dunderhead programmer. Remember the Technovor virus from Iron Man: Armored Adventures? It’s going to be something like that.
Yeah, exactly. This is especially true if it’s a business or school wi-fi network.
Maybe. Another think to check for is a really sudden uptick on the amount of data being fetched over wifi. If you’re running Windows, you can use Task Manager for this.
If you’re in a situation where you don’t mind losing whatever you’re doing, yeah, that works.
I’m not sure how that would help you perceive a malware attack that’s being transmitted over wifi. You’re already connected to a network, and the malware shouldn’t be able to reach you otherwise. I could be mistaken, though.
Can it be contracted by a Chromebook? I’ve heard that Chromebooks are pretty much safe from viruses because they can’t run .exe files, but this sounds like it might be different.
^
Like it’s more understandable with the ones that steal your personal information such as your debit card number, but I’ve never understood the purpose of the ones that literally destroy your computer.