fear of ransomware attack like wannacry

[oh brame]

is there any chance of losing bitcoin by ransomware cyber attacks like wannacry

[1714883867]

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[1714883867]

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[kelz1]

You don't lose btc in ransomware like wannacry unless you pay the ransom. Malware viruses that send key logging info or copy & paste clipboard info to the virus creators are the ones that can steal your btc

[jossiel]

It's a "ransom" so you have to pay for the hostages which is your information and other data that has been hijacked by that attack. In that case, you have to pay according to the given amount and bitcoin address given.

But take note of this, there are also emails that are looking like ransomware which says that they had hijacked your information and data because you use a  website that they have been part of but don't believe with those if you find nothing on your PC.

[pooya87]

It's a "ransom" so you have to pay for the hostages which is your information and other data that has been hijacked by that attack. In that case, you have to pay according to the given amount and bitcoin address given.

But take note of this, there are also emails that are looking like ransomware which says that they had hijacked your information and data because you use a  website that they have been part of but don't believe with those if you find nothing on your PC.

ransomwares do not "hijack" anything from you, what they do is that they encrypt your data (put a password on your files, so to speak) and then demand money before they give you the encryption key so that you can access your data again.
so for example if you haven't kept any backup you will lose everything including your bitcoins.

[nutildah]

It's a "ransom" so you have to pay for the hostages which is your information and other data that has been hijacked by that attack. In that case, you have to pay according to the given amount and bitcoin address given.

But take note of this, there are also emails that are looking like ransomware which says that they had hijacked your information and data because you use a  website that they have been part of but don't believe with those if you find nothing on your PC.

ransomwares do not "hijack" anything from you, what they do is that they encrypt your data (put a password on your files, so to speak) and then demand money before they give you the encryption key so that you can access your data again.
so for example if you haven't kept any backup you will lose everything including your bitcoins.

What's interesting is in 2016 one of my ex co-workers whom I did not care for had this happen at his workstation, while I myself - who was notorious for screwing around with cryptocurrencies, downloading questionable wallets and visiting questionable crypto sites - never had this happen to me. Since we didn't get along, I suspected he or somebody else sabotaged himself on purpose to try to pin the blame on me. The ransomware propagated itself onto our main server, which had to be rolled back, but because we were semi-professionals at least we had backups.

I wonder if anybody who's ever paid the ransom actually had their computer unencrypted.

[Loubap]

Any reccomedations for protection?

[aoluain]

Well this is happening already, ransomware is already operational. I know of
someone who downloaded sonyvegas illegally and installed it. Immediately
the computer was locked.

Stupidly they had passwords for wallets saved on the same computer and
lost about 1.5 bitcoin. They were not prepared to risk paying the ransom
and not getting access to the pc.

[Cryptoreflector_666]

is there any chance of losing bitcoin by ransomware cyber attacks like wannacry

Of course there is a main problem not only bitcoin but also any other cryptocurrency. No matter how well you hide your private key is always the human factor, and with it the probability of losing it or just get attacked by another hacker who brings your coins to his wallet. This is real life and we have to put up with it.

[Schirer]

Yea, it is very realistic.
Be careful on web , where you put your detaisl and what you download.
but on the other hand such viruses tend to pump the btc price up beacuse people do pay the price.

[Indrawan77]

Yes, but you can only lose your bitcoin if you pay using bitcoin since its a ransom, but if you are talking about being hacked then you can lose your bitcoin immediately, people need to focus on the security so they not fall into the hackers control, and one of the highlights is the exchanges security which is very fragile

[leetcoiner]

is there any chance of losing bitcoin by ransomware cyber attacks like wannacry

I do not think that you will lose your bitcoins from ransomware if you follow all the rules of security on the Internet. These rules are not so much and they are all very simple. On the branches of this forum there is a huge amount to those in which all the points described. Try.

[BitMaxz]

I have experienced this on my other laptop without a good antivirus but I don't have any idea about bitcoins before so I decided to ignore it. When my laptop is infected I find some solution on google to unlock and remove malware and ransomware I'm too frustrated in that time because every hour the message from the ransomware virus keeps popping on the screen and ask for a payment to unlock my files.

However, I found an antivirus which fixes all my issues about my laptop including other viruses and malware and recovers all my infected files with wannacry ransomware.

That is why until now I used this antivirus(Kaspersky) to keep my PC safe. I am not promoting them it is just based on my own experienced.
So, my advise is to use Kaspersky to keep your machine safe to any malware and viruses and it performs well on my laptop and PC.

[gentlemand]

Any reccomedations for protection?

Keep a complete backup and it won't matter. Wipe the drive and reinstall your information. I'm backed up threefold for everything. If I was ever hit by this it would make no difference to my life other than taking a couple of hours to reload.

[prasad87]

is there any chance of losing bitcoin by ransomware cyber attacks like wannacry

Well, as long as you keep your documents backed up on a cloud or a computer with no internet connection I doubt you'd get in real trouble.
The ransomware was mostly targeting corporations and not individuals anyway.

[aliceHortrex]

is there any chance of losing bitcoin by ransomware cyber attacks like wannacry

Hackers arrange attacks only on users who have really large amounts of money in cryptocurrencies on their wallets. If you have several bitcoins then believe me you have nothing to fear. For security, you can split your amount into several parts - this will reduce the risk of attracting attention to you.

[jossiel]

It's a "ransom" so you have to pay for the hostages which is your information and other data that has been hijacked by that attack. In that case, you have to pay according to the given amount and bitcoin address given.

But take note of this, there are also emails that are looking like ransomware which says that they had hijacked your information and data because you use a  website that they have been part of but don't believe with those if you find nothing on your PC.

ransomwares do not "hijack" anything from you, what they do is that they encrypt your data (put a password on your files, so to speak) and then demand money before they give you the encryption key so that you can access your data again.
so for example if you haven't kept any backup you will lose everything including your bitcoins.

What's interesting is in 2016 one of my ex co-workers whom I did not care for had this happen at his workstation, while I myself - who was notorious for screwing around with cryptocurrencies, downloading questionable wallets and visiting questionable crypto sites - never had this happen to me. Since we didn't get along, I suspected he or somebody else sabotaged himself on purpose to try to pin the blame on me. The ransomware propagated itself onto our main server, which had to be rolled back, but because we were semi-professionals at least we had backups.

I wonder if anybody who's ever paid the ransom actually had their computer unencrypted.

@pooya87 thank you for that clarity, I'm into thinking of "hijacking" and "encrypting" as the same thing but thanks for that, really appreciated your explanation.

@nutildah, last year when there's massive attack which has been publicize through crypto news websites. I remember that there's one address that has been posted by the hacker and within few minutes there's an enormous transfer to that. But regarding the decrypting, it wasn't reported but I think it went well.

Any reccomedations for protection?

The backing up recommendation was perfect for everyone. Don't also install unwanted apps, please don't do that.

[vapourminer]

Any reccomedations for protection?

best protection is rotating backups of your important data.

say like using 3 or more usb drives (hard drives, not thumb drives.. more reliable imo) that can hold all your important stuff. everyday, backup to one drive, then unplug it for the rest of the day.

on another, do the same once a week, keeping it unplugged the rest of the time.

on a third, once a week (different day though) and keep that one off site as well as off line. this one works better with two drives that you swap to your safe deposit box or something.

so, one day it hits. you should have the previous days good backup on one drive. if it was a "creeping" type of infection that got some of the previous days backup you still have a backup from last week.

and the 3rd offsite backup protects from house fires/floods as well.

you can go as elaborate as you want.

point is, you should NEVER have only one copy of important data. so if you get hit, just wipe the infected computer and restore from a known good backup. and TEST that backup regularly.

macrium reflect free is a good imaging backup program. its free for home use. images the whole drive(s) including the OS. you can be back up and running in minutes. well, a hour.