Cryptolocker is one of the most notorious attacks we’ve seen in a while, one which definitely would ruin someone’s day, or in this case holiday spirit. As of December 16 6:53AM PST, Barracuda Real-Time Systems have intercepted and blocked a new version which has a 1 out of 54 detection rate according to VirusTotal.



Once downloaded and opened, Cryptolocker encrypts the data on the host computer, rendering all files to be unusable or opened until payment is made.


As always, any emails received should be treated with extreme caution. Users should always keep anti-virus up to date, and use best practices when opening suspicious emails from unknown senders.
Customers running the Barracuda Spam Firewall and Barracuda Email Security Service with up to date security definitions are protected from these attacks.
Christine Barry is Senior Chief Blogger and Social Media Manager at Barracuda. In this role, she helps bring Barracuda stories to life and facilitate communication between the public and Barracuda internal teams. Prior to joining Barracuda, Christine was a field engineer and project manager for K12 and SMB clients for over 15 years. She holds several technology credentials, a Bachelor of Arts, and a Master of Business Administration. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Connect with Christine on LinkedIn here.