So someone hacks into your computer and installs " ransomeware " and you can not access your computers files until the bitcoin ransom has been paid!!

http://arstechnica.com/security/2016...omware-attack/

I often tell people my DR plan is to keep an updated resume/CV handy.

I don't run JBOSS.

well when one of the "bosses" opens a attachment and installs the malware........

The impact of ransomware should be minimal if you've been following proper data security (i.e. locking down write permissions) and backup procedures.

That should have been a given in a work/corporate environment. However I am still sure there are home Windows users to this day that still run under admin privileges for whatever reason, although that probably isn't the case much though if said malware can at least attack the users directory and lock anything in there, if the person has happened to have gone to a compromised site and were the subject of a drive-by download attack.

Pretty easy for the average home user and most business users to run in an awful state. Everywhere you look people say stupid things like turn off firewall and disable this or that to those in need.

Still amazes me that ISP's don't do more to block this stuff.

I keep backups on a NAS in a fireproof safe. Even scares me to transfer images to it.

Well, many computer users have no backups at all, so they are vulnerable to any sort of hard driveasd;fkajf; ;hd cfash, whih;dcajfh;ahvc; h, of course, never actually happens in real lif
I/O Error: Failed to read from device (sd0,2). Retrying.
I/O Error: Failed to read from device (sd0,2). Retrying.
I/O Error: Failed to read from device (sd0,2). Retrying.
Kernel panic. Syncing!

"A widely distributed scam email that quoted people's postal addresses links to a dangerous form of ransomware, according to a security researcher."

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35996408

If you allow any sort of software to install itself on your computer and to run in your name, and if you have no backup copy of (millions(!) of) files on that computer, then you are a sitting duck.

Don't be a duck . . .

" Apr 8, 2016 - Adobe patches Flash bug that’s being exploited to install ransomware
"Actively exploited" critical flaw has been in wild for more than a week."

http://arstechnica.com/security/2016...re-windows-10/

"Adobe has released security updates for Adobe Flash Player for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and ChromeOS. These updates address critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Adobe is aware of reports that CVE-2016-1019 is being actively exploited on systems running Windows 10 and earlier with Flash Player version 20.0.0.306 and earlier. Please refer to APSA16-01 for details."

https://helpx.adobe.com/security/pro...apsb16-10.html

... However, I am much more alarmed by the more expansive capabilities of HTML5 and JavaScript, which represent an environment that can be dynamically modified because almost eveything in the JavaScript environment can be modified. If you tap sufficiently deeply into the "prototype" layer of JavaScript, you can completely transform the operational behavior of software without modifying any of a site's source code.

I don't think javascript and HTML5 is going to be more dangerous, or less dangerous vs flash. Its just another platform, but I still prefer going to websites that are flash free at least. I would rather have HTML5 over flash. Also php can be compromised, so can python, perl, etc etc.

Case in point, yet another flash exploit: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...it-4175577009/

Not really seeing a whole lot HTML5 exploits , I didn't say there weren't any, but clearly flash is the clear winner on this.

I still prefer if all sites just went HTML5, I don't see why I need to worry about resources just for viewing an fscking website.

This is I think tangentially related at least.

My girlfriend got an email from her IT Department yesterday about ransomware on Macs (we don't have one of those, by the by). Apparently someone who works at her shop got nailed (her employer is a Windows shop).

She worried about it all day, and she is a cautious user of the web and email--she delights in catching spams in her inbox--and likely the last person who would fall for something hinky.

The email included a link to an article on how to back up your iJunk to Apple's cloud thingee.