06 June, 2014

Dear Students,

It may have come to your attention in the media of late that a major malware infection is currently prominent across the internet.

Gameover Zeus botnet and the Cryptolocker ransomware are typically spread through infected attachments in emails.

 

A summary description of these sophisticated and dangerous threats is:

1. Gameover Zeus is capable of intercepting online financial transaction details and passing them to a third party
   a. This will try and steal your personal and/or professional financial information
2. Cryptolocker is one of the latest and most menacing forms of ransomware to appear online. It works by encrypting all files on the computer (e.g. C Drive, D Drive) including shared drives (eg H Drive, P Drive, S Drive and free cloud storage).
   a. This will try and hold your personal and/or professional files until you pay a ransom
   b. Unlike most malware infections, no fix has been found that can decrypt the affected data.

IT Services are aware of these latest threats and we would like to bring to your attention a number of important preventative steps to minimise the risk of infection.

1. Vigilance regarding emails (as with all malware vigilance is the most important threat prevention mechanism)
2. Keeping your pc up to date.
3. Backup your files.

IT Services have created a set of guidelines and information illustrating how to follow the steps above. We highly recommended that you visit this link http://servicedesk.cit.ie/categories/44797/forums/4000000414/topics/4000278091  and follow the simple guidelines provided.

 

This message will also go out through our websites, facebook and twitter. We will re-send this email throughout next week to also increase our chances of creating awareness among our staff and students.

 

Regards,

Jonathan McCarthy

IT Manager