Ransomware Petya: How to protect yourself from the Trojan

Ransomware Petya is currently paralyzing thousands of companies and authorities around the world. However, you can protect yourself from the Trojan and avoid the ransom note and data loss. In this practical tip, we explain what is behind Petya, how you can protect yourself and react in the event of a hacker attack.

Ransomware Petya: Hacker wave with gigantic proportions

• The new ransomware wave Petya caused severe damage after a short time. The hackers are much more organized than at WannaCry. Among other things, they infected the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Ukrainian central bank with the Trojan.
• Countless companies and authorities are particularly affected in Ukraine. There Petya uses a gap in the accounting software that is prescribed by the Ukrainian government. As a result, the number of potentially endangered companies in Ukraine is huge. In contrast, the Trojan searches for other vulnerabilities in Germany and other countries. So far, more than 60 countries have been affected.
• The Trojan's demand on the victim's screen is similar to WannaCry: The victim should pay $ 300 in bitcoins. What is new, however, is that they should contact the extortionists by email.
• This has its pitfalls, because the email address comes from the Berlin Postfach provider Posteo. He has of course blocked the email account immediately, so that victims cannot contact the extortionists. The police generally advise against paying a ransom.
• We always keep you up to date on this page about the current status.

Petya: How to protect yourself

• Security researchers have discovered a way to stop Petya and protect themselves from Petya. Accordingly, Petya searches for a specific file while encrypting the data. If Petya finds the file, it cancels the encryption.
• This is one of the exit strategies that hackers consider when programming malware. It is used to protect your own computer against malware and to be able to stop the malware.
• You can take advantage of this: Download this file from the CHIP download portal and run it as administrator.
• If the Trojan tries to infect your computer and encrypt files, it will find the file and will stop it.
• Quick help: If you are currently affected by Petya, please follow us on the emergency hacks for ransomeware.

Malware experts give further tips against Petya

• F-Secure security researchers also recommend blocking port 445 of the firewall for incoming connections.
• You should also update Windows to close security holes and use protection programs. According to Microsoft, the Windows 10 Creators Update includes additional protection against ransomeware. We have put together exactly what it contains and how you can download it on this page.
• In order for your computer to be protected against this and other ransomeware attacks, we expressly recommend special ransomeware protection software, which is even available free of charge.