Beware BOGUS advertisements like this

“Cryptowall Help – Recover your files‎”

These advertisements promise or at least imply recovery of your files after being attacked by

The Malware Cryptowall

In the fine print you will find that the ad is bogus.  They do not decrypt your files.  Your files are gone and there is no one in the world who can unlock your files except the Cryptowall criminals who will extort $500 from you to release them.

From the fine print of one of those bogus ad sites:

“It is impossible to decrypt the data without paying the ransom”

These bogus ad sites want to charge you hundreds of dollars and take advantage of your helplessness during this crisis by fostering a misconception that they will decrypt your files.  The sad reality is that:

THERE IS NO DECRYPTION without paying the ransom.

What they will do for you is:

1. Remove the infection which you can do yourself with HitmanPro and other good malware cleaners like Malwarebytes.
2. Assist you in restoring your backup, if you have one that did not get encrypted. Remember, all files connected to the computer at the time of attack will be encrypted even those on a network drive, a connected usb external drive, or a connected USB memory stick.  You must have a backup not physically connected to your computer.  The best is Carbonite.  If you cannot restore from your backup by yourself call me or someone else who has your best interest at heart.   We are truthful in the first place and much less expensive in the second.
3. They will sympathize with you that you did not have a backup of your files and make all kinds of excuses why you misunderstood that they would be able to do the impossible and decrpt your files.
4. Then they will offer a plethora of programs for you to buy from them to help protect your computer in the future.  You don’t need all that expensive stuff.  While it is true that AntiVirus is not enough anymore by itself, you don’t need all of what they will sell you.  Simply supplement your antivirus with Malware protection like HitmanPro.Alert, the only thing I have found so far that actually prevents the attack of Cryptowall.   Go to that link and and you can watch the movie and see it in action.  Read about it and you will find it protects you from a lot more.   It is a daily never ending battle between the good guys and the bad so some new variant may get into your computer, slow you down, and even cause harm likeThe Dirty RAT that can turn on your webcam and spy on you. So you really need at least one more thing, a malware cleaner.  HitmanPro.alert is a sentry, a guard at the gateway into your computer, but if you get infected you need Hitman Pro or Malwarebytes.  Both offer you trial versions and remarkably both are useful after their trial ends.  Get one or both of them and keep a current backup like Carbonite and you can rest assured that this is most probablly not going to happen to you again.  You don’t need all that other stuff that the bogus adverstisers will try to sell you in your time of need and sadness.

In Summary.  The only recovery from a Crytowall attack is either:

1. Pay the fine and hope that the decryption you buy works (I helped one customer and it worked for us but who knows when you are dealing with criminals whether what they promise is going to work or not), or
2. Restore from a backup copy that was not connected and therefore not attacked like Carbonite. If you don’t yet have it, Get Carbonite now and be prepared next time.