Johnycryptor ransomware

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Zack

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Hi,
We just got attacked with Johnycryptor ransomware, where it looks like they logged into our RDP served as a user and ran the encryption program. The username they used had an easy password, which is probably how they got into the system. They encrypted all of the files in all of the drives they had access to, and posted a message on the desktop background with an email address (johnycryptor@aol.com) saying we needed to email them to get the software to decrypt our files.

Luckily, we had backups of our drives so we were able to restore to an earlier time before they got encrypted.

I'm still concerned about these two things, and I was hoping I could get some input:
1. Is it possible/ likely that they downloaded copies of all of our files before they encrypted them? I've done a lot of research on this ransomware (and found this useful post: https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/johnycryptor-aol-com.68448/ ), and nobody has said anything about them actually stealing the files. It seems like they just go in, encrypt it, and hope to get the reward. We have a lot of files with sensitive information, and I just want to make sure we don't need to be worried about that information getting out there.

2. The username that was logged in to run the virus is a generic username that doesn't belong to anybody in our company anymore and hasn't been used in several years. When I look at the event log on our server, it looks like the user logged in at least a few times in the few weeks before the files actually got encrypted. What would be the reason they would have logged in before without encrypting the files? Is it actually a person doing this, or is it a computer program that automatically logs in to do the work?

We got our backup restored and beefed up our security software, and changed all of the passwords of all users (and disabled inactive accounts). Is there any reason to still be worried that they could have left something in there that could cause more problems?
Thanks.
 
Just a little more information that may be useful:
- We're a small company with about 30 employees. I don't think it would be worth their time to download and sift through all of our data to find sensitive information about this many people. If we had thousands of employees it may be worth it, but this is one reason I hope I don't have to worry about our data getting stolen and used maliciously.
 
Tell us a little about yourself
Hi,
I'm a non-IT guy in charge of an IT department at my family company (we have an actual IT guy too).
...
What is your current experience? (Years working on computers, in the business, certifications etc..)
Basic experience and general knowledge of how IT systems work. I'm not very technical.

What does your own IT guy say?

(I have to say that this sounds suspiciously like an end-user question. I hope I'm wrong.)
 
What does your own IT guy say?

(I have to say that this sounds suspiciously like an end-user question. I hope I'm wrong.)

He says we should assume they downloaded it, but he doesn't know much about this type of virus. He was saying it more as a precautionary thing, but from what I've read I don't know if it's worth stressing about.
 
[F]rom what I've read I don't know if it's worth stressing about.

Whether it's worth it or not you clearly are stressing about it.

It's probably not going to be possible to determine whether anything was copied from your system but it sounds as if it's time to get some outside professional help in anyway - unless you're sure that your network is clean you'll never trust it again, and every little glitch will have you wondering whether it's the ransomware or the original intruder coming back for more. You also need a second pair of eyes to check that you're secure from RDP grinding.

Money spent on peace of mind is never wasted.
 
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It's all guessing from here without looking at relevant logs..

My guess would be that the first login a few weeks ago was the successful cracking of the account and/or a shell... the subsequent login was to drop the encryption program (Probably had an actual person working at it). It would be interesting to see how long the account was logged into for. If for only a few minutes - likely nothing was taken. If it was for an extended amount of time, well, looking through all the data for goodies is always prudent on the part of the hacker... and it's doesn't take very long to drop in the encryptor (So extended time likely means someone was at least looking around).
 
@Zack this forum is for computer repair professionals only.

By your own admission you are not an IT guy, yet you are in charge of the IT dept.

Whilst I have no qualms of your actual IT person being a member here, unfortunately, you do not fit the requirements of being a member here.
 
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