[OT] Hello World

[Richard Gaskin]

Bob Sneidar wrote:

 >> On Sep 1, 2017, at 12:16 , Richmond Mathewson wrote:
 >> Page 71
 >>
 > 
https://s3-eu-west-1.[LINK_ALTERED_FOR_SAFETY].com/rpi-magazines/issues/full_pdfs/000/000/004/original/HelloWorld03.pdf?1504167546
 >> Richmond Mathewson.
...
 > It wasn't Richmond, it was your full name. And I DO know what's wrong
 > because my boss, after many urgings not to click the link, clicked the
 > link, and encrypted all the files on our files server. Sure we had a
 > backup, so we recovered all the files but the ones since the last
 > backup.

@Bob: I think I missed something.  Is the link given above dangerous? 
I've altered it for safety here, but it would be unusual if it were.

The link is direct to a PDF (a format which is not entirely without its 
risks I suppose) but isn't embedded within a page that has JavaScript. 
Indeed, it's not an an HTML page at all.

So does the PDF itself contain ransomware, and if so which variant?  And 
how quickly after clicking the link did the encrypting begin?  I opened 
that PDF in Chrome an hour ago.  I have multiple backups, but it would 
be helpful to know if I need to budget time today to prepare for recovery.

If not, what link are you referring to?


@Richmond: why do you suppose the publisher doesn't have a domain name?

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com