sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

i read somewhere that there is a virus or something that can add a password to your Documents on the pc then blackmail you. can you add a password to your documents and if so could this be over-ridden?

The Snug Rhino

i belive these virus all use the same password so if you get infected dont pay up...just try entering:

GULLIBLE

Hanslow

LOL @ Snug

What sort of documents did it say this virus can nobble? There are quite a few formats you know. There are also programs to remove the password protection from things such as word docs.

Safest way is to delete them all before the virus gets to them

Markus

have a look here for the password for the virus in question.

As for protecting documents, yes you can obtain software to password protect files/folders. As for it being overridden, quite possibly. It really depends on whether the password algorithm has been decoded, if it has then someone could obtain your password and access the files.

As with passwords for anything, don't use common phrases, words, kids/pets name, etc... Ideally you'd want a longish password mixing alphabetical and numerical characters, in both upper and lower case, and possibly add in some symbols, such as #, %, ^, etc...

** edit **

If you're using XP then there is a fairly simple way to protect files, have a look here. The compression method isn't the best as you can't, without decompressing the files, work on them. Additional software is probably the best bet.