Question:

The Windows computer of a user completely locked up. A notification stating that the person pictured had engaged in criminal activity was displayed on the screen. The webcam automatically turned on, and the computer user was pictured. Additionally, it stated that the user could settle the allegations against him/her with a $500 fine. The user was understandably shaken by the incident. What would be the BEST course of action in this situation?

A Boot to a bootable media from your anti-malware provider and run a remediation.

explanation

This form of ransomware can be programmed to commandeer a user's webcam. It is just another layer of complexity designed to terrify users. In this case, you can delete and reinstall Windows to solve the problem, but it is not necessary. You won't be able to access the anti-malware software because the system is locked. However, you can start a remediation by booting to a bootable media provided by the anti-malware software provider.

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