How My SSD was Infected and How I recovered my Files.

On March 5th 2024 I Had to Eject my SSD External Drive to go to a Location where I’d submit a File, Usual me wont take my storage device to another location let alone inserting it in someone’s computer system, because I know the rules and ethics, but due to it was impromptu, I had to eject it and take it along with me, So getting there I was told to modify a document at a cybercafé, I was not thinking properly due to it was crowded, I had to make use of a cybercafé where I’d be able to insert my machine and modify the document before I Print its hardcopy. Unknown to me, The machine was infected with a malware. A computer virus that encrypted all my files in the Drive. After i modified the document and printed and submitted the document hardcopy, I left for home, getting home I inserted my SSD into my computer system, Lo and Behold My Antivirus screamed out loud with it’s tone three times that A threat has been found, A malware. I had two security systems that would screen any drive inserted into my computer system, and both of them detected it. I had to Immediately selected the actions to be taken immediately and quarantined the Threat, After that. I went straight to my file explorer let me check my files, unknown to me, my files were gone, the drive was empty. Though I was still seeing the memory space and the memory used and they were not the same, which means, my files were still on the drive but they were encrypted and hidden I can’t see them. I quickly went to the options folder and viewed hidden files and folders but it wasn’t working. I then went back to the Antivirus protection System and Choosed remove Malware Action and it removed the malware and I did a deep full scan on the drive and it told me that threat has been removed, No Threat found. I went back to the file explorer and it was still showing me there were used space in the disk but I still couldn’t view the files, I quickly formatted the drive. After I did that, I used my Data Recovery Program Application to retrieve my lost files. Then I encrypted the Drive with a password and Antivirus to avoid such mistakes again.

Key Points to Note:

1. Do not Insert your Removable storage devices in an unknown or unfamiliar computer system. There may be malware on the systems looking for where to hide.
2. No matter how urgent you need to use your removable drive elsewhere, make sure the computer system is updated.
3. Make Sure there is Antivirus System and Defender in any computer system you are inserting your drives into.
4. Always make sure your drives are encrypted before you use them in another computer system.
5. Make sure you have a backup file incase you loose your files, you may not be lucky as I was by recovering your deleted or encrypted files.
6. After you’ve used your drive in a different computer system, scan thoroughly before use on your own computer system to clean up malware if it eventually caught any.