Ransomware from USB/Thumb Drive?

Question

If a USB/Thumb drive has ransomware on it, and it gets plugged into a computer and infects the computer, does the ransomware virus stay on the USB drive?

Basically, I was backing some things up on my work computer last week, and I used an old thumb drive from home.  The thumb drive already had stuff on it.  When we came in to work today, our Terminal Server had ransomware on it.  I just scanned the thumb drive to see if that might be where the trojan came from, but it s clean.   It could be complete coincidence, but I m wondering if I might have inadvertently infected the system at work.  My work computer is fine - it s just the server and a Netgear drive that got infected - but I m trying to put my mind at ease that I m not the one who caused this issue.

? · Answer

It is pretty much certain that it would still be on the drive, waiting to infect again.

Joe · Answer

The virus / malware would usually remain on your USB flash drive, ready to infect again.

Your work desktop would have been the most likely to get infected first, as well.

I think you're off the hook, here.  But many companies have a policy against connecting a USB drive to their computers.  If your employer has such a policy, don't do it again.

Ransomware from USB/Thumb Drive?

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