What is Crypt.locker Ransomware?
Crypt.locker Ransomware is newly emerged beast of a ransomware program that can sneak onto your computer without your knowledge and silently encrypt all your important media and third-party program files in no time. According to our malware specialists at anti-spyware-101.com, this dangerous malware infection is but a new version of the notorious Jigsaw Ransomware that have already been used several times as a base for very similar threats. Although both infections are mostly identical, this new version has an English and a German variant, and the ransom fee is radically higher than usual. But there is still a silver lining; we have found that there is already a free decryptor that can tackle this Jigsaw variant and restore your encrypted files. Obviously, this is great news and cancels out any attempt to transfer a penny to these cyber criminals. But this ransomware is still a dangerous threat to your computer and you cannot leave it on board. We recommend that you remove Crypt.locker Ransomware right after you realize that you have been hit by it. If you want to find out more about this ransomware and ways to prevent it from attacking you, please read on.
Where does Crypt.locker Ransomware come from?
There are basically three ways for ransomware infections to slither onto your computer. The most likely and most widely used method is delivering such a threat by spam e-mails. Our malware specialists found that this is how Crypt.locker Ransomware may also show up on your system. It is not easy to tell a spam mail from a legitimate and official e-mail for inexperienced computer users. Nowadays, cyber criminals have sophisticated techniques to disguise their real intentions. For example, the sender e-mail address could look like it is from a local or state authority, or any reputable company, such as FedEx. The next line of deception is represented by the subject of the spam, which can look quite eye-catching. The general subjects may include problems with credit cards details you supposedly gave when booking a hotel room, issues with an undelivered parcel, problems with your Internet provider, and so on.
Do you think you could say no to these issues without even opening the mail? Unfortunately, if you open such a mail, it is quite likely that you will also save the attached file to view it on your computer, which is the biggest mistake here. You need to understand that this file is indeed a malicious executable file that activates this major hit against your files. If you delete Crypt.locker Ransomware after it finishes its encryption and reveals itself, it will be too late to save your files from encryption. But there is no way for you to know about its presence and operation beforehand. Your only luck in this attack is that there is already a working decryptor that you can use because, otherwise, you could easily lose all your files.
Yet another possibility to get infected with ransomware programs is that cyber criminals use Exploit Kits. Although, we cannot confirm that this infection is spread in this way, we find it important to mention it. This method exploits outdated browser and driver (Java and Flash) versions. In other words, malicious webpages are set up to infect users who simply load these pages in their outdated browsers. You can easily end up on such a page by clicking on corrupt third-party ads or unreliable hyperlinks on modified search results pages provided by browser hijackers. Therefore, it is important for you to always keep your browsers and drivers updated from reputable sources to avoid this kind of attack.
How does Crypt.locker Ransomware work?
When this ransomware program is activated, it creates two identical files on your system with different names. In fact, all Jigsaw Ransomware variants seem to use the same files, which are named after reputable programs, "firefox.exe" and "drpbx.exe." If you do not know this, you may overlook these files when trying to manually detect this malware infection. Once it has set up its operation, this ransomware starts encrypting your files and adding an ".epic" extension; hence the name Epic Ransomware, which may also circulate on the web. After all is set, the ransom note screen comes up and locks your screen with its window that always stays on top, so you cannot close it simply. The ransom note itself is revealed letter by letter like written on a typewriter. From this note you learn that you must not restart your computer because this infection may delete one thousand random files. Apart from this, every hour one file is deleted until you finally transfer the ransom fee, which in this case is as high as 5,000 US dollars or in the German version, 3,000 EUR. These criminals are quite the greedy type as they even dare to write "at least" before these amounts. Obviously, as usual, you have to pay in Bitcoins. However, this is one of those unique cases when you actually have a way out of this malicious attack. Our specialists have found a working decryptor on the web that you can download and use to recover your files. Although, this sounds very simple, we recommend that you only use such a tool if you are an experienced computer user. But before you start decrypting your files, you need to remove Crypt.locker Ransomware ASAP.
How can I delete Crypt.locker Ransomware?
The first thing you have to do is open your Task Manager and end the malicious process. Only then can you delete all the related files and registry entries. If you are ready to handle this major threat yourself, you can follow our instructions below. Since there are already up-to-date anti-malware applications that can detect and eliminate this ransomware, we also advise you to think about the protection of your computer. If you want to be certain that there are no other infections on board and it stays that way, having such a security tool could be real peace of mind. Should you have any problems regarding the removal of Crypt.locker Ransomware, please leave us a comment below.
Remove Crypt.locker Ransomware from Windows
- Tap Ctrl+Shift+Esc simultaneously to run the Task Manager.
- Navigate to the malicious process ("firefox.exe" or "drpbx.exe").
- Click End Task.
- Close the Task Manager.
- Tap Win+E.
- Delete "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Drpbx\drpbx.exe" and "%APPDATA%\Frfx\firefox.exe"
- Delete the malicious file you saved from the spam.
- Tap Win+R and enter regedit. Press OK.
- Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\firefox.exe" registry value name.
- Close your editor and reboot your system.
tested removal of Crypt.locker Ransomware*
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