What is Pennywise Ransomware?
Pennywise Ransomware is the newest variant of Jigsaw Ransomware. It is still in the development phase, judging from the fact that it does not do anything. Even though it claims that it has encrypted your files, it is not true – you can check them yourself after you close a window opened on your screen. Although you can see the clock ticking down in the top-right corner of this window, this threat will not delete your files automatically either. Of course, we cannot promise that the updated version of this ransomware infection will act the same. No matter which of the two versions of this ransomware infection you detect on your computer, you cannot keep this threat on your system because it might cause even more problems. The removal of this ransomware infection should not be very complicated because it only places a window on Desktop. In other words, it is not one of those infections that apply major modifications on victims’ computers following the successful entrance. Of course, before you go to remove it from your computer, you should still read the rest of this article.
What does Pennywise Ransomware do?
Although Pennywise Ransomware clams that it has encrypted personal files and will delete some of them every hour, there is no point in purchasing the decryption key because these are lies – you will see for yourself that your files are fine if you close the window and check them. What else shows that this threat is still in development is the fact that there is no information about the ransom that has to be paid in exchange for the decryption key and, additionally, no payment instructions are provided to users, meaning that it is impossible to get a tool to decrypt files from cyber criminals behind this infection. Luckily, you do not need it because the ransomware infection has not affected any of them. Of course, if Pennywise Ransomware is ever updated, you might find your personal files (e.g. pictures, documents, videos, etc.) all locked (these files will get the .beep extension) and the size of the ransom indicated, but, in our opinion, you should not transfer money to cyber criminals in such a case either because the chances are high that they will take your money, but you will not get anything from them in exchange. If you have encountered the same version of Pennywise Ransomware specialists at anti-spyware-101.com have analyzed, i.e., the one that does not encrypt any files and does not delete them periodically, close its window without fear even though the ransom note tells that “you will get 1000 files deleted as a punishment” if you do this. You can remove it from your screen by killing the malicious process in Task Manager. It should have the same/similar name as the ransomware infection.
Where does Pennywise Ransomware come from?
It is not easy to talk about the distribution of Pennywise Ransomware because it has been released recently and has not affected many computers yet. Of course, our specialists still have what to say about the distribution of this malicious application. They believe that this threat should also be spread via spam emails. A bunch of other threats are spread the same, so ignore all spam emails and do not open their attachments! Unfortunately, we cannot promise that you will ensure your system’s maximum protection by simply ignoring spam emails because there is a bunch of malicious applications that are very sneaky. Because of this, we recommend that you install security software on your computer too. As long as it is active on your system, malicious applications will not be able to slither onto your computer secretly. It does not mean that the installation of an antimalware tool allows you to be careless.
How to remove Pennywise Ransomware
You will only need to perform two removal steps to delete this ransomware infection from your computer. First, you need to kill the process of the ransomware infection via Task Manager. Second, you need to go to delete the malicious file you have launched. If you find it hard to locate it, you should delete all recently downloaded files. You can also find and erase it from your system with an automated malware remover. Of course, you will first need to acquire it.
Pennywise Ransomware removal guide
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
- Open the Processes tab in Task Manager.
- Find the Pennywise Ransomware process and kill it.
- Close Task Manager and open Explorer (press Win+E).
- Delete all recently downloaded files from %USERPROFILE%\Desktop and %USERPROFILE%\Downloads.
- Empty Recycle bin.
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