Over the last few years, we have all seen how fast the world can change. From exchanging letters and drafts to Twitter and mails, we’ve come a long way. The companies that invested finance, manpower, and all their ideologies into making the world digital have earned to the moon and back. But these are the people who have earned money the right way, there are also people who have been earning a lot digitally the wrong way. This includes a lot of different categories of people but the one category that tops the list is the group of masterminds who earn through ransomware virus attacks.
It’s been a long run for the ransomware attackers as they have been running a campaign of fooling around with the people and their computers to earn a lot of wealth. Cybercriminals use malicious software to encrypt the data on people’s PCs and then blackmail them for money. One such greatly malicious ransomware virus is the crypto locker virus. This virus is worse than the other ransomware viruses because it not only encrypts your device to steal your access to your data but also steals your access to the infected device. The pattern is however similar to that of the other viruses, encryption through mail attachments.
What is crypto locker
The question of what is crypto locker is isn’t a difficult question to answer as its answer simply implies that it’s an example of ransomware. Cryptolocker ransomware is a type of encryption viruses that has the ability to spread its range and infect a lot of devices at a time. It was discovered in the month of September 2013.
The crypto locker ransomware attacks people by making them download fake attachments that actually consist of malicious ransomware. These encryption viruses are of Trojan type but unlike other viruses, it did not make copies of themselves.
Cryptolocker ransomware spread itself through a game over Zeus botnet which involved a chain of malware-infected computers controlled by botnet operators without the consent of the system owners. The crypto locker ransomware was powerful enough to destroy a lot of security guidelines of a lot of computers but in 2014, the botnet Zeus was put down by an international task force named Operation Tovar. This prevented a lot of damage and made the decryption keys available online without any charges. However, enough damage was done already and the masterminds who were behind all this had earned a lot that too in the form of Bitcoins.
How crypto locker ransomware works
Every ransomware virus uses a unique key to encrypt files but crypto locker ransomware uses a two-key method of encryption which is unsymmetrical and difficult to decrypt.
Asymmetrical encryption includes two keys, one key that is used to encrypt files and the second that can decrypt the same files. In the case of crypto locker ransomware, both the keys are under the control of the frauds sending these ransomware viruses. The files have a “.encrypted” extension after encryption.
Once the encryption is done, which is a long procedure, it behaves like most of the other encryption viruses. It drops a text that says that the files have been encrypted and to decrypt they’ll have to pay ransom in the form of Bitcoins.
How to remove crypto locker ransomware
To detox your computer by removing the ransomware, all you need is reliable antivirus software. A reliable source is mandatory because there are a lot of such data recovery software or antivirus software available in the market that promise to decrypt the files but carry malware themselves. Beware of such software and try not to download third-party apps if you don’t want to cause more damage to your data.
- Download the decryption tool of your choice, install and launch it to your system.
- Now, run the software and click on “deep scan”, so that all the files with or without encryption extensions are located and can be restored.
- Once the scanning is done, a pop-up notifying the same will be displayed on the screen. This is your queue to proceed with the recovery process. Select the files and folders you want to restore and click on “recover data”.
- After the recovery process is completed, save your files and it’s better advised to store them on two devices.
Final note
- Make a habit of always backing up your data.
- Do not download files, software or applications from third party sources.
- Don’t click on anonymous links.
- Keep updating your software.
- Always have advanced tools for data recovery and decryption.
- Security software usage is advised.
