BTC Ransomware

The BTC Ransomware is a ransomware Trojan that is used to take the victims' files hostage and then demand payment of a large ransom. The BTC Ransomware is just one of countless ransomware Trojans that are being used to force computer users to pay large ransoms currently. Files that have been compromised by the BTC Ransomware infection are easy to identify because their extensions will have been changed to '.BTC,' which is the abbreviation for BitCoin, the online currency that is commonly used to carry out ransom payments in relation to these attacks. The BTC Ransomware drops a ransom note demanding that victims contact the email addresses zikr@protonmail.com or zikr@usa.com to carry out the payment.

The Multiple Infection Methods Used by the BTC Ransomware

The BTC Ransomware looks for file types that are widely used, in particular, targeting media files and documents. Whenever the BTC Ransomware finds one of these files, it uses a strong encryption algorithm to encrypt the file, making it inaccessible. The BTC Ransomware drops its ransom note in a text file named 'idr__the BTC_decrypt_files.txt.' The most common way of distributing the BTC Ransomware is through corrupted spam email messages. The BTC Ransomware may be distributed using corrupted email attachments or links that lead to attack websites. Email messages used to distribute them may carry out some social engineering tactic, such as attempting to convince the victim that the attached file is a receipt or invoice of some sort. The BTC Ransomware may be obtained from corrupted torrent files distributed on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

How the BTC Ransomware Carries out Its Infection

The BTC Ransomware will drop its corrupted files in one of the following locations on the victim's file system:

'%AppData%
%Roaming%.
%Local%
%Temp%
%SystemDrive%
%User's Profile%'

After dropping its corrupted files, the BTC Ransomware will begin encrypting the victim's files. The BTC Ransomware will attack all files except the files contained in folders that are excluded from its attack. The following directories may be excluded from the BTC Ransomware attack:

'%Windows%
%System%
%System32%
%Program Files%'

During its attack, the BTC Ransomware will encrypt video, audio, and other media files, as well as Office documents and files associated with commonly used programs. After the BTC Ransomware carries out its attack, it drops its ransom note, which is named 'idr__the BTC_decrypt_files.txt.' The contents of the BTC Ransomware's ransom note read as follows:

'Hello!
For getting back Your PC data You need to contact with us through email as soon as possible:
zikr@protonmail.com
zikra@protonmail.com
zikr@usa.com'

Dealing with the BTC Ransomware and Similar Ransomware Attacks

It is very likely that the BTC Ransomware is part of a large RaaS (Ransomware as a Service) operation. Malware analysts advise computer users to remove all files associated with the BTC Ransomware, as well as those that have been compromised by the attack. Unfortunately, the files that have been encrypted by the BTC Ransomware will remain encrypted. There is no decryption tool that can help computer users recover from the BTC Ransomware attacks currently. Because of this, prevention is key when dealing with threats like the BTC Ransomware. PC security researchers strongly urge all computer users to ensure that they have backups of all of their files and these backups are updated regularly. Computer users with a backup can recover from a BTC Ransomware attack by simply restoring their files from the backup after removing the BTC Ransomware infection itself. Investing in a backup will cost only a fraction of what it would cost to recover the files compromised by the BTC Ransomware and, fortunately, is a definitive solution that can protect computer users from the BTC Ransomware and from all other ransomware Trojans that use a similar approach in their attack on computer users.