Threat Database Ransomware Cryptofag Ransomware

Cryptofag Ransomware

By GoldSparrow in Ransomware

The Cryptofag Ransomware is a ransomware Trojan that is used to carry out ransomware attacks on victims. The Cryptofag Ransomware is designed to hold the victim hostage by encrypting the victim's files and then demanding the payment of a ransom to restore access to the affected files. These attacks have become popular in the last year increasingly, and represent a real threat to computer users. Because of this, it is becoming crucial that computer users take precautions to ensure that their computers are protected against attacks like the Cryptofag Ransomware.

The Threat Presented by the Cryptofag Ransomware’s Presence

The Cryptofag Ransomware is an encryption ransomware Trojan because it encrypts the victim's files to demand a ransom. The Cryptofag Ransomware was first observed on January 17, 2017, and has been responsible for various attacks. The Cryptofag Ransomware may be distributed through spam email messages containing corrupted attachments that download and install the Cryptofag Ransomware on the victim's computer. These corrupted attachments may be linked to a social engineering attack in which the con artists will try to convince the victim to open the file attachment by claiming that it is an invoice, a receipt, or some other legitimate document. Malware analysts consider the Cryptofag Ransomware quite threatening and should handle email attachments with caution to lower the probability of becoming infected with a threat similar to the Cryptofag Ransomware.

How the Cryptofag Ransomware Carries Its Attack on the Victims’ Computers

The goal of the Cryptofag Ransomware is to encrypt the victim's files using a strong encryption algorithm. The Cryptofag Ransomware uses the AES 256 encryption to encrypt the victim's files. The Cryptofag Ransomware will encrypt files on all local drives, as well as on external memory devices connected to the infected computer and shared drives and folders. Depending on the number of files that the Cryptofag Ransomware encrypts, the Cryptofag Ransomware attack may take a while, running in the background on the victim's computer. For example, a personal computer's contents could be encrypted in a few minutes, while the contents of a server database could take several hours to encrypt. The files encrypted by the Cryptofag Ransomware are not identified in any way, unlike other ransomware Trojans that may append a custom extension to the affected files. In some cases, computer users may realize that their files are being encrypted because the Cryptofag Ransomware will use up system resources while running in the background. The Cryptofag Ransomware will use an executable file that is named after a legitimate file process, to prevent computer users from finding the Cryptofag Ransomware when using the Windows Task Manager. For example, the Cryptofag Ransomware's executable may be named 'googleupdate.exe.'

Dealing with a Cryptofag Ransomware Attack

After the encryption has been completed, the Cryptofag Ransomware will drop two files on the victim's computer. One contains part of the encryption key, and the other will contain the ransom note. These files are named 'HACKED.OPENME' and 'KEY2017.KEEPME.' Victims are instructed to contact the con artists through email and purchase BitCoins to carry out the Cryptofag Ransomware payment. The Cryptofag Ransomware ransom average at around $800 USD. PC security researchers strongly advise computer users to avoid paying the Cryptofag Ransomware ransom. Apart from that paying these ransoms allows con artists to finance their activities and continue attack computer users, it is not uncommon for con artists to ignore computer users or ask for more money after the ransom payment is carried out. The best protection against attacks like the Cryptofag Ransomware is to ensure that you have backups of your files. If your files are backed up regularly on the cloud or an external memory device, then it is not difficult to recover from a Cryptofag Ransomware attack, since computer users can then simply restore the affected files from the backup while removing the Cryptofag Ransomware infection itself with a reliable security application.

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