'.xxx File Extension' Ransomware
Threat Scorecard
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Ranking: The ranking of a particular threat in EnigmaSoft’s Threat Database.
Severity Level: The determined severity level of an object, represented numerically, based on our risk modeling process and research, as explained in our Threat Assessment Criteria.
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See also Threat Assessment Criteria.
Threat Level: | 80 % (High) |
Infected Computers: | 53 |
First Seen: | January 15, 2016 |
Last Seen: | January 2, 2021 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware is a newly discovered variant of the infamous TeslaCrypt ransomware. The '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware is a ransomware infection that uses AES encryption to encrypt the victims' files. This ransomware Trojan demands that the victim pays a ransom of $500 USD in BitCoin or $1000 USD using other methods. The exact payment amount and method tend to vary from one variant to another. The '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware is designed to attack computer users in the United States, although these attacks have been observed in other parts of the world. Among the files it encrypts, the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware also targets video game files, which are rarely backed up, but may contain the result of many hours of investment on the part of computer users. Many ransomware Trojans will encrypt all document and media files on the victim's computer as well. Computer users should protect their computers from the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware attack, since it is very difficult to recover from a '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware attack once your files have been encrypted.
PC Users that don't Have a Backup Need to Pay the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware Ransom
The '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware encrypts the victim's files and holds those files for ransom until the money transaction occurs. This makes the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware particularly threatening, since the files that have been encrypted cannot be recovered without access to the decryption key. Ransomware, like its name implies, takes the victim's files hostage and then demand the payment of a ransom from the victims. Essentially, the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware will scan a computer for files with popular extensions such as DOC, 7Z, RAR, M4A, etc. (these extensions are part of the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware's configuration, and may vary depending on the variant of TeslaCrypt being used). There are currently numerous variants of this threat, which exploded in number since early 2015.) After scanning the victim's hard drives for these files, the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware will encrypt the files using an AES encryption algorithm. There is no way to decrypt these files without obtaining the unique decryption key. Part of the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware's attack involves changing the encrypted files' extension to '.xxx' and dropping various text files to alert the computer users about the attack and instructions for the ransom's payment. The '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware will change the victim's Desktop image to a picture containing the following message (or a slight variant with similar content):
Your personal files are encrypted!
Your files have been safely encrypted on this PC: photos, videos, documents, etc. Click "Show Encrypted Files" button to view a complete list on encrypted files, and you can personally verify this.
Encryption was produced using a unique public key RSA-2048 generated for this computer. To decrypt files you need to obtain the private key.
Preventing the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware Attacks and Recovering from Ransomware
If your computer has been infected with the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware or similar ransomware, it should be removed immediately with the help of a reliable security program. The best way to deal with the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware is to restore your files from a backup after wiping your drives. This will ensure that the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware will not encrypt your files again or remain in your PC undetected. Because of this, the best measure computer users can take to be immune from ransomware is to backup all important files or, even better, their entire computer on an external device or the cloud. PC security researchers are against paying the '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware's ransom. There is no guarantee that the con artists will return the victim's files to normal and, by paying their ransom, computer users are helping ill-minded people to continue financing their ransomware attacks on other computers.