'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware

'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware Image

The 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware infection is one of the many variants of what is commonly referred to as the International Police Association (I.P.A.) ransomware Trojan. The 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware variant in particular targets computer users located in German-speaking counrties, such as Austria, Germany, and certain parts of Switzerland. There is no actual police association behind this malicious and threatening message. Rather, the 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware message belongs to a commonly used online scam that seeks to scare inexperienced computer users into giving up their money. ESG security analysts suspect that the many variants of the 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware infection originated in the Russian Federation and, since then, have disseminated all over the world. If you cannot access your computer and a full-screen message in German is displayed instead of your desktop, then it is highly probable that your computer has become infected with the 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware.

The 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware scam is simple: criminals block access to their victims' computers using a Trojan that displays a threatening message supposedly sent by the German police force. This message claims that the victim's computer was involved in illegal activities (for example, downloading copyrighted files illegally or viewing child pornography). It then goes on to threaten the victim with jail time and with a fine of thousands of Euros unless a smaller fine of one hundred Euro is deposited using Ukash or PaySafeCard. However, ESG security researchers have determined that the 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware infection does not respond to any Ukash or PaySafeCard codes, meaning that even if the victim pays the ransom, the computer will still be blocked.

While removing the 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware infection is as simple as removing its malicious registry entry and associated files, the fact that this ransomware Trojan blocks access to the infected computer means that an extra step is required. ESG malware analysts advise starting up the infected computer in Safe Mode. This will prevent the 'Ihr Computer ist Gesperrt' Ransomware infection from loading automatically upon start-up. From there, it is a simple matter of relaying on a trustworthy anti-malware program to scan the infected computer.