NazCrypt Ransomware

The NazCrypt Ransomware is an encryption ransomware Trojan. Threats like the NazCrypt Ransomware are designed to make the victims' files inaccessible to demand a ransom payment. To accomplish their goal, these threats take the victim's files hostage. The NazCrypt Ransomware is based on an open source ransomware engine that has been available since 2015. The NazCrypt Ransomware itself, however, was first observed on February 19, 2018. It is very common for the code from one ransomware Trojan to another to have similar elements and large portions of code recycled from one threat to the other. Today, ransomware Trojans are being used to carry out attacks on numerous computer users and are responsible for a high percentage of threat attacks being used to profit at the expense of computer users.

How You will Notice the NazCrypt Ransomware’s Presence

Malware researchers suspect that the versions of the NazCrypt Ransomware being used to carry out attacks are unfinished currently, and are test versions of this threat. Although most ransomware Trojans use the AES encryption or other such methods to encrypt the victim's files individually, the NazCrypt Ransomware seems to use the same technology as the popular free program 7-Zip to make the victim's files inaccessible. The NazCrypt Ransomware will target the user-generated files in its attack, which may include videos, audio, images, numerous document types, databases, etc. The following are examples of the files that are typically encrypted by the NazCrypt Ransomware attack:

.3dm, .3g2, .3gp, .7zip, .aaf, .accdb, .aep, .aepx, .aet, .ai, .aif, .as, .as3, .asf, .asp, .asx, .avi, .bmp, .c, .class, .cpp, .cs, .csv, .dat, .db, .dbf, .doc, .docb, .docm, .docx, .dot, .dotm, .dotx, .dwg, .dxf, .efx, .eps, .fla, .flv, .gif, .h, .idml, .iff, .indb, .indd, .indl, .indt, .inx, .jar, .java, .jpeg, .jpg, .js, .m3u, .m3u8, .m4u, .max, .mdb, .mid, .mkv, .mov, .mp3, .mp4, .mpa, .mpeg, .mpg, .msg, .pdb, .pdf, .php, .plb, .pmd, .png, .pot, .potm, .potx, .ppam, .ppj, .pps, .ppsm, .ppsx, .ppt, .pptm, .pptx, .prel, .prproj, .ps, .psd, .py, .ra, .rar, .raw, .rb, .rtf, .sdf, .sdf, .ses, .sldm, .sldx, .sql, .svg, .swf, .tif, .txt, .vcf, .vob, .wav, .wma, .wmv, .wpd, .wps, .xla, .xlam, .xll, .xlm, .xls, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .xlt, .xltm, .xltx, .xlw, .xml, .xqx, .xqx, .zip.

The NazCrypt Ransomware and similar threats will avoid encrypting the Windows system files or applications since they depend on the victim being able to continue using the affected operating system to pay a ransom or contact the cybercrooks.

How the NazCrypt Ransomware Demands Its Ransom Payment

When the NazCrypt Ransomware locks a file, it will be simple to identify because the NazCrypt Ransomware will add the file extension '.nazcrypt' to each affected file's name. The NazCrypt Ransomware delivers a ransom note in the form of a text file named 'NAZCRYPT_RECOVERY_INSTRUCTIONS.txt.' This text file is dropped on the infected computer's desktop and demands that the victim makes a ransom payment to a specific Bitcoin wallet address. The following is the full message contained in the NazCrypt Ransomware ransom note:

'Your important files have been encrypted with the NazCrypt Ransomware. Send $300 worth of bitcoins to address 13ADfA738SDFHdceP7348DASin3se2 to retrieve your files back!!'

One of the issues concerning the NazCrypt Ransomware and its ransom demand is that the Bitcoin Wallet address used in its ransom note is invalid. Furthermore, the NazCrypt Ransomware ransom note does not contain an email contact address or any other such contact method to contact the people responsible for the attack. Because of this, the NazCrypt Ransomware is not capable of generating a profit for its creators in its current form.

Dealing with a NazCrypt Ransomware Infection

There's no assurance that paying the NazCrypt Ransomware ransom the affected computer users will get their data back. Preventive measures are the key when it comes to these threats. Malware researchers advise computer users to have file backups on an external memory device or the cloud and to use a reliable security program to protect their PCs.