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CryptoBit Ransomware

Posted: April 22, 2016

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 0
First Seen: April 22, 2016
Last Seen: November 2, 2020
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The CryptoBit Ransomware is a file encryptor that holds your computer's data hostage with the motive of forcing payments for a corresponding decryption service that supposedly only its fraudster admins can provide. The often exaggerated inviolability of such features, as well as the fickle nature of having harmful deliver services, causes malware researchers to suggest using any other means of data recovery, whenever possible. You also should use your standard anti-malware tools for removing the CryptoBit Ransomware as a priority, even before trying to decrypt any of your files.

The Value of Your Files Compared to a Bit(coin)

The CryptoBit Ransomware (not to be mistaken for Cryptorbit Ransomware, a similar threat from 2014 of the same classification) is a Trojan recently seen in 2016. While past threats mirror many of its essential functions, this one does differ from the others regarding at least one aspect: a steeply-incrementing ransom timer. The majority of ransomware-based threats, while trafficking in Bitcoins, limit themselves to around half to one Bitcoin in ransom demands, approximately two to four hundred USD. Although the CryptoBit Ransomware starts its ransoms at one Bitcoin, it increments them each day. After one week, victims could be asked to pay over three thousand dollars.

The CryptoBit Ransomware extracts this ransom value by encrypting the files on your PC. Current versions of the CryptoBit Ransomware recognize just under one hundred different formats for encryption, including among them both media formats, such as JPG images, and text content, such as Word documents. Like many types of modern ransomware, the CryptoBit Ransomware uses a public key for the initial encryption routine but couples the decryption with a private key. In theory, only the CryptoBit Ransomware's maintainers have access to the latter, thereby necessitating payment as rapidly as possible to prevent data recovery costs from spiraling out of control.

The Most Affordable Ways of Opting out of a Trojan's Timer

Uninformed PC owners might be tempted to pay the CryptoBit Ransomware's ransom as soon as possible after seeing their PCs infected (which leaves symptoms, such as a high-visibility ransom note). However, recent findings by the Panda Security may point to significant vulnerabilities in the CryptoBit Ransomware's encryption process. This flaws could assist in the development of a free decryptor for restoring data without needing any form of payment. Even if such progress ends in failure, the CryptoBit Ransomware has no method of harming any backups on cloud servers or inaccessible locations, such as any detached USB drives.

Preventative security and data protection strategies are useful both for restricting the damages of a CryptoBit Ransomware and limiting new CryptoBit Ransomware infections. Most file encrypting Trojans seen by malware experts use e-mail-based infection techniques, which you can prevent by a combination of file scanning security and a refusal to enable harmful macro content. Despite the importance of removing the CryptoBit Ransomware infections expeditiously, cautious PC owners would do well to keep their files out of harm's way at all.

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