Home Malware Programs Ransomware '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware

'.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware

Posted: December 21, 2016

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 84
First Seen: December 21, 2016
Last Seen: March 16, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware is a Go programming language-based Trojan that encodes your files with a secure cipher to lock them out of your use. Visible symptoms include the appearance of text-based ransom notes and filename changes, although malware experts stress that these details occur only after the damage to your local data. Use backups to recover your content, when possible, and professional anti-malware tools for blocking or deleting the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware.

Preparing for Permanent Data Loss in a Weekend's Time

Not every Trojan of a particular category can have its problems resolved in the same ways, and, for some unfortunate PC owners, permanent loss of data is an inevitable side effect of ignoring their security. The '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware is a threat detected recently that malware analysts can confirm as having a currently unbreakable data-encrypting attack, which has the potential to lock your files in perpetuity. In other aspects of its symptoms and payload, the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware shows few changes from the more easily cracked Trojans than itself.

Current samples of the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware are evading many brands of anti-malware detection successfully, most likely due to the relatively uncommon use of Go as the program's base language. After getting system access, the Trojan can encrypt your files based on either their format or their location, making them unreadable. The '.braincrypt' extension is also inserted into the name of each enciphered file.

Once finished, the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware creates a Notepad TXT message asking you to contact the threat actor over e-mail with your custom ID number. The text also warns that the threat actors may delete your decryption code within two days, once again, forcing the victims to respond quickly or potentially losing their data forever. Malware experts have yet to acquire information on confirming the nature of any ransom payments, although almost every file-encrypting Trojan's campaign may use some form of protected transaction, such as a cryptocurrency.

Outsmarting a the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware Infection

Since malware researchers rate the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware as being not vulnerable to third-party decryption currently, victims without any non-compromised backups may have no free options for recovering their encrypted content. On the other hand, paying con artists a fee to restore your files may not result in your acquiring any decryption code or a fully functional service, making it a high-risk solution. When default security measures are insufficient, threats like the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware are most susceptible to having their damages reversed by backups that you store in safe locations, such as removable drives.

The '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware's campaign is targeting German-based systems currently, with attacks that malware experts can confirm for Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein. Possible distribution methods may include e-mail attachments, watering hole-based website exploits, or targeted, brute-force hacks against RDP systems. Most anti-malware products include various defenses against the first two of these infection techniques while using robust passwords can eliminate the latter. In all cases, delete the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware with updated anti-malware solutions before recovering from any data loss.

With the circulation of new Trojans whose payloads are bulletproof against standardized decryption solutions, PC users everywhere should continue protecting their data by any means necessary. The time it takes to backup your server is unlikely to be more of a workplace efficiency burden than the problems that threats like the '.braincrypt File Extension' Ransomware can cause with one wrong e-mail.

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