DogeCrypt Ransomware

The DogeCrypt Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan that's an update of the DesuCrypt Ransomware, an open-source Trojan family. The DogeCrypt Ransomware harms Windows computers by disabling their media files, theoretically, temporarily, with its encryption, and holds them for ransom. Users with backups on other devices can recover from any attacks efficiently, and anti-malware software should block or remove the DogeCrypt Ransomware.

The Adorable Memes Biting into Windows Media

Internet pop-culture makes for a prominent subject where more casual hackers concern themselves, and it's responsible for the names and themes of many Trojans and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs). The fact that a Trojan looks laughable doesn't mean it is, though, which the DogeCrypt Ransomware shows quite well. This update of an open-source Trojan family uses encryption with the same potency one might expect from any premium Ransomware-as-a-Service.

The DogeCrypt Ransomware uses a custom extension for files that it blocks with the family's traditional encryption routine, which can keep documents, pictures, spreadsheets, and other media from opening by converting them into encrypted versions. This version of the Trojan family is profit-motivated, rather than a 'prank.' The DogeCrypt Ransomware appends both a 'DogeCrypt' string (referencing an online visual gag with a Shiba Inu dog) and information for partaking in the ransoming process for the decryptor efficiently. Readers might note that the DesuCrypt Ransomware is one of the various Trojans of this ilk with a perfectly-free decryption tool on the Web, which is the most significant drawback of the DogeCrypt Ransomware's open-source code.

Text messages and hijacked desktop wallpapers are the hallmark symptoms of the DesuCrypt Ransomware infections, which remain present in the DogeCrypt Ransomware. Malware experts recommend against identifying threats by these superficial elements, which display after the data-locking attack and easily imitate other genealogies' Trojans. Like most threats of its kind, the DogeCrypt Ransomware targets Windows, although encryption is readily applicable to different environments, from Android and Linux to OS X and macOS.

Prying the Fangs of a Furry Fiend Out of Files

The DogeCrypt Ransomware has thematic similarities to the older and more destructive DoggeWiper Ransomware and the Desu Ransomware from the Aurora Ransomware family. The prominence of online jokes usually is part of the telltale signs of a non-targeted, less professional campaign. Attackers might distribute the DogeCrypt Ransomware with random torrents, such as fake game cracks. They also could install the Trojan more directly, such as brute-forcing a server's login credentials or attaching the installer to an e-mail message.

When concerning public-source Trojans like this one, there usually is a possibility of free data recovery from freeware utilities. This mercy isn't available for most Trojans that include encryption as part of their feature sets. Windows users can compensate against similar attacks from even more threatening sources by having backups secured and updated on other devices. Victims should prioritize avoiding ransoms, if possible, while recovering their documents, databases, and other work.

Professional anti-malware services will detect threats of this nature adequately in nearly all attack attempts. Users with such programs up-to-date should have few obstacles between them and the removal of the DogeCrypt Ransomware as it appears.

As powerful as words are, they're less so than actions. Trojans with friendly-sounding names rarely live up to them, as the DogeCrypt Ransomware attests with its canine facade over mercenary data-raiding.