Jope Ransomware

The Jope Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan that's part of the Djvu Ransomware or the STOP Ransomware family. The Jope Ransomware blocks files on your computer by encrypting them, as well as creating ransom-based text messages, deleting backups, and blocking websites with settings changes. Appropriate anti-malware products should remove the Jope Ransomware preemptively, although a remote backup is always advisable for preserving documents and other content.

New Ransoms for the Start of a New Week

While many criminals are turning the Coronavirus epidemic into a ransoming theme, a la CoronaVirus Ransomware, more-traditional file-locking Trojans very much remain parts of the threat landscape. The STOP Ransomware family has yet to switch from its old pattern of four-letter words, randomizing them for each new build of the Trojan that goes out in the wild. Like the Gesd Ransomware, the Redl Ransomware, the Lokf Ransomware, or the Zobm Ransomware, the Jope Ransomware renders victims helpless by blocking files and websites before proffering a premium solution.

The Jope Ransomware's family of the STOP Ransomware (AKA Djvu Ransomware) circulates through torrents, spam e-mails or targeted attacks against vulnerable servers. The Trojan uses a typical combination of the AES and RSA encryptions for stopping media from opening, which includes pictures, documents, spreadsheets, archives and similar content. Each filename affected also displays an extension with the customized label of the campaign (for example, 'picture.jpg.jope). Malware experts are, as always, rating Windows systems as being at the most risk from the Jope Ransomware's campaign.

The Jope Ransomware also can delete the Restore Points by wiping the Shadow Volume Copies, as is true of most of the Ransomware-as-a-Services like it. Together, these attacks deny victims of most means of data recovery or access without paying the Jope Ransomware's ransom, as per its TXT instructions. This family also holds semi-unique dangers for Web-browsing: variants of the STOP Ransomware may edit domain and IP address settings in the Hosts file for blocking domains related to cyber-security vendors or Microsoft, explicitly.

Ensuring that the Joke's on the Jope Ransomware

Tactics for circulating file-locker Trojans often hinge on software or media piracy-based themes, such as 'free' downloads of famous movies or hacking utilities. Users also should be cautious around sites promising applications or news related to current events like the Coronavirus epidemic. Besides safe downloading behavior, users can prevent attacks from compromising their accounts and files by using properly-strong passwords as precautions against brute-forcing.

The Jope Ransomware's family uses a preset ransoming method, with e-mail addresses changing occasional, but other elements being static. However, the business isn't safe for purchasing a decrypt and restoring any blocked media necessarily. Users should test every alternate solution first, including freeware decryptors and other backup options. Backups on different devices are the most robust protection against file-locker Trojans from the STOP Ransomware and every other RaaS.

The Jope Ransomware is a very familiar continuation of a business model that preys on the already-weak: those without appropriate backup redundancy, downloading history or server protection. While hoping for nearly a thousand USD per victim, the Jope Ransomware can do no more than hope, as long as users control themselves and their file systems.