King Engine Ransomware

Cybercriminals continue to be taking advantage of the COVID-19 scare to spread their threatening software online. The latest malware campaign to make use of the popularity of the COVID-19 subject is related to a file-locker called the King Engine Ransomware. This threat appears to be based on the fairly unpopular Hentai Onichan Ransomware, which was discovered in October. Unfortunately, the King Engine Ransomware is not compatible with free decryption tools, and users affected by its attack may have a hard time restoring access to their files.

While the King Engine Ransomware does not shine with any extraordinary features, its authors have adopted a fairly advanced approach to distributing it. They are using fake email messages claiming to contain information about the recipient's COVID-19 test results. Allegedly, the result can be seen in an attached file that is password-protected. However, the password is included in the email message. This is a common trick cybercriminals use to make their messages seem protected and believable.

Just like the original Hentai Onichan Ransomware, this one also drops a ransom note, which extorts the victim for an insane amount of money – 50 Bitcoins, which is worth $676,000 approximately. Needless to say, it is not probable that anyone will accept the offer. Cybersecurity experts believe that the King Engine Ransomware is more likely to be a nasty joke whose authors do not expect to receive any money. A sign of their lack of professionalism is the fact that they are using a Gmail.com-based inbox (hidalgoroberto859@gmail.com). Google does not accept cybercriminals using its services, and it is probably a matter of hours for the email account to be terminated, therefore making it impossible to contact the perpetrators. Unfortunately, while King Engine Ransomware's creators are not professionals, their malware's file-locking mechanism works flawlessly and renders important files inaccessible.

Victims of the King Engine Ransomware attack should use an anti-virus scanner to eliminate the threatening application and then try out alternative file recovery software and methods.