How malicious is Epic ransomware?
Epic ransomware (also known as Crypt.Locker) belongs to a well known Jigsaw family of ransomware viruses. Its aim is to encrypt users’ files and convince them that there is the only way to decrypt them. Fortunately, you can find several “Data recovery” methods presented by 2-spyware.com security experts in the end of this post. It is known that Epic virus began infecting computers in the first quarter of 2016. It has been improved by Jigsaw developers of several times, so the initial version of this ransomware seems quite simple when compared with additional releases. The latest variant of Epic ransomware has a bunch of unique traits that allow to distinguish it as an isolated infection itself. Instead of using references from the famous horror movie “Saw” [1] as they have done in Jigsaw, the virus creators now turn to something much closer to the cyber scene and use images and style of the well-known hacktivist group Anonymous [2].
Once the ransomware enters the system, the victim becomes familiar with the lock screen showing an image of a man with Guy Fawkes mask gradually filling with the ransom text, timer and a link to an anonymous payment site. The timer’s deadline is set to one hour and the text above it explains the rules of this sick game. Every hour, the virus will destroy from one to five of the personal files stored on the infected device. The cycle will perpetuate until the user pays the ransom or (if he/she is lucky) manages to remove Epic virus from the computer on time. Each of infected files have .epic extension appended, so you can easily find encrypted files among the clean ones. When dealing with the removal procedure, you should be especially careful with the whole procedure because, if Epic removal is approached incorrectly, it may delete up to 1000 of your personal files. To diminish the risk of such disastrous consequences, you should trust the virus removal to some professional antivirus software, such as FortectIntego.
Epic ransomware targets around 120 types of files. These documents, pictures, video/audio material and other data is encrypted with a sophisticated AES cipher [3] which blocks the user from accessing it without a special key. Besides, at the end of the encryption, the affected files feature .epic extensions instead of the regular ones. This way, the virus makes it easier for the user to grasp the scope of the attack. Nevertheless, perhaps the most staggering aspect of this virus is the amount of ransom its creators demand for the file recovery in their ransom note:
Very bad news! I am a so-called crypt.locker with following advanced functions:
Encrypting all your Data
Collecting all Logins, Contacts, ….
Uploading all of it on a Sever
Sending a copy of this Package to All of you ContactsNow here are some good news:
The pending task will never be executed and all your files will be decrypted again as soon as you did a BITCOIN PAYMENT within the next 72 h.
I will then remove myself from you system – like nothing ever happened!
To show you that I am serious I will delete every hour 1-5 files – better hurry!
[…]
In particular, 5000 USD must be sent to the hackers’ account in form of Bitcoins [4]. It is completely crazy to accept such demands, especially when there are alternative ways which can be used for the data recovery. You will find a couple of them described at the end of the article. In the meanwhile, you should have all the things ready for the Epic removal. For more in-depth virus elimination advice, please keep reading the article.
How can you prevent your computer from an epic disaster?
Epic virus infiltration can really be compared to an utter disaster, especially if the virus has locked some highly sensitive data on your computer. Luckily, the consequences of its infection do not necessarily have to be vital. Though there is virtually no way to prevent Epic infiltration a full 100%, you still have the option to protect your data from being corrupted. The best way to do it is to make regular data backups and keep stored somewhere safe [5]. Keep in mind that even though it is more convenient, virtual storage drives, including cloud services are not suitable for protecting your data in case of a ransomware attack. The Epic malware may find ways to sneak into these platforms as well. Thus, it is best to keep your backups on some external storage devices, USB, HDD, etc. You can easily recover your data using these backups after you remove the virus from the computer.
What is the key to Epic virus removal?
Just like its predecessor Jigsaw, the Epic ransomware can be eliminated from the infected device quite easily. Of course, as easily as ransomware removal goes. This means that you still might have to face some problems along the way. For instance, the virus may attempt to block your antivirus from running the full system scan and, this way, keep on deleting your files one-by-one. In such a case, you will have to run your device in Safe Mode and follow the guidelines below. After you’ve done decontaminating the infection, run the system scan again to finish Epic removal. Please keep in mind that no data recovery steps can be taken before the virus and all of its related components that are eliminated from the computer. You can check out our data recovery recommendations at the end of this article after you remove Epic entirely.
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