How to remove KoKoKrypt ransomware virus

What makes KoKoKrypt virus a nasty cyber infection?

KoKoKrypt virus is a ransomware known as Koko Locker, for short. It belongs to the category of crypto-ransomware ^[1] infections that hold infected computer files in captivity to extort money from their owners. The poor victims are coaxed into paying the demanded ransom within 72 hours after the attack, fearing that otherwise, the files will remain encrypted without an ability to retrieve them. Luckily, this is not technically true. There are alternative ways ^[2] the encryption can be bypassed and the files rolled back to their original state. Some of the most promising data recovery options are provided below the article. While making your way there, you will also come across manual KoKoKrypt removal guidelines which you might need to use in order to decontaminate the infection and complete a smooth virus removal. We suggest employing FortectIntego or similar anti-malware solution for this purpose.

KoKoKrypt malware is a typical ransomware example in a sense that its creators put a lot of effort into obfuscating ^[3] its activity on the affected device and preventing the malicious files from being detected by security software or terminated by the users themselves. The virus may run on the infected device disguised as legitimate Windows processes, including Svchost.exe, Vssadmin, etc. This way the virus may continue running on the computer unnoticed until all of the predetermined documents, images, archives, video and audio files and programs are encrypted and appended with .kokolocker file extensions. After the encryption is complete, though, the contents of the files are already damaged so it does not matter whether the virus gets exposed or not. The final touch is the ransom note this malware drops on every folder containing infected files. The note goes like this:

— KoKoKrypt —
All of your personal data got encrypted by KokoKrypt!
To unlock all your data of this computer, you have to do the following steps:
1. Get a Bitcoin Wallet
2. Get 0.1 BTC on it
3. Put your BTC Address below
4. Wait for decryption process
Payment may be delayed for 24/48 hours, so don’t worry! You have 78h to pay!
After 78h, KoKoKrypt will uninstall itself and leave your files encrypted!
Button “Pay using Bitcoin.”

When this note is deployed on the computer, then comes the victim’s turn to decide whether to pay the ransom or not. The experts speak strongly against that and point out that by paying up, you only support the scammers and provide them with more motivation to continue their fraudulent activities in the future. However, if you remove KoKoKrypt virus or wait until it deletes itself from the computer automatically, the scammers will lose the chance of earning easy money. By avoiding collaboration with the cyber criminals, you also reduce other risks such as data leaks, financial loss or privacy infringements.

Can you avoid ransomware attack?

KoKoKrypt virus is a dangerous parasite that can mess up your system and the containing files. By far, this virus is undecryptable, and there are a lot of other viruses that rampage through the computers uncontrollably. Unfortunately, if you are already infected with KoKoKrypt, you will have no other choice but to acknowledge the fact that most of your precious files are probably good as gone. Nevertheless, for similar situations not to recur in the future, we suggest following three basic rules. First, you should always back up your files ^[4]. This will guarantee that your important documents are safe and always there in case of need. Secondly, do not install unfamiliar programs or download suspicious attachment files you may receive in your email. Always double-check the legitimacy and trustworthiness ^[5] of the content entering your computer. Finally, obtain a reliable anti-malware solution and make sure it is always running an updated version.

How to remove KoKoKrypt virus?

If you have been infected with KoKoKrypt virus, do not rush and take appropriate actions one step at a time. First and foremost, do not make any transactions to the hackers’ accounts. Paying up simply helps the cyber criminals to achieve their initial goal — raise some easy money. Instead, you should remove KoKoKrypt with all of its malicious files from your system. Extermination of the virus should go smooth if you use specialized tools, such as antivirus or anti-malware programs for this purpose. Nevertheless, you may encounter trouble launching the security tools. To stop the virus from blocking them, please look through the manual KoKoKrypt removal instructions below the article.