Ransomware

Mikel Ransomware is a malicious infection designed to encrypt personal data and extort money for its decryption. It is also identified as a new variant of another file-encryptor named Proxima. During encryption, Mikel Ransomware assigns the .mikel extension to highlight the change. For instance, a file like 1.pdf will change to 1.pdf.mikel and reset its original icon. Please note that deleting the assigned extension from the encrypted file will not return access to it. Encryption makes data permanently locked and requires decryption keys to unlock it. After the encryption is complete, the virus creates the Mikel_Help.txt text note with instructions regarding decryption.

STOP Ransomware is a sophisticated encryption virus, that uses the Salsa20 algorithm to encode sensitive personal data, such as photos, videos, and documents. The latest version (Iowd Ransomware), appeared in the middle of February 2023, adds .iowd extension to files and makes them unreadable. To date, the family includes about more than 600 representatives, and the total number of affected users is approaching a million. Most of the attacks are in Europe and South America, India, and Southeast Asia. The threat also affected the United States, Australia, and South Africa. Although the Iowd virus is less known than GandCrab, Dharma, and other ransomware trojans, it is this year that accounts for more than half of the detected attacks. Moreover, the next rating participant, the aforementioned Dharma, lags behind him by this indicator by more than four times. A significant role in the prevalence of STOP Ransomware is played by its diversity: in the most active periods, experts found three or four new versions daily, each of which hit several thousand victims.

Hhoo has been classified as a ransomware-type virus, which encrypts personal data using cryptographic algorithms. Being yet another version of the Djvu/STOP family, Hhoo can target both individuals and organizations to demand high amounts of ransom. It appeared in the middle of February 2023 and hit thousands of users. Ransom is a so-called payment required by cybercriminals in exchange for the blocked data. Extortionists provide detailed information on that inside of a text note (_readme.txt) which is created after Hhoo ends up file encryption. The encryption process can be easily spotted by new extensions that are assigned to each of the files. This virus appends the .hhoo extension so that an encrypted piece ends up looking like this 1.pdf.hhoo.

CRYBrazil is a ransomware variant that was discovered by MalwareHunterTeam in 2018. This virus mainly targets Brazilian and Portuguese users in order to encrypt potentially important files and then demand a ransom for their decryption. While restricting access to files, the file-encryptor has been observed to assign .crybrazil or .hacked depending on what version penetrated the computer. Once the encryption is finished, CRYBrazil changes the desktop wallpapers to display decryption guidelines and also places the SUA_CHAVE.html file (which leads to a fake download page for Adobe Flash Player) in each folder containing encrypted data. This or other fake websites may therefore be used for distributing unwanted software or additional malware infections.

Hhee Ransomware is a recent virus developed by the STOP/Djvu ransomware family. This group of developers has developed hundreds of ransomware infections designed to render personal data inaccessible and blackmail victims into paying the ransom. Hhee is not an exception as well. This is type of malware that encrypts the files on a victim's computer and demands a ransom payment in exchange for the decryption key to unlock them. It is also known as DJVU ransomware, as, first versions encrypted files with a .djvu extension. During encryption, it renames files with the .hhee so that a sample like 1.pdf will be changed to 1.pdf.hhee and reset its original icon. Immediately after this, the virus creates a text note called _readme.txt (example in the text box below), which contains file-decryption instructions. Currently, there are only few methods to decrypt data encrypted by Hhee Ransomware and chances are quite low. We provide all information in this tutorial.

Having files renamed with the .karen extension (like 1.pdf.karen) means your system is infected with Karen Ransomware. Ransomware is a malicious program usually designed to run encryption of data and demand money from victims for its decryption. After successfully restricting access to files, the virus drops the README.txt text note. However, unlike the majority of ransomware infections, Karen's text note is incomplete and does not contain any decryption-related information. The file-encryptor also opens a webpage with a field to enter UID (unique identifier), which is absent in the note as well. This means it would be impossible to contact the cybercriminals and pay the supposed ransom to return the data. The reason for that could be that cybercriminals released this ransomware as a premature version to test its functioning and effectiveness.

If you were attacked by the virus, your files are encrypted, not accessible, and got .hhmm extensions, that means your PC is infected with Hhmm Ransomware (sometimes called STOP Ransomware or Djvu Ransomware, named after .djvu extension, that was initially added to encrypted files). This encryption virus was very active since 2017 (.hhmm appeared in the middle of February, 2023) and has caused great financial damage to thousands of users. Unfortunately, there is very difficult to track down the malefactors, because they use anonymous TOR servers and cryptocurrency. However, with instructions, given in this article you will be able to remove Hhmm Ransomware and return your files. Hhmm Ransomware creates _readme.txt file, that is called "ransom note" and contains payment instructions and contact details. Virus puts it on the desktop and in the folders with encrypted files. Developers can be contacted via emails: support@freshmail.top and datarestorehelp@airmail.cc.

Vvoo Ransomware is a conditional name, given by security experts, for the recent version of STOP/Djvu Ransomware, that appends .vvoo extensions to files. STOP Ransomware is a wide-spread, long-living ransomware infection, that has been active since 2017. As it uses RSA-1024 cryptography encryption and online key (in most cases) direct decryption using released decryptors is currently not effective. However, some methods of file-recovery, provided in this article, may help you restore some of your files or even all the data. If your files were encrypted with offline key (2-3% of all cases) 100% decryption becomes possible with STOP Djvu Decryptor from EmsiSoft, featured on the page below. In general, Vvoo Ransomware creates ransom note _readme.txt, that contains decryption conditions, amount of ransom and contact details.