Cybercirminals are always looking to come up with new ways to trick ransomware victims into paying. Not all of these efforts are successful in the end, though. BitKangoroo is a new type of malware that will effectively delete your files if no payment is made as requested. It sounds very troubling, and time is of the essence when dealing with this ransomware.
BitKangoroo is A Big Problem For Computer Users
New types of Bitcoin ransomware can be found on every virtual street corner. It is evident criminals will keep using this method to successfully scam users out of their hard-earned money. After all, in this Digital Age, the things we store on our computers are most dear to us, and losing access to that information is unacceptable.
The developers of the newly discovered BitKangoroo ransomware acknowledge this fact. More specifically, they are taking things to the next level by effectively deleting users’ files if they do not pay the ransom in time. That is quite a troublesome development that could be quite disastrous for a lot of people. It is a bit unclear if the malware was originally designed to be called BiKkangoroo, though, but that is of very little consequence right now.
As one would expect from modern types of ransomware, the malware will encrypt computer files and give them a different file extension. In this particular case, the new file extension is “. bitkangoroo”. Restoring file access will be impossible unless the user receives the decryption key to do so.
What is rather troubling is how victims have 60 minutes to pay the Bitcoin ransom, or risk having their files removed from the device entirely. That is a very brief amount of time, considering people have to buy one Bitcoin first and foremost. Very few exchange platforms provide instant transaction in this regard. It seems impossible for victims to adhere to these strict guidelines. Luckily, it appears “only” one file is deleted for every hour passing by.
Thankfully, there is a way to bypass all of these troubles altogether. A free decryption tool for BitKangoroo has been made available by security researcher Michael Gillespie. That does not mean everyone will use this tool to get rid of the malware infection, though. It appears a lot of ransomware victims will resort to paying the Bitcoin demand first and foremost, rather than look for free decryption alternatives.
What is even more disturbing is how BitKangoroo is currently still in the early stage of development. It is possible the creators will come up with new ways to successfully thwart any free decryption attempt in future iterations of this malware. It also appears victims have only one attempt to enter the correct decryption key, otherwise, their entire file catalog will be deleted. It is a very nasty piece of malware, to say the least.
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