DC Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove virus?

Written by Brendan Smith
The Dc virus belongs to the Dharma ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, creating the FILES ENCRYPTED.txt text files in every folder containing encrypted files.
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What is known about the Dcvirus?

☝️ A scientifically correct designation for the Dc would be “a Dharma family ransomware-type malicious agent”.

The scheme of renaming is the following: [contact email][victim\’s ID].DC. As a part of encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be turned into “report.docx.[931AS12EK3].[decrypt1397cb@protonmail.com].DC”.

In every folder that contains the encrypted files, a FILES ENCRYPTED.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is basically the scheme of the malefaction.

Dc outline:
NameDc Virus
Ransomware family1Dharma ransomware
Extension.[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC
Ransomware noteFILES ENCRYPTED.txt
DetectionMSIL/Filecoder.LokiLocker.C, Ransom.LokiLocker, PWS:Win32/Ymacco.AA0A
SymptomsYour files (photos, videos, documents) get a .[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC extension and you can’t open them.
Fix ToolSee If Your System Has Been Affected by Dc virus

In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Dc looks like. Each filename has the “.[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC” extension appended to it.

Dc Virus - encrypted .[contact email][victim\'s ID].DC files

That is how encrypted “.[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC” files look.

How did Dc ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most popular ways for malefactors to have the Dc virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer networks.

If you open your mailbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a viral item attached to them. So it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan virus model2. A Trojan is a program that gets into your PC pretending to be something else. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some software. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that encrypts your data. Since the installation wizard can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The optimal thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never guess what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of the Dc virus?

It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Dc virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Often racketeers would decode several of your files to prove that they really have the decryption program. As Dc virus is a relatively new ransomware, anti-malware designers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. However, the decryption tools are frequently upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Sure thing, if the hackers succeed in encrypting someone’s essential files, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of racketeers just disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.

The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Surely, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Dc, that work similarly. For instance, Zaqi, Qqqw, Maak, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Dc are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes emerge in each directory containing encoded files.

Some fortunate people were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avoid ransomware attack?

Dc ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can armour yourself from ransomware infiltration in three easy steps:

  • Never open any letters from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email carefully. A hoax email will always contain mistakes.
  • Avoid using cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try to find information on this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best solution is not to use such software.
  • And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect armor for your system.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft3

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft4.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your PC.

Run Setup.exe

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Setup

Press “Install” button.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Install

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Splash-Screen

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your PC for Dc infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Scanning

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has finished, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Scan Result

FAQ

🤔 Is it possible to open “.[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC” files are decrypted.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.[contact email][victim\’s ID].DC” files ASAP. How can I do that?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Dc virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with actual viruses. The malware that has infected your device is probably still active and running scans periodically to arrest any new files you might create on your PC after the attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Dc ransomware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your PC in the future.

🤔 What should I do if the Dc virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

If that happened, you need to prepare a memory stick with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your system. To stop this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital programs to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the encrypted files can be found elsewhere.

  • If you exchanged your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
  • You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to send those images back to you.
  • If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
  • Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files as well.
  • Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, phone, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ file recovery programs5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

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Brendan Smith
How to Remove DC Ransomware & Recover PC

Name: DC Virus

Description: DC Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .[contact email][victim's ID].DC extension. So, you can't use them at all.

Operating System: Windows

Application Category: Virus

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References

  1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
  2. You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
  3. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
  4. More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
  5. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.

About the author

Brendan Smith

I'm Brendan Smith, a passionate journalist, researcher, and web content developer. With a keen interest in computer technology and security, I specialize in delivering high-quality content that educates and empowers readers in navigating the digital landscape.

With a focus on computer technology and security, I am committed to sharing my knowledge and insights to help individuals and organizations protect themselves in the digital age. My expertise in cybersecurity principles, data privacy, and best practices allows me to provide practical tips and advice that readers can implement to enhance their online security.

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