The Dodohacked virus belongs under the ransomware type of infection. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (images, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, creating the READITT.txt text files in every directory containing encrypted files.
Dodohacked virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically correct description for the Dodohacked is “a ransomware infection”.
Dodohacked adds its specific .dodohacked extension to the name of every encoded file. For instance, an image named “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.dodohacked”. Just like the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.dodohacked”, and so forth.
In every directory containing the encoded files, a READITT.txt text file will be found. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is how they do it.
Dodohacked abstract:
Name | Dodohacked Virus |
Extension | .dodohacked |
Ransomware note | READITT.txt |
Detection | TrojanSpy:Win32/Chaori.A, Ransom.Agent.NR, Trojan:Win32/Farfli.AC!MTB |
Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .dodohacked extension and you can’t open them. |
Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Dodohacked virus |
In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Dodohacked looks like. Each filename has the “.dodohacked” extension appended to it.
How did my computer get infected with Dodohacked ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for evil-doers to have ransomware settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.
If you access your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, beware of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a harmful item enclosed in them. So it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus model1. A Trojan is an object that gets into your computer disguised as something legal. For example, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some program. However, what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that compromises your data. As the installation wizard can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The optimal way is to use the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is complete.
How do I get rid of the Dodohacked virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Dodohacked virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Sometimes racketeers would decrypt several of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Dodohacked virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a method to undo its work. However, the decoding instruments are frequently updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the tamperers do the job of encrypting someone’s essential data, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. Despite that, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of criminals just vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.
The optimal countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that file you were working on when it all happened. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.
Dodohacked is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Eucy, Ccps, Rtgf, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Dodohacked are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky users were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the criminals 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 expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How do I avert ransomware injection?
Dodohacked ransomware has no endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your computer from ransomware injection within several easy steps:
- Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A hoax letter will surely have a mistake.
- Never use cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are very hard to tell from reliable software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.
- And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful armor for your system.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft2
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft3.
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.
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.
Press “Install” button.
Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.
Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your computer for Dodohacked 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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 How can I open “.dodohacked” files?Is it possible to open“.dodohacked” files?
There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.dodohacked” files are decrypted.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Dodohacked virus?
Absolutely not! Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with real viruses. The virus that has attacked your computer is probably still functional and it scans your system from time to time to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has already been said, the Dodohacked malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your system after some time.
🤔 What to do if the Dodohacked malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.
In such an unfortunate situation, you need to prepare a flash memory card with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or imported into your system. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the blocked files might still be at your disposal
- If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, phone, external storage, etc.
HINT: You can use data recovery programs4 to get your lost data back since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.
Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:
- In the United States: On Guard Online;
- In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
- In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
- In Australia: SCAMwatch;
- In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
- In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
- In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
- In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;
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 SmithHow to Remove DODOHACKED Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: DODOHACKED Virus
Description: DODOHACKED Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .dodohacked extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here’s the list of Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.