TITANCRYPT Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove?

The Titancrypt virus falls under the ransomware type of infection. Malware of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, creating the ___RECOVER__FILES__.titancrypt.txt text files in every folder with the encrypted files.

What is known about the Titancryptvirus?

☝️ A strictly correct designation for the Titancrypt would be “a ransomware infection”.

Titancrypt adds its own .titancrypt extension to the name of every encrypted file. For instance, an image named “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.titancrypt”. Just like the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.titancrypt”, and so forth.

In each folder with the encoded files, a ___RECOVER__FILES__.titancrypt.txt text file will be created. It is a ransom money note. It contains information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the Titancrypt developers. That is it.

Titancrypt abstract:

In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Titancrypt looks like. Each filename has the “.titancrypt” extension appended to it.

How did Titancrypt ransomware end up on my PC?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most popular ways for hackers to have the Titancrypt virus planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you open your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a malicious item enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.

How do I get rid of the Titancrypt virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Titancrypt virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes tamperers would decrypt some of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. Since Titancrypt virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware designers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are frequently updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the criminals do the job of encoding someone’s critical data, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. However, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of hackers simply vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.

The best solution 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 drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.

Titancrypt is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. Examples of those are Jhdd, Hhjk, Dewd, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Titancrypt are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: documents become blocked, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in every folder containing encoded files.

Some lucky people were able to decrypt the blocked files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware specialists. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ tool to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How do I avoid ransomware infection?

Titancrypt ransomware has no superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can defend your system from ransomware injection within three easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email with caution. A fake letter will always contain a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often spreaded as an element of cracked software, most likely as a “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to distinguish from trustworthy ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

Download Removal Tool.

Run the setup file.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

Click on “Clean Now”.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.titancrypt” files?Is it possible to open“.titancrypt” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.titancrypt” files you will not be able to access them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.titancrypt” files ASAP. How can I do that?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. All other solutions require time.

🤔 What should I do if the Titancrypt virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Some of the blocked files can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply 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 media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, phone, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery programs⁴ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.

Also, you can contact the following official 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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