Chernobyl Ransomware Joins the Babuk Family
The BabukLocker Ransomware is certainly not one of the most active ransomware families, but it seems to have been quite active in the past few days. Antivirus product vendors have identified several new variants of the infamous malware, the latest of which is the Chernobyl Ransomware. Unfortunately, the latter and all other BabukLocker variants are not decryptable. Their victims will lose access to the majority of their files, and they might be impossible to restore unless they have a backup copy available.
Threats like the Chernobyl Ransomware are likely to be delivered to victims through fake downloads, pirated content, and other deceptive content. We advise our readers to take the following security measures to minimize their odds of encountering the Chernobyl Ransomware or similar malware:
- Avoid downloads from unknown source, or shady websites.
- Never interact with random email attachments unless you can verify the sender's identity.
- Always keep your system protected by an up-to-date antivirus software suite. This way, even if a malicious file reaches your hard drive, it will be wiped before it causes any trouble.
- Last but not least, maintain backup copies of your important files. This way, even if you end up having your data encrypted, you will be able to restore it.
Victims of the Chernobyl Ransomware will see the '.chernobyl' extension added to the names of their files. They will also discover the 'Restore Your Files.txt' ransom document. The latter advises them to pay a ransom fee via cryptocurrency. It is worth noting that Chernobyl Ransomware's creators appear to be very greedy – they ask for $60,000 via Bitcoin.
We assure you that paying tens of thousands of dollars to cybercriminals is not a good idea – it would be too easy for them to scam you. Instead, you should run an anti-malware scanner to eliminate the Chernobyl Ransomware permanently. Then, explore other data recovery options and methods.
