Do you know what Coin Locker is?
Coin Locker, or Torlocker, is a malicious threat that can be found on Android devices. After analyzing the threat, it has become obvious that the threat is a ransomware, as it has been developed to demand a ransom from you. The infection has the ability to corrupt your files and make it impossible for you to access them unless you pay money for some file decryption service. There are no guarantees that this service would work and that it isn’t just another cyber criminals’ scam. Are you trying to remove Coin Locker in the hopes of restoring your personal files? In fact, you cannot delete the infection because it deletes itself after successful execution. Continue reading to learn how this happens.
The execution of Coin Locker is extremely clandestine. Cyber crooks can use various drive-by download attacks and scams to execute Coin Locker on your Android operating system, but it seems that spam emails with corrupted attachments are the primary source of this infection. If you carelessly download an attachment and open it, you will execute Coin Locker yourself, right after what the infection will go on to encrypt personal (e.g., .doc, .txt) and operating system (e.g., .exe, .dll) files, and then delete itself. If you have copies of your personal files, you can go ahead and remove the encrypted versions. Coin.Locker.txt is a file dropped by Coin Locker, and it provides users with the instructions on how to restore personal files.
You have been infected with the Coin Locker malware.
All files on this system have been encrypted.
To regain access to your files you will need the Coin Locker decryption software.
To obtain our software you will need to access the deep web with TOR, download TOR here: [link]
Launch TOR and navigate to our website: [link]
Follow the steps on the site to use the decryption software and your files will be unlocked.
The suspicious text file is attached to the startup of your operating system, which means that you will encounter the message upon turning your device on. Are you thinking about installing the Tor browser and following the steps to decrypt files? We warn you that you will be asked to pay money in return of the service that has no guarantees. Of course, it is up to you to decide how you want to handle the file encryption, but our malware researchers want to remind you that schemers cannot be trusted. Whichever path you choose, you must install automatic malware removal software afterward. Even though there might be no infections to delete right now, it is likely that you will encounter other threats deserving of removal in the future.
In non-techie terms:
Even though Coin Locker removes itself after execution, this malicious threat is extremely paralyzing. It can encrypt your personal files and ask you for a ransom in return of their decryption. There are no guarantees that access to your files will be restored after you follow the demands of Coin Locker, which is why we advise using different tools and then installing automatic malware removal software to ensure system’s protection. This software can also detect and remove other active threats.