Do you know what Plague17 Ransomware is?
If you care about your personal photos and documents, you want to keep Plague17 Ransomware away. If this infection finds a way into your Windows operating system, it can corrupt all important, valuable, and irreplaceable files without you knowing about it. The process is quick, and you are likely to realize what has happened only after you are informed about it, which is done with the help of a file named “PLAGUE17.txt.” Even if you remove Plague17 Ransomware components from your operating system, if you do it after encryption, your files will remain corrupted. That being said, it is important that you remove this malware, and the quicker you do it, the sooner you will be able to get back to normal activities.
If you live in a country where most people speak Russian, you are more likely to encounter Plague17 Ransomware. It is unknown if this infection uses one specific way to enter systems, but it could employ spam emails, unreliable downloaders, and, of course, unpatched security vulnerabilities. Once inside the system, the threat encrypts files using a unique encryption key, and the “.PLAGUE17-{unique ID}” extension is added to all original filenames. This extension serves no other purpose than to mark the corrupted files, and while you can delete it, there is no point in doing that. Everywhere where the encrypted files exist, you should find the PLAGUE17.txt file. It is harmless, and you can open it, but note that the message inside can be misleading, and so you need to be extremely careful.
The message introduced to the victims by Plague17 Ransomware is in Russian, and it is meant to convince them to contact the attackers. The message informs that a dangerous infection corrupted files and that it is impossible to decrypt them without a special decoder. To get it, you need to email plague17@riseup.net first. The attackers ask to include a unique ID number in the message so that they could identify you, and it is stated that further instructions would be provided after that. Without a doubt, these further instructions would suggest paying a ransom in return for the decryptor, and paying it is too risky because you cannot be sure that the attackers would give you anything in return. Most likely, you would be left empty-handed. It is also risky to contact the attackers via email because you do not want to expose yourself to potential scam and phishing emails now or in the future.
Plague17 Ransomware screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
If you have backups of your personal files stored someplace safe, all you need to worry about is the removal of Plague17 Ransomware. Once this dangerous threat is eliminated, you will be able to delete the corrupted files and replace them with backups. And what if backups do not exist? In that case, you are in trouble. We cannot decide for you what you should do, but we advice deleting Plague17 Ransomware. After all, it is unlikely that you will get what you want even if you contact the attackers and then pay the ransom. While some victims might have no trouble erasing the threat manually, we believe that this task might be quite complicated because the original location and name of the launcher file are unknown. This is why we advise utilizing anti-malware software. It will automatically scan the system and erase all threats, even if they are hiding.
Remove Plague17 Ransomware
- Delete all recently downloaded suspicious files to eliminate the launcher.
- Delete every copy of the ransom note file named PLAGUE17.txt.
- Empty Recycle Bin to eliminate these ransomware components completely.
- Employ a legitimate malware scanner to inspect your system for leftovers.
In non-techie terms:
The malicious Plague17 Ransomware is set to encrypt personal files so that the attackers could demand money from the infection’s victims. Unfortunately, at the time of research, legitimate decryptors did not work with this malware, and so the only option was the one proposed by the attackers. Is this option reliable? Of course, it is not, and we do not recommend contacting cybercriminals or paying the ransom that they might demand afterward. Instead, we suggest focusing on the removal of the malicious threat. We cannot know for sure if you can delete Plague17 Ransomware manually because that depends on whether or not you are able to detect the infection’s launcher. If manual removal is not an option for you, we suggest installing anti-malware software that will take care of this threat automatically. Note that there is a second reason to install it, and that is the full-time protection it can ensure.