PedCont Ransomware is one of the nastiest ransomware infections detected recently by the team of experts at pcthreat.com. We say so because the chances are high that you will have to reinstall your Windows OS/use a system repair disc after encountering it. Most probably, it has not been developed by cyber criminals with the sole purpose of ruining users’ systems in mind. This malicious application, like all other threats categorized as ransomware, is used for money extortion. Malicious software developers expect that users will rush to send money to them after they encounter PedCont Ransomware. Surprisingly, it wants $50, which is quite inexpensive if compared to amounts of money other ransomware infections demand. Transferring the required money might seem to be the only solution to the problem, but we would not blindly trust cyber criminals behind PedCont Ransomware if were you – there is a huge possibility that nothing will change once they receive your money. To be more specific, it is not very likely that PedCont Ransomware will be removed from your system by cyber criminals, meaning that your Windows OS will be ruined even if you transfer a ransom.
It will not take long to find out about the successful entrance of PedCont Ransomware because this malicious application opens a black window with a red border as soon as it starts working on the affected computer. Also, PedCont Ransomware restarts the computer after some time. It is restarted if the window is closed by the user too. Once Windows boots up again, only a black window with a cursor is visible. In other words, users are no longer allowed to use their computers. Speaking about the opened window, it contains a message for users. They are told that sensitive data, including pictures, videos, documents and other files, has been collected and placed to an external server. Users have 72 hours to pay the ransom of 50 USD in Bitcoin to cyber criminals. As mentioned, the chances are high that your files are fine, but you could still not access them even if you make a payment because PedCont Ransomware ruins the Windows OS after the entrance. Theoretically, cyber criminals might release new versions of PedCont Ransomware that will work slightly differently, but you should still not pay money to crooks in any case.
Research conducted by experienced malware analysts at pcthreat.com has shown that this malicious application should be masqueraded as a legitimate file, for example, AliceRides.mp4_Unpack.WinRAR_SFX.scr, so if a reputable security tool is not installed on the user’s computer, there is no doubt that he/she will not recognize malware and thus will not prevent it from entering the computer. Malicious files are usually uploaded to untrustworthy file-sharing websites, so users should not download software from random websites. Also, ransomware infections might be distributed via spam emails. Therefore, it would be best not to open any emails received from unknown senders. These emails usually contain legitimate-looking attachments, which explains why so many users fall for the trap. Last but not least, malicious applications might slither onto users’ computers illegally if they use unsecured RDP ports. It might be quite a challenge to prevent a serious malicious application from entering the system, so we do not recommend trying to protect the system against malware all alone. What we recommend instead is installing a reputable security application on the system. If it is a reputable tool and it gets updates from its C&C server, it will protect you against all the newest infections too.
Unfortunately, there is a huge possibility that PedCont Ransomware will ruin your Windows OS if you ever encounter it, meaning that you will have to reinstall your operating system or use a repair disc. You could save your Windows OS only if you delete the ransomware infection within seconds after you encounter it. Specifically speaking, your job will be to remove the Debugger Value from a bunch of affected registry keys (see instructions below). We are not going to lie – we do not think that ordinary users will manage to erase this infection on time.
How to delete PedCont Ransomware
Open Registry Editor (launch Run and then insert regedit in its box).
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
Right-click on the Value named SCRService and select Delete.
Access below-listed registry keys and remove the Debugger Value from all of them:
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