'.NWA File Extension' Ransomware

The '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware is a variant of the Crysis Ransomware's Dharma Ransomware update. The name '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware is a working title and many AV creators may use the name NWA Ransomware too. File-locking Trojans from this family will block media such as pictures or documents, and threat actors may compromise your PC by brute-forcing a login or sending a corrupted e-mail attachment with a personalized disguise. Having backups is integral to recovering your data from a successful encryption attack, but most anti-malware programs can remove the '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware safely.

The Next Crisis that's Wearing a Microsoft Face

The RaaS or Ransomware-as-a-Service way of doing business through extortion is being as popular as ever heading into summer, and families like the Scarab Ransomware, the Globe Imposter Ransomware, and the Crysis Ransomware continue running rampant. The '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware is the newest build from the Crysis Ransomware family that malware experts can confirm, although nearly-indistinguishable variants of the file-locker Trojans arrive weekly. It's threat actors are likely for distributing it through personally-managed attacks due to the threat's use of a Microsoft Windows-related disguise.

The '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware's executable is pretending that it's 'explorer.exe,' a baseline Windows component that lets it maintain its system presence without alarming the user. This family of file-locking Trojans includes members of very different ages such as the February's Heets Ransomware, the btc@fros.cc Ransomware of last year, the'wisperado@india.com' Ransomware of 2017 and the first Dharma Ransomware of 2016, most of which use similar naming exploits. However, the criminals typically run it manually after brute-forcing a network's login credentials, although e-mail attachments are another exploit possibility for the '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware's campaign.

After it gains system access, the '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware encrypts media of traditionally-valuable formats, such as documents, using an AES algorithm with additional protection. The '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware tags the filenames with the titular 'NWA' extensions, for the victim's identifying them purely, and creates ransoming messages through Web pages and text. The only updating to the latter that malware analysts are verifying is the mandatory changing of e-mail addresses for negotiations over the unlocker. The victims should be aware that the decryption key's holders are criminals who, in most circumstances, will demand their payment through means that aren't refundable easily.

Getting an Explorer Out of Your Files

The brute-force attacks that much of the RaaS industry depends on are almost wholly preventable by having your network administrators use sufficiently-secure passwords – non-default values with mixed cases and complex alphanumeric values. Although most security products should identify unsafe e-mail attachments, the users can further reduce the chances of an attack's success by not enabling the Word's macro feature and installing patches for word-processing software, security fixes especially, immediately. More rarely, threat actors, sometimes, circulate file-locking Trojans similar to the '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware through file-sharing networks, like torrents.

The old versions of the Crysis Ransomware family suffered from a breach of their private databases, which let the cyber-security industry develop an effective decryption solution for their attacks. However, the '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware, as a recent build, is not decryptable and malware experts recommend having backups secured and regularly-maintained for all your file-recovering needs. Nearly all brands of anti-malware products are identifying and removing the '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware's executable accurately and should be your default uninstallation strategy.

The '.NWA File Extension' Ransomware's alterations from its latest ancestors in the Trojan family are nothing remarkable and occupy a cosmetic niche mostly. What its presence shows, despite that, is that blocking content for payment is a business model that continues working, thanks to the carelessness of the Windows users it's attacking.