What is “Moloch”?

After the encryption process files will be renamed according to the pattern moloch, which is laid in ransomware. Your photo, named an example “me.jpg” will be altered to “me.jpg.[9B83AE23].[].moloch” after the encryption.

readme-warning.txt file, which can be found in every folder that contains the encrypted files, is a ransom money note. Inside of it, you can find information about ways of contacting Moloch ransomware developers, and some other info. Inside of the ransom note, there is usually an instruction saying about purchasing the decryption tool. This decryption tool is created by ransomware developers, and can be obtained through the email, contacting , .

The readme-warning.txt file by the Moloch ransomware states the following frustrating information:

::: Greetings :::
 
 
Little FAQ:
.1.
Q: Whats Happen?
A: Your files have been encrypted and now have the \"moloch\" extension. The file structure was not damaged, we did everything possible so that this could not happen.
 
.2.
Q: How to recover files?
A: If you wish to decrypt your files you will need to pay in bitcoins.
 
.3.
Q: What about guarantees?
A: Its just a business. We absolutely do not care about you and your deals, except getting benefits. If we do not do our work and liabilities - nobody will cooperate with us. Its not in our interests.
To check the ability of returning files, you can send to us any 2 files with SIMPLE extensions(jpg,xls,doc, etc... not databases!) and low sizes(max 1 mb), we will decrypt them and send back to you. That is our guarantee.
 
.4.
Q: How to contact with you?
A: You can write us to our mailbox:  or 
 
.5.
Q: How will the decryption process proceed after payment?
A: After payment we will send to you our scanner-decoder program and detailed instructions for use. With this program you will be able to decrypt all your encrypted files.
 
.6.
Q: If I don’t want to pay bad people like you?
A: If you will not cooperate with our service - for us, its does not matter. But you will lose your time and data, cause only we have the private key. In practice - time is much more valuable than money.
 
:::BEWARE:::
DON\'T try to change encrypted files by yourself!
If you will try to use any third party software for restoring your data or antivirus solutions - please make a backup for all encrypted files!
Any changes in encrypted files may entail damage of the private key and, as result, the loss all data.

The image below gives a clear vision of how the files with “.moloch” extension look like:

How did I get Moloch ransomware on my computer?

However, nowadays there are only two ways of Moloch injection – email spam and trojans. You may see a lot of messages on your email, stating that you need to pay different bills or to get your parcel from the local FedEx department. But all such messages are sent from unknown email addresses, not from familiar official emails of these companies. All such letters contain the attached file, which is used as a ransomware carrier. If you open this file – your system will get infected by Moloch.

In case of trojans presence, you will be offered to download and install ransomware on your PC under the guise of something legit, like a Chrome update, or update for the software you are storing on your computer. Sometimes, trojan viruses can be masked as legit programs, and ransomware will be offered for download as an important update, or a big pack of extensions which are essential for proper program functioning.

There is also the third way of ransomware injection, however, it becomes less and less popular day-to-day. I am talking about peering networks, such as torrents or eMule. No one can control which files are packed in the seeding, so you can discover a huge pack of different malware after downloading. If circumstances force you to download something from peering networks – scan every downloaded folder or archive with antivirus software.