What is Poqw ransomware?
Poqw ransomware is a computer virus that belongs to the STOP/Djvu family. This family includes thousands of ransomware programs; all of them are nearly identical to each other, so it’s easy for them to proliferate. Simply compare Poqw to another virus in the same family, like Pouu, and you will see the similarity for yourself.
The word “ransomware” means a virus that makes money through ransom. This is what Poqw does – it encrypts the files on the victim’s computer and then demands money for their decryption. Encrypting files essentially means password-protecting them. The catch is, you don’t know the password, so the hackers offer to sell it to you. They may refer to it as “the encryption key” or simply “the key”.
Files encrypted by the virus receive .poqw file extension to alert the victim to the attack. More importantly, Poqw also creates a ransom note (“_readme.txt”) with its demands. STOP/Djvu viruses always demand the same thing, 980 US dollars. This price is reduced in half if the victim pays within three days of attack.
However, this is still a lot of money, so learning about other ways to remove Poqw ransomware and decrypt .poqw files may prove beneficial. Several such ways can be found in the guide below.