What is Towz ransomware?
Towz is a new strain of the STOP/Djvu ransomware. Illegally created by cybercriminals, this virus performs a series of actions ultimately designed to make them money. The first step, of course, is to infect the victim’s computer. Similarly to other types of malware, this can happen by opening suspicious mail attachments, running programs downloaded from shady websites, and many other routes.
What matters most is what happens after infection. The program, using cryptographic encryption, makes all files on the computer inaccessible. All of them are also given .towz file extension (for example, a file “video.mp4” would be renamed to “video.mp4.towz”). Finally, the virus creates a file named “_readme.txt” on the Desktop. Its full text can be read on the image above, but basically, the hackers want the victim to pay $980 to decrypt the files and make them accessible again. As a psychological trick, a 50% discount is offered to those who pay quickly. This is similar to how other STOP/Djvu viruses behave.
Obviously, paying the criminals is a bad idea, so we have prepared a guide explaining how to remove Towz ransomware from your computer and decrypt .towz files for free.
