What is Encfiles ransomware
Encfiles is a harmful program (malware) that was created by hackers to make them money. Once the program is on the victim’s computer, it does several things. First, it encrypts all files it can access. This makes the files completely unusable; you will not be able to view encrypted pictures, read or edit encrypted documents, and so on. The files can be decrypted, however, and hackers – who know how to do this – will “generously” offer their services to you for a not-so-small fee. This is why this type of malware is called ransomware.
This brings us to the second thing the virus does. It creates a file on the desktop called “HOW TO RECOVER ENCRYPTED FILES.TXT”, containing exactly that, instructions and contact information of the hackers. You can read the full document on the image above.
Finally, the encrypted files are all renamed. All file names are changed into unreadable strings of text, while the extension is changed to .encfiles (this is how the virus got its name).
Although hackers claim that it’s impossible to recover the files without paying them, this is more often than not a scare tactic. This guide will explain how to remove Encfiles and decrypt .encfiles files for free.