The Acton virus belongs under the Phobos ransomware family. Ransomware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the PC (images, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, creating the info.txt text files in each folder containing encrypted files.
Acton virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically accurate denomination for the Acton would be “a Phobos family ransomware malicious agent”.
The renaming will be done by this pattern: [victimID].[contact_email].Acton. As a part of encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.id[1E857D00-1091].[[email protected]].Acton”.
In every directory containing the encrypted files, a info.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the Acton developers. You can get this decoding tool after contacting [email protected] through email. That is how they do it.
Acton overview:
| Name | Acton Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Phobos ransomware |
| Extension | .Acton |
| Ransomware note | info.txt |
| Contact | [email protected] |
| Detection | Trojan.Win32.Injuke.fhbk, Trojan:Win32/EmotetCrypt.MT!MTB, Worm:Win32/Pykspa.D |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .Acton extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Acton virus |
The info.txt file coming in package with the Acton ransomware provides the following discouraging information:
!!!All of your files are encrypted!!! To decrypt them send e-mail to this address: [email protected]. If we don\'t answer in 24h., send e-mail to this address: [email protected]
In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Acton looks like. Each filename has the “.Acton” extension appended to it.
That is how encrypted “.Acton” files look.
How did Acton ransomware end up on my PC?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most popular methods for criminals to have the Acton virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer file transfer.
If you open your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a ransomware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never guess what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.
How to remove the Acton virus?
It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Acton virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Often tamperers would unblock few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. Since Acton virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software designers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Of course, if the evildoers succeed in encrypting someone’s essential files, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. However, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about ransomware developers simply disappearing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.
The best safety measure against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external drive. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the system restoration.
There are other ransomware products, besides Acton, that work similarly. For instance, Dfwe, Zfdv, Fdcv, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Acton are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become encoded, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each directory containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate users were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the user to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.
How do I avert ransomware infection?
Acton ransomware has no endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can armour your system from ransomware attack taking several easy steps:
- Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the dubious email carefully. A hoax letter will surely contain a mistake.
- Avoid using cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are very hard to tell from trustworthy ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information on this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best solution is not to use such software.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft3
Download Removal Tool.
Run the setup file.
Press “Install” button.
Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.
Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.
Click on “Clean Now”.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 Is it possible to open “.Acton” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.Acton” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
If the “.Acton” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 What to do if the Acton ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Some of the blocked data can be found elsewhere.
- If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to post those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files as well.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, cellphone, external storage, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use data recovery programs5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the virus with an anti-malware program.
Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:
- In the United States: On Guard Online;
- In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
- In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
- In Australia: SCAMwatch;
- In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
- In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
- In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
- In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;
To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.
Leave a Comment