The Atck virus belongs under the Dharma ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the PC (photos, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file.
What is known about the Atck virus?
☝️ Atck is a Dharma family ransomware virus.
The scheme of renaming is the following: .ATCK. After the encryption, a file entitled, for example, “report.docx” will be altered to “report.docx.id[05C1E846-D115].[attackattack@tutamail.org].ATCK”.
The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. You can obtain this decoding tool after contacting attackattack@tutamail.org via email. That is basically the scheme of the malefaction.
Atck Summary:
| Name | Atck Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Dharma ransomware |
| Extension | .ATCK |
| Contact | attackattack@tutamail.org |
| Detection | Win32:Adware-DNA [Adw] Virus Removal, Win32:Secat [Trj] Virus Removal, Trojan:MSIL/FormBook.PRY!MTB Virus Removal |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .ATCK extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Atck virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Atck looks like. Each filename has the “.ATCK” extension appended to it.
That is how encrypted “.ATCK” files look.
How did my computer get infected with Atck ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most exploited ways for evil-doers to have the Atck virus planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer file transfer.
- If you open your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a harmful item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
- Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan virus model. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your computer pretending to be something legal. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some software. However, what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful program that encrypts your data. As the installation package can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The optimal way is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
- As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrents or eMule, the danger 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 complete.
How do I get rid of ransomware?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Atck virus will probably install Vidar Stealer on your machine to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Remove Atck with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware
We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common Ransomware as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove Atck as well as other malware hiding on your computer.
To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:
1. Begin by downloading Gridinsoft Anti-Malware, accessible via the blue button below or directly from the official website gridinsoft.com.
2.Once the Gridinsoft setup file (setup-gridinsoft-fix.exe) is downloaded, execute it by clicking on the file.
3.Follow the installation setup wizard's instructions diligently.
4. Access the "Scan Tab" on the application's start screen and launch a comprehensive "Full Scan" to examine your entire computer. This inclusive scan encompasses the memory, startup items, the registry, services, drivers, and all files, ensuring that it detects malware hidden in all possible locations.
Be patient, as the scan duration depends on the number of files and your computer's hardware capabilities. Use this time to relax or attend to other tasks.
5. Upon completion, Anti-Malware will present a detailed report containing all the detected malicious items and threats on your PC.
6. Select all the identified items from the report and confidently click the "Clean Now" button. This action will safely remove the malicious files from your computer, transferring them to the secure quarantine zone of the anti-malware program to prevent any further harmful actions.
8. If prompted, restart your computer to finalize the full system scan procedure. This step is crucial to ensure thorough removal of any remaining threats. After the restart, Gridinsoft Anti-Malware will open and display a message confirming the completion of the scan.
Remember Gridinsoft offers a 6-day free trial. This means you can take advantage of the trial period at no cost to experience the full benefits of the software and prevent any future malware infections on your system. Embrace this opportunity to fortify your computer's security without any financial commitment.
Trojan Killer for “Atck” removal on locked PC
In situations where it becomes impossible to download antivirus applications directly onto the infected computer due to malware blocking access to websites, an alternative solution is to utilize the Trojan Killer application.
There is a really little number of security tools that are able to be set up on the USB drives, and antiviruses that can do so in most cases require to obtain quite an expensive license. For this instance, I can recommend you to use another solution of GridinSoft - Trojan Killer Portable. It has a 14-days cost-free trial mode that offers the entire features of the paid version. This term will definitely be 100% enough to wipe malware out.
Trojan Killer is a valuable tool in your cybersecurity arsenal, helping you to effectively remove malware from infected computers. Now, we will walk you through the process of using Trojan Killer from a USB flash drive to scan and remove malware on an infected PC. Remember, always obtain permission to scan and remove malware from a computer that you do not own.
Step 1: Download & Install Trojan Killer on a Clean Computer:
1. Go to the official GridinSoft website (gridinsoft.com) and download Trojan Killer to a computer that is not infected.
2. Insert a USB flash drive into this computer.
3. Install Trojan Killer to the "removable drive" following the on-screen instructions.
4. Once the installation is complete, launch Trojan Killer.
Step 2: Update Signature Databases:
5. After launching Trojan Killer, ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet.
6. Click "Update" icon to download the latest signature databases, which will ensure the tool can detect the most recent threats.
Step 3: Scan the Infected PC:
7. Safely eject the USB flash drive from the clean computer.
8. Boot the infected computer to the Safe Mode.
9. Insert the USB flash drive.
10. Run tk.exe
11. Once the program is open, click on "Full Scan" to begin the malware scanning process.
Step 4: Remove Found Threats:
12. After the scan is complete, Trojan Killer will display a list of detected threats.
13. Click on "Cure PC!" to remove the identified malware from the infected PC.
14. Follow any additional on-screen prompts to complete the removal process.
Step 5: Restart Your Computer:
15. Once the threats are removed, click on "Restart PC" to reboot your computer.
16. Remove the USB flash drive from the infected computer.
Congratulations on effectively removing Atck and the concealed threats from your computer! You can now have peace of mind, knowing that they won't resurface again. Thanks to Gridinsoft's capabilities and commitment to cybersecurity, your system is now protected.
Sometimes tamperers would decrypt few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption program. Since Atck virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the tamperers do the job of encoding victim’s essential files, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.
The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external drive. Surely, that might be not enough. The most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.
Atck is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. Examples of those are Rincrypt, Datah, Unkno, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Atck are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encrypted files.
Some lucky victims were able to decode the blocked files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How сan I avert ransomware infection?
Atck ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your PC from its attack taking several easy steps:
- Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the dubious letter with caution. A fake letter will always have a mistake.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information on this program on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect armor for your personal computer.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 Are the “.ATCK” files accessible?
There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.ATCK” files are decrypted.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. The rest of the methods require patience.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Atck virus?
Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual viruses. The ransomware that has attacked your system is must be still active and running scans every so often to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has been said above, the Atck virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your computer after some time.
🤔 What should I do if the Atck virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.
If that happened, you need to have a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encodes any new files created or brought into your PC. To suppress this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital programs to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right now?
Many of the encoded files might still be within your reach
- If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, cellphone, external storage, etc.
HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities2 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.
