AVANZI Virus 🔐 (.AVAN Files) Removal & Restore

The Avanzi virus belongs to the Dharma ransomware family. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, creating the info.txt files in each folder with the encrypted files.

Avanzi virus: what is known so far?

☝️ Avanzi is a Dharma family ransomware-type malicious agent.

The renaming will be executed according to the following pattern: id-xxxxx.[contact-email].avan. In the course of encryption, a file entitled, for instance, “report.docx” will be turned into ” report.docx.id-9ECFA84E.[[email protected]].avan”.

In every directory containing the encoded files, a info.txt text document will be found. It is a ransom money memo. It contains 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 tamperers. You can get this decoding tool after contacting [email protected] via email. That is it.

Avanzi Overview:

The info.txt document coming in package with the Avanzi ransomware provides the following dispiriting information:

 All your data has been locked us

You want to return?

write email [email protected] or [email protected]

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Avanzi looks like. Each filename has the “.avan” extension appended to it.

How did Avanzi ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for criminals to have ransomware settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer networks.

• Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file scheme. A Trojan is an object that gets into your machine disguised as something else. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some service. However, what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful program that corrupts your data. Since the installation wizard can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software companies’ official websites.
• As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know 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 files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of ransomware?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Avanzi virus will most likely deploy Vidar Stealer on your PC to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.

How to avert ransomware injection?

Avanzi ransomware doesn’t have endless power, and neither does any similar malware.

You can defend yourself from its injection in three easy steps:

• Ignore any letters from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious letter with caution. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
• Never use cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often shared as an element of cracked software, possibly under the guise of a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are very hard to tell from reliable software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Is it possible to open “.avan” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.avan” 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 “.avan” 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 should I do if the Avanzi ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key?

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the encrypted data can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared images 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 media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, mobile, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can use file recovery utilities² to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.