BTC-A Ransomware 🔐 (.BTC-APT2 Files) — How to Remove?

The Btc-a virus belongs under the Xorist ransomware family. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, leaving the HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt files in each folder containing encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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What is known about the Btc-avirus?

☝️ A scientifically accurate denomination for the Btc-a would be “a Xorist family ransomware-type infection”.

Btc-a will append its own .btc-Apt2 extension to the name of each encoded file. For instance, an image named “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.btc-Apt2”. Just like the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.btc-Apt2”, and so forth.

In each directory with the encrypted files, a HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt text document will be created. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information about 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 racketeers. You can obtain this decrypting software after contacting [email protected] by email. That is it.

Btc-a abstract:

The HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt document coming in package with the Btc-a malware states the following:

Todos Dados/Backups foram criptografados
a unica forma de obter os dados em seu perfeito estado
entrar em contato no Email:  [email protected]
 prazo max para o contato  24/04/2023 12:00   ID-5526
(N = NãO)
- N delete arquivos trancados
- N não renomeie os arquivos trancados .btc-A
- N  não poste esta mensagem em nenhum site
  nem denuncie pois podem bloquear este email.

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Btc-a looks like. Each filename has the “.btc-Apt2” extension appended to it.

That is how encrypted “.btc-Apt2” files look.

How did my computer get infected with Btc-a ransomware?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most popular methods for criminals to have the Btc-a virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you access 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 addresser is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malware file attached to them. So it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan file model. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your PC pretending to be something different. Imagine, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that encodes your data. As the update file can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the stuff you’re downloading. The optimal thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer networks like BitTorrent 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. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is complete.

How to remove the Btc-a virus?

It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Btc-a virus will most likely install Vidar Stealer on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes criminals would decode few of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption program. As Btc-a virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are frequently upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.

Sure thing, if the tamperers do the job of encoding victim’s critical files, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of criminals simply disappearing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system 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. Your most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all happened. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the OS is rolled back.

Btc-a is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Weon, Qore, Xaro, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Btc-a are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in every folder containing encrypted files.

Some lucky people were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decoding key to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How to avoid ransomware attack?

Btc-a ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can defend your system from ransomware infiltration taking three easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A fake letter will always have a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often shared as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful armor for your PC.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft³.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your system.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your system for Btc-a infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has finished, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 How can I open “.btc-Apt2” files?Can I somehow access “.btc-Apt2” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.btc-Apt2” files you will not be able to access them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.btc-Apt2” files ASAP. How can I do that?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. 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.

🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Btc-a virus?

Of course not. Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual threats. The virus that has infected your device is probably still active and running scans every so often to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the initial attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Btc-a virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide malefactors with easy access to your system in the future.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Btc-a virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.

If that happened, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or brought into your machine. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the encrypted files might still be at your disposal

• If you sent or received your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You might 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 to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks 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 employ data recovery utilities⁴ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an antivirus 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.

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