The Cip virus falls under the Dharma ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the PC (photos, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the info.txt files in each folder with the encrypted files.
What is Cip?
☝️ A strictly accurate denomination for the Cip is “a Dharma family ransomware malicious agent”.
The renaming will be executed according to this pattern: cip. During the encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.id-C279F237.[[email protected]].cip”.
In each directory with the encrypted files, a info.txt file will be created. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can obtain this decryptor after contacting [email protected], [email protected] by email. That is it.
Cip abstract:
| Name | Cip Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Dharma ransomware |
| Extension | .cip |
| Ransomware note | info.txt |
| Contact | [email protected], [email protected] |
| Detection | Trojan:Win32/Raccoon.EC!MTB, Trojan:Win32/Raccoon.DE!MTB, Ransom:Win32/Bosloki.A |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .cip extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Cip virus |
The info.txt document coming in package with the Cip 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 screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Cip looks like. Each filename has the “.cip” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .cip files.
How did my machine catch Cip ransomware?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most exploited ways for criminals to have ransomware acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a harmful item attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse model2. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your machine disguised as something else. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful agent that encrypts your data. As the update package can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using 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 finished.
How to remove the Cip virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Cip virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware3 can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often criminals would decode some of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption program. As Cip virus is relatively recent ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. However, the decoding instruments are frequently upgraded, so the solution may soon be available.
Understandably, if the evildoers do the job of encrypting someone’s essential files, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After getting the money, the racketeers may deliver the wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports of racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.
The optimal solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive or at least on an external storage. Obviously, that might be not enough. The most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.
Cip 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 Xcmb, Dehd, Zaqi, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Cip are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in every directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky victims were able to decode the blocked files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decoding key to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the user to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ tool to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How to avoid ransomware infection?
Cip ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your computer from its injection in several easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the suspicious letter carefully. A hoax letter will surely have mistakes.
- Avoid using cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often spread as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect defense for your system.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft4
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft5.
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 PC.
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 PC for Cip 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.
FAQ
🤔 Is it possible to open “.cip” files?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.cip” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Cip malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
Of course not. The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your system off the actual viruses. The ransomware that has infiltrated your device is must be still active and launching checks every so often to arrest any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has already been said, the Cip ransomware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide hackers with easy access to your system after some time.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Cip ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.
In such an unfortunate situation, you need to have a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or imported into your PC. To suppress this function – 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 encrypted files might still be within your reach
- If you sent or received your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to send those images back to you.
- If you have initially got 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.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a portable device, cellphone, memory stick, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can employ data recovery utilities6 to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you can do it only after 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.
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Brendan SmithHow to Remove CIP Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: CIP Virus
Description: CIP Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .cip extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- You can read more on spyware variants and nature in the respective section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here are Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
