The Crackvirus virus belongs under the ransomware type of malicious agent. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all the data on your computer (images, text files, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the Attention Please.txt text files in each directory with the encrypted files.
What is known about the Crackvirusvirus?
☝️ A strictly accurate designation for the Crackvirus is “a ransomware infection”.
Crackvirus appends its own .crackvirus extension to the name of each encrypted file. For instance, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.crackvirus”. Likewise, the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.crackvirus”, and so on.
In each directory with the encoded files, a Attention Please.txt notebook file will be created. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can get this decoding tool after contacting crack.hack.black@gmail.com through email. That is pretty much the scheme of the malefaction.
Crackvirus abstract:
| Name | Crackvirus Virus |
| Extension | .crackvirus |
| Ransomware note | Attention Please.txt |
| Ransom | $3550 |
| Contact | crack.hack.black@gmail.com |
| Detection | Adware.NeoBar.Generic, Trojan:Win32/Tnega.PKD!MTB, Win32/TrojanDownloader.Agent.DGM |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .crackvirus extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Crackvirus virus |
In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Crackvirus looks like. Each filename has the “.crackvirus” extension added to it.
An example of encrypted .crackvirus files.
How did my computer get infected with Crackvirus ransomware?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most exploited methods for tamperers to have the Crackvirus virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a viral 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 scheme1. A Trojan is an object that gets into your computer pretending to be something else. For instance, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful program that compromises your data. Since the update file can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the stuff you’re downloading. The optimal way is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. 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 files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.
How do I get rid of the Crackvirus virus?
It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Crackvirus virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware2 can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often racketeers would decode several of your files so you know that they do have the decryption program. As Crackvirus virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures engineers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the decoding tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.
Understandably, if the hackers do the job of encrypting victim’s essential data, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports of hackers just vanishing after getting the money 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 disk. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that file you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.
Crackvirus 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, Nnqp, Mljx, Hudf, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Crackvirus are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes are found in every directory containing encrypted files.
Some lucky people were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.
How to avoid ransomware infection?
Crackvirus ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your system from ransomware infiltration taking several easy steps:
- Ignore any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the dubious letter with caution. A fake email will surely contain mistakes.
- Avoid using cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often shared as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such software.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful armor for your system.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft3
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft4.
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 Crackvirus 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 completed, 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 “.crackvirus” files?Can I somehow access “.crackvirus” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.crackvirus” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.crackvirus” files ASAP. How can I do that?
Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Crackvirus virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?
Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete the infections from your PC. The virus that has infected your system is must be still functional and it scans your system from time to time to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has been said above, the Crackvirus ransomware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your system after some time.
🤔 What to do if the Crackvirus malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.
If that happened, you need to have a flash memory card with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or brought into your computer. To suppress this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What could help the situation right now?
Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.
- If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You might have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to post those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.
HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.
Also, you can contact the following official 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 CRACKVIRUS Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: CRACKVIRUS Virus
Description: CRACKVIRUS Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .crackvirus extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- 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’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
