The Crypto_support virus belongs to the ransomware type of malicious agent. A harmful program of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, creating the README.txt text files in every folder with the encrypted files.
What is known about the Crypto_supportvirus?
☝️ A scientifically correct designation for the Crypto_support is “a ransomware infection”.
Crypto_support will add its extra .CRYPT extension to the title of every encoded file. For example, an image named “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.CRYPT”. Likewise, the Excel sheet named “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.CRYPT”, and so on.
In every directory that contains the encoded files, a README.txt text file will be found. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is it.
Crypto_support overview:
| Name | Crypto_support Virus |
| Extension | .CRYPT |
| Ransomware note | README.txt |
| Detection | Win32/RiskWare.HackTool.Agent.N, Trojan.Runner.4705, Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt!MSR |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .CRYPT extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Crypto_support virus |
In the picture below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Crypto_support looks like. Each filename has the “.CRYPT” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .CRYPT files.
How did my machine catch Crypto_support ransomware?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most popular methods for criminals to have ransomware settled in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan virus scheme1. A Trojan is an object that gets into your computer pretending to be something else. For example, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some service. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful program that corrupts your data. Since the update wizard can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger 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. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Crypto_support virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Crypto_support virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Sometimes racketeers would decrypt several of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption tool. Since Crypto_support virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the decoding tools are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the hackers do the job of encoding victim’s essential data, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. However, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports about ransomware developers simply vanishing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.
The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Surely, that might be insufficient. The 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 anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.
There are other ransomware products, besides Crypto_support, that work similarly. For instance, Mljx, Hudf, Mljx, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Crypto_support are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in each folder containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate users were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.
How сan I avert ransomware injection?
Crypto_support ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your system from its injection in three easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the dubious email with caution. A fake letter will surely contain mistakes.
- Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often distributed as an element of cracked software, most likely as a “patch” preventing the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information on this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful armor for your personal computer.
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 computer for Crypto_support 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.
FAQ
🤔 How can I open “.CRYPT” files?Can I somehow access “.CRYPT” files?
There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.CRYPT” 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. 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.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Crypto_support malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
No way! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will remove the viruses from your computer. The ransomware that has infiltrated your device is most likely still functional and launching checks every so often to arrest any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Crypto_support virus comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide malefactors with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What should I do if the Crypto_support virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.
In such an unfortunate situation, you need to prepare a flash memory card with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system launches and encodes any new files created or brought into your computer. To stop this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What could help the situation right now?
Some of the encrypted data can be found elsewhere.
- If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You might have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just 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 storage might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, cellphone, memory stick, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can employ data recovery utilities4 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see 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.
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 CRYPTO_SUPPORT Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: CRYPTO_SUPPORT Virus
Description: CRYPTO_SUPPORT Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .CRYPT 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.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here are Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
