ELDER Virus (.ELDER Files) — How to Remove?

The Elder virus belongs to the Phobos ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (photos, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, leaving the info.txt text files in each folder with the encrypted files.

What is known about the Eldervirus?

☝️ A strictly correct description for the Elder is “a Phobos family ransomware malicious agent”.

The renaming will be done according to the following scheme: id[xxxxxx].[contact_email].Elder. In the course of encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.id[1E857D00-2397].[[email protected]].elder”.

In every directory with the encoded files, a info.txt text document will be created. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can obtain this decryptor after contacting [email protected] by email. That is how they do it.

Elder overview:

The info.txt file coming in package with the Elder malware states the following:

!!!All of your files are encrypted!!!
To decrypt them send e-mail to this address: [email protected].
If we don\'t answer in 24h., send e-mail to this address: [email protected] 

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

How did my machine catch Elder ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most popular ways for malefactors to have ransomware settled in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer networks.

If you open your inbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose mailer is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a malicious file attached to them. Thus it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

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. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.

How to remove the Elder virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Elder virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Often criminals would decode some of your files so you know that they really have the decryption program. As Elder virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are frequently updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Sure thing, if the criminals succeed in encoding victim’s essential data, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The best solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external storage. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Elder, that work similarly. Examples of those are Hkgt, Lltt, Llqq, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Elder are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: documents become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encrypted files.

Some lucky people were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the hackers accidentally send the decryption key to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim 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?

Elder ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can protect your system from its injection in several easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable email with caution. A hoax email will always have a mistake.
• Never use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked products, most likely under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft³

Download Removal Tool.

Run the setup file.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

Click on “Clean Now”.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Can I somehow access “.Elder” files?

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

🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?

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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 What to do if the Elder virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the blocked files might still be within your reach

• If you sent or received your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to give those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social media 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, mobile, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use data recovery programs⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the authentic 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 remove the ransomware itself 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.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
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