ETY Ransomware 🔐 (.ETY File) — Removal Guide

The Ety virus falls under the Xorist ransomware family. Malware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the computer (photos, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, creating the КАК РАСШИФРОВАТЬ ФАЙЛЫ.txt text files in every directory containing encrypted files.

What is known about the Etyvirus?

☝️ A scientifically correct description for the Ety would be “a Xorist family ransomware malicious agent”.

Ety appends its extra .ety extension to every file’s name. For instance, a file named “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.ety”. Likewise, the Excel file named “table.xlsx” will be changed to “table.xlsx.ety”, and so forth.

In each folder that contains the encrypted files, a КАК РАСШИФРОВАТЬ ФАЙЛЫ.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 information. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.

Ety abstract:

In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Ety looks like. Each filename has the “.ety” extension added to it.

How did my computer get infected with Ety ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for evil-doers to have ransomware working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

If you open your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a viral file attached to them. So it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with emails like these.

As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger 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 directory containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove the Ety virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Ety virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware³ can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Often racketeers would decrypt some of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Ety virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software engineers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the anti-ransomware instruments are frequently upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the malefactors do the job of encoding victim’s essential data, the desperate person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of hackers simply disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.

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 storage. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all happened. But at least 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 Ety, that work similarly. For instance, Zatp, Bowd, Tcvp, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Ety are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encoded files.

Some fortunate users were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption code to the wronged 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. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avoid ransomware attack?

Ety ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can armour your system from ransomware infiltration in several easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A fake letter will surely have mistakes.
• Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often distributed as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to distinguish from trustworthy software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information on this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way is not to use such software.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft⁴

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”.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.ety” files?Can I somehow access “.ety” files?

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

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

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Ety ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach

• If you exchanged your important files by 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 send those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use data recovery programs⁶ to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you can do it only after you kill 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.

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