The Frendi virus falls under the Phobos ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the Encrypted.txt files in each directory containing encrypted files.
What is Frendi virus?
☝️ A strictly accurate denomination for the Frendi is “a Phobos family ransomware-type malicious agent”.
The renaming will be done by the following pattern: ID-XXXXXX.[contact_email].Frendi. During the encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.ID-1E857D00.[tlalipidas1978@aol.com].Frendi”.
In every folder that contains the encoded files, a Encrypted.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can obtain this tool after contacting tlalipidas1978@aol.com via email. That is basically the scheme of the felony.
Frendi abstract:
| Name | Frendi Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Phobos ransomware |
| Extension | .Frendi |
| Ransomware note | Encrypted.txt |
| Contact | tlalipidas1978@aol.com |
| Detection | Crytex.Virus.FileInfector.DDS, Win32/Filecoder.OLC, Malware-Cryptor.InstallCore.5 |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .Frendi extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Frendi virus |
The Encrypted.txt file coming in package with the Frendi malware states the following:
All your files have been encrypted due to a security problem with your PC. If you want to restore them, write us to the e-mail tlalipidas1978@aol.com In case of no answer in 24 hours write us to theese e-mails: FobosAmerika@protonmail.ch If there is no response from our mail, you can install the Jabber client and write to us in support of phobos_helper@xmpp.jp or phobos_helper@exploit.im
In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Frendi looks like. Each filename has the “.Frendi” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .Frendi files.
How did Frendi ransomware end up on my PC?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for evil-doers to have the Frendi virus acting in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a ransomware file attached to them. Thus it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters 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 want or an update for some service. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful program that corrupts your data. As the update wizard can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Frendi virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Frendi virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Sometimes tamperers would unblock several of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. Since Frendi virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures engineers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.
Of course, if the hackers succeed in encoding victim’s critical data, the desperate person will most likely fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of criminals just disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.
The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external disk. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that file you were working on when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system restoration.
Frendi 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, Maos, Isal, Znto, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Frendi are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: documents become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes emerge in every directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky people were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decryption key to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How to avoid ransomware attack?
Frendi ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your PC from its infiltration in several easy steps:
- Never open any emails from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious letter with caution. A hoax letter will surely have a mistake.
- Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try to find information about 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 objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect armor for your personal computer.
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 computer.
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 Frendi 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 “.Frendi” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.Frendi” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
If the “.Frendi” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. 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.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Frendi malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
No way! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual viruses. The ransomware that has infected your computer is probably still active and launching checks 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 Frendi malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide hackers with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What should I do if the Frendi ransomware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
In such a case, you need to have a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your computer. To block this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the blocked files might still be at your disposal
- If you sent or received your critical files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to post those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, mobile, external storage, etc.
HINT: You can employ data recovery programs5 to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video 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 antivirus 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 FRENDI Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: FRENDI Virus
Description: FRENDI Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .Frendi 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.
- 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.
