FUNNY Ransomware 🔐 (.FUNNY File) — Removal Guide

The Funny virus belongs to the Dharma ransomware family. Malware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (photos, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, creating the FILES ENCRYPTED.txt text files in each folder containing encrypted files.

What is Funny virus?

☝️ A scientifically accurate designation for the Funny is “a Dharma family ransomware-type malicious agent”.

The scheme of renaming is this: id-xxxxx.[contact_email].FUNNY. After the encryption, a file entitled, for example, “report.docx” will be turned into “report.docx.id-1E857D00.[[email protected]].FUNNY”.

In every directory with the encoded files, a FILES ENCRYPTED.txt text document will be created. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on 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 ransomware developers. You can obtain this decoding tool after contacting [email protected] by email. That is it.

Funny overview:

The FILES ENCRYPTED.txt file coming in package with the Funny ransomware states the following:

all your data has been locked us
You want to return?
write email [email protected] 

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

How did Funny ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most exploited ways for hackers to have ransomware planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer networks.

If you open your inbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a ransomware file enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails like these.

As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrents 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Funny virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Funny virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your PC to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes criminals would unblock some of your files to prove that they do have the decryption tool. Since Funny virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware developers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the malefactors do the job of encrypting someone’s essential data, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After getting the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports of ransomware developers simply vanishing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The best solution 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. Of course, that might be not enough. The most important thing could be that file you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Funny, that work similarly. For instance, Goaq, Qotr, Coaq, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Funny are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: files become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encoded files.

Some lucky users were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged 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 bandits’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avoid ransomware attack?

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

You can protect yourself from ransomware infiltration within several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email carefully. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often shared as an element of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal 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”.

FAQ

🤔 Can I somehow access “.FUNNY” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.FUNNY” files are decrypted.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.FUNNY” 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. The rest of the methods require patience.

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

🤔 And what should I do now?

Many of the blocked files might still be at your disposal

• 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 to do 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 computer, a notebook, phone, flash memory, etc.

HINT: 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 video below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you kill the virus 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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