GRAFGRAFEL Ransomware 🔐 (.GRAFGRAFEL File) — Removal Guide

The Grafgrafel virus falls within the Phobos ransomware family. Ransomware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, leaving the info.txt files in every directory with the encrypted files.

Grafgrafel virus: what is known so far?

☝️ Grafgrafel is a Phobos family ransomware malicious agent.

The renaming will be executed according to the following pattern: .GrafGrafel. During the encryption, a file entitled, for example, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx.id[9ECFA84E-3511].[[email protected]].GrafGrafel”.

In every folder that contains the encrypted files, a info.txt text file will be found. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. You can obtain this decrypting software after contacting [email protected] through email. That is basically the scheme of the felony.

Grafgrafel Summary:

The info.txt file coming in package with the Grafgrafel ransomware provides the following discouraging information:

!!! ATTENTION !!!


Your network is hacked and files are encrypted.
Including the encrypted data we also downloaded other confidential information: data of your employees, customers, partners, as well as accounting and other internal documentation of your company.


About Data
All data is stored until you will pay.
After payment we will provide you the programs for decryption and we will delete your data
We dont want did something bad to your company, it is just bussines (Our reputation is our money!)
If you refuse to negotiate with us (for any reason) all your data will be put up for sale.


What you will face if your data gets on the black market:
The personal information of your employees and customers may be used to obtain a loan or purchases in online stores.
You may be sued by clients of your company for leaking information that was confidential.
After other hackers obtain personal data about your employees, social engineering will be applied to your company and subsequent attacks will only intensify.
Bank details and passports can be used to create bank accounts and online wallets through which criminal money will be laundered.
You will forever lose the reputation.
You will be subject to huge fines from the government.
You can learn more about liability for data loss here: hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulationor here hxxps://gdpr-info.eu
Courts, fines and the inability to use important files will lead you to huge losses. The consequences of this will be irreversible for you.
Contacting the police will not save you from these consequences, and lost data, will only make your situation worse.

 

How to contact us
Write us to the mails: [email protected]
You can contact our online operator in telegram: @GROUNDINGCONDUCTOR (BE CAREFUL ABOUT FAKE)
Download the (Session) messenger hxxps://getsession.org in messenger :ID\"05bc5e20c9c6fbfd9a58bfa222cecd4bbf9b5cf4e1ecde84a0b8b3de23ce8e144e\"
Write this ID in the title of your message -
IF YOU WILL CONTACT US IN FIRST 6 hours , and we close our deal in 24 hours , PRICE WILL BE ONLY 30%.
(time is money for both of us , if you will take care about our time , we will do same , we will care of price and decryption process will be done VERY FAST)
ALL DOWNLOADED DATA WILL BE DELETED after payment.


What no to do and recomendation
You can get out of this situation with minimal losses (Our reputation is our money!) !!! To do this you must strictly observe the following rules:
DO NOT Modify, DO NOT rename, DO NOT copy, DO NOT move any files. Such actions may DAMAGE them and decryption will be impossible.
DO NOT use any third party or public decryption software, it may also DAMAGE files.
DO NOT Shutdown or Reboot the system this may DAMAGE files.
DO NOT hire any third party negotiators (recovery/police, etc.) You need to contact us as soon as possible and start negotiations.
You can send us 1-2 small data not value files for test , we will decrypt it and send it to you back.
After payment we need no more that 2 hours to decrypt all of your data. We will be support you untill fully decryption going to be done! ! ! (Our reputation is our money!)
 
 
Instructions for contacting our team:
Download the (Session) messenger (hxxps://getsession.org) in messenger :ID\"05bc5e20c9c6fbfd9a58bfa222cecd4bbf9b5cf4e1ecde84a0b8b3de23ce8e144e\"
Telrgram : @GROUNDINGCONDUCTOR (BE CAREFUL ABOUT FAKE)
MAIL:[email protected]

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

How did my computer get infected with Grafgrafel ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for criminals to have the Grafgrafel virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

• If you open your inbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a harmful file enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
• Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse model. A Trojan is an object that gets into your computer pretending to be something different. Imagine, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some service. However, what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful program that compromises your data. Since the update file can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The optimal thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
• As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger 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 websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of ransomware?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Grafgrafel virus will probably install Vidar Stealer on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

How to avoid ransomware infiltration?

Grafgrafel ransomware has no endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can armour yourself from ransomware infiltration taking several easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable email with caution. A hoax letter will surely contain mistakes.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often spreaded as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. But untrusted programs are very hard to tell from trustworthy software, as trojans may also have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information on this program on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.

FAQ

🤔 Are the “.GrafGrafel” files accessible?

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

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.GrafGrafel” 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. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

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

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the blocked data can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to post those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try downloading them 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 PC, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery programs² to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.