The Lilium virus belongs to the VoidCrypt ransomware family. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file.
Lilium virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A strictly correct description for the Lilium would be “a VoidCrypt family ransomware infection”.
The renaming will be executed by this scheme: lilium. In the process of encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx.[Open_file@tutanota.com][I0QNXLFZ6CHA351].lilium”.
The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.
Lilium outline:
| Name | Lilium Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | VoidCrypt ransomware |
| Extension | .lilium |
| Detection | WinGo/Agent.DG, Ransom:MSIL/Thanos.MK!MTB, Trojan.Upatre.NT |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .lilium extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Lilium virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Lilium looks like. Each filename has the “.lilium” extension added to it.
That is how encrypted “.lilium” files look.
How did Lilium ransomware end up on my PC?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most exploited ways for tamperers to have the Lilium virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you access your inbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a harmful item attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus scheme2. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your PC disguised as something else. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some service. However, what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful agent that encodes your data. As the update wizard can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-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. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is complete.
How do I get rid of the Lilium virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Lilium virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware3 can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Sometimes criminals would decode several of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption program. Since Lilium virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Sure thing, if the tamperers succeed in encoding someone’s critical data, the desperate person will most likely fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about racketeers just vanishing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.
The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external drive. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the OS restoration.
There are other ransomware products, besides Lilium, that work similarly. Examples of those are Architek, Hello, Rl, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Lilium are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in every directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky victims were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding key to the victims 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 criminals’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.
How to avert ransomware attack?
Lilium ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can defend your PC from its injection taking three easy steps:
- Ignore 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 money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter with caution. A fake letter will surely have a mistake.
- Avoid using cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try to find information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such software.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful shield for your system.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft4
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft5.
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 PC.
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 system for Lilium 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 completed, 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 “.lilium” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.lilium” files first. Then you will be able to open 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. 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.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Lilium malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
No way! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will remove actual malware from your computer. The malware that has infiltrated your computer is must be still functional and it scans your system periodically to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the initial attack. As it has been said above, the Lilium virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide malefactors with easy access to your PC in the future.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Lilium malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.
In such a case, you need to have a flash memory card with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to execute the procedure. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encodes any new files created or brought into your PC. To stop this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach
- If you sent or received your important files through 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 images back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, mobile, external storage, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery programs6 to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see 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 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 LILIUM Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: LILIUM Virus
Description: LILIUM Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .lilium 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.
- You can read more on spyware variants and nature in the respective 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 Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
