The Parrot virus belongs with the ransomware type of infection. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, creating the How Recovery Files.txt files in each directory with the encrypted files.
What is Parrot virus?
☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Parrot is “a ransomware infection”.
The pattern of renaming is the following: [contact_email].parrot. In the process of encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx[cryptonationusa@protonmail.com].parrot”.
In every folder with the encoded files, a How Recovery Files.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. That is it.
Parrot outline:
| Name | Parrot Virus |
| Extension | .parrot |
| Ransomware note | How Recovery Files.txt |
| Detection | Win32/Packed.BlackMoon.A suspicious, BScope.TrojanDownloader.Deyma, Mal/Kryptik-BX |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .parrot extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Parrot virus |
In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Parrot looks like. Each filename has the “.parrot” extension added to it.
An example of encrypted .parrot files.
How did my computer get infected with Parrot ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most popular methods for criminals to have the Parrot virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer networks.
If you open your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a ransomware file attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file scheme1. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your machine disguised as something else. Imagine, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful program that corrupts your data. Since the installation file can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the stuff you’re downloading. The best way is to use 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 Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.
How do I get rid of the Parrot virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Parrot virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware2 can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often tamperers would unblock some of your files so you know that they do have the decryption program. As Parrot virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a method to undo its work. However, the decryption instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Of course, if the evildoers succeed in encoding victim’s essential data, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. Nevertheless, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports about ransomware developers just disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.
The best safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive or at least on an external drive. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.
Parrot is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. Examples of those are Oflg, Ofww, Towz, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Parrot are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: files become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in every directory containing encrypted files.
Some lucky people were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How сan I avert ransomware attack?
Parrot ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can defend yourself from ransomware injection in several easy steps:
- Never open any emails from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious letter carefully. A fake letter will always contain mistakes.
- Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often spreaded as a part of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try searching for information on this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program 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 system.
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 computer for Parrot 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 Are the “.parrot” files accessible?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.parrot” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.parrot” files ASAP. How can I do that?
It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Parrot virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?
No way! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your system off the actual viruses. The malware that has attacked your computer is most likely still active and running scans every so often to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has been said above, the Parrot malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide malefactors with easy access to your computer after some time.
🤔 What to do if the Parrot ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.
If that happened, you need to have a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or imported into your PC. To suppress this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right now?
Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach
- If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to give 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 networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, phone, flash memory, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use data recovery utilities5 to get your lost data back since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, 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 PARROT Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: PARROT Virus
Description: PARROT Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .parrot extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- 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’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
