PHV1 Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove virus?

The Phv1 virus belongs to the Phobos ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (photos, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, creating the info.txt files in every folder containing encrypted files.

What is known about the Phv1virus?

☝️ A scientifically correct denomination for the Phv1 would be “a Phobos family ransomware-type infection”.

The scheme of renaming is this: id-*******.[email address].pHv1. After the encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx.id130bf93.[[email protected]].pHv1”.

In every directory with the encoded files, a info.txt notebook document will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the Phv1 developers. You can get this tool after contacting [email protected] through email. That is basically the scheme of the crime.

Phv1 outline:

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Phv1 looks like. Each filename has the “.id-*******.[email address].pHv1” extension appended to it.

How did my computer get infected with Phv1 ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for hackers to have ransomware planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.

If you access your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a ransomware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never guess what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. 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 complete.

How to remove the Phv1 virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Phv1 virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware³ can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes criminals would decrypt some of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption program. As Phv1 virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the decoding instruments are frequently updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Of course, if the malefactors succeed in encoding someone’s essential files, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The best safety measure against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Phv1, that work similarly. For instance, Harpoonlocker, Hoffmx, Tgipus, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Phv1 are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes are found in each folder containing encrypted files.

Some fortunate users were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the hackers accidentally send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How сan I avert ransomware infection?

Phv1 ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can defend your computer from its attack in several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown mailers with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious email carefully. A hoax letter will always contain mistakes.
• Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But untrusted programs are difficult to distinguish from trustworthy ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft⁴

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”.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Can I somehow access “.id-*******.[email address].pHv1” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.id-*******.[email address].pHv1” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.id-*******.[email address].pHv1” files ASAP. How can I do that?

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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Phv1 malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach

• If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. 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 media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery utilities⁶ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the original 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 governmental 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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