READSREAD Ransomware (.READSREAD File) — Removal Guide

The Readsread virus belongs under the MedusaLocker ransomware family. Malware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the HOW_TO_RECOVER_DATA.html text files in each directory containing encrypted files.

What is Readsread virus?

☝️ A strictly correct description for the Readsread is “a MedusaLocker family ransomware malicious agent”.

Readsread appends its extra .ReadSRead extension to the title of each encoded file. For instance, a file named “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.ReadSRead”. Just like the Excel table with the name “table.xlsx” will be renamed to “table.xlsx.ReadSRead”, and so forth.

In each directory that contains the encoded files, a HOW_TO_RECOVER_DATA.html text document will be created. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find 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 how they do it.

Readsread outline:

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

How did my computer get infected with Readsread ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for hackers to have the Readsread virus working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a ransomware item attached to them. Therefore, it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer networks like BitTorrent 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 resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.

How do I get rid of the Readsread virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Readsread virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes tamperers would decode few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. As Readsread virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software designers have not yet found a method to undo its work. However, the anti-ransomware instruments are constantly upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Of course, if the tamperers do the job of encoding victim’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 blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about malefactors simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external drive. Surely, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.

Readsread 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 Hkgt, Lltt, Llqq, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Readsread are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes are found in every directory containing encoded files.

Some lucky people were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avoid ransomware attack?

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

You can protect yourself from its attack within three easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the questionable email with caution. A hoax email will always have mistakes.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown software. Trojans are often spreaded as an element of cracked software, most likely as a “patch” to prevent the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information on this software product 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

🤔 How can I open “.ReadSRead” files?Is it possible to open“.ReadSRead” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.ReadSRead” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 What should I do if the Readsread virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the encrypted data can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your critical 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 send those images 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.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, mobile, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an anti-malware 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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