RECOVERYDATA Ransomware 🔐 [email protected]

The Recoverydata virus falls within the Dharma ransomware family. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the PC (photos, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file.

What is known about [email protected]?

☝️ A scientifically accurate denomination for the Recoverydata is “a Dharma family ransomware malicious agent”.

The pattern of renaming is this: .[[email protected]].data. In the process of encryption, a file entitled, for instance, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.id-1E857D00.[[email protected]].data”.

The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can get this decryptor after contacting [email protected] via email. That is basically the scheme of the malefaction.

Recoverydata overview:

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Recoverydata looks like. Each filename has the “.[[email protected]].data” extension added to it.

How did my computer get infected with Recoverydata ransomware?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most exploited ways for criminals to have ransomware planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.

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 unknown to you, beware of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a harmful item enclosed in them. So 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 a program that infiltrates into your computer pretending to be something legal. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that encodes your data. Since the update file can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Recoverydata virus?

It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Recoverydata virus will most likely install Vidar Stealer on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes racketeers would decrypt few of your files to prove that they really have the decryption program. Since Recoverydata virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.

Understandably, if the criminals succeed in encoding someone’s critical data, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of malefactors simply disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The optimal solution against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external storage. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working on when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Recoverydata, that work similarly. For instance, Gatz, Foza, Sato, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Recoverydata are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes emerge in every folder containing encoded files.

Some lucky people were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ tool to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How to avert ransomware infiltration?

Recoverydata ransomware has no endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your system from its infiltration within three easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailers with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious email carefully. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are very hard to tell from reliable ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

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

🤔 Are the “.[[email protected]].data” files accessible?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.[[email protected]].data” files you will not be able to access 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. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Recoverydata virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach

• If you sent or received your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to post those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, mobile, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can employ file recovery utilities⁴ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself 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.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Here’s the list of Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.