The Millennium virus falls within the Dharma ransomware family. A harmful program of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file.
What is Millennium virus?
☝️ A strictly accurate denomination for the Millennium would be “a Dharma family ransomware-type infection”.
The renaming will be done according to this pattern: [millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME. As a part of encryption, a file entitled, for example, “report.docx” will be altered to “report.docx.id-162A400B.[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME”.
The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can get this decrypting software after contacting millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io through email. That is it.
Millennium abstract:
| Name | Millennium Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Dharma ransomware |
| Extension | .[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME |
| Contact | millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io |
| Detection | MSIL/Spy.Agent.DSV, TrojanSpy:Win32/Delgent, Trojan.Ransom.Magniber |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Millennium virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Millennium looks like. Each filename has the “.[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME” extension added to it.
![Millennium Virus - encrypted .[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME files](https://howtofix.guide/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Millennium-files-virus.jpg)
That is how encrypted “.[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME” files look.
How did Millennium ransomware end up on my PC?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most popular methods for tamperers to have ransomware planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, beware of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse scheme2. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your machine pretending to be something different. For instance, you download an installer of some program you want or an update for some program. However, what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful program that encodes your data. As 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 way is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.
How do I get rid of the Millennium virus?
It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your files, the Millennium virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Sometimes racketeers would unblock several of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption program. As Millennium virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the decryption instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon be available.
Sure thing, if the evildoers succeed in encrypting victim’s essential data, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of ransomware developers just disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.
The best 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. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most crucial thing could be that file you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.
There are other ransomware products, besides Millennium, that work similarly. Examples of those are Wdlo, Kqgs, Udla, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Millennium are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky people were able to decrypt the blocked files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decryption key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How to avoid ransomware injection?
Millennium ransomware has no endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your system from its attack taking several easy steps:
- Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter with caution. A hoax letter will always have mistakes.
- Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are difficult to distinguish from trustworthy ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect defense for your PC.
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 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 computer for Millennium 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 “.[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME” files accessible?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME” files you will not be able to access 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. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Millennium malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
No way! Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will remove the infections from your computer. The ransomware that has infected your PC is must be still active and launching checks periodically to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has already been said, the Millennium ransomware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Millennium virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
In such a case, you need to have a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or brought into your PC. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Some of the encrypted data can be located elsewhere.
- If you exchanged your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You might have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, mobile, external storage, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery programs5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video 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.
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Brendan SmithHow to Remove MILLENNIUM Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: MILLENNIUM Virus
Description: MILLENNIUM Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .[millenniumcrypt@msgsafe.io].ME 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.
- 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.
