SABS Ransomware (.sabs files) — How to remove virus?

The Sabs virus falls within the ransomware type of malicious agent. Ransomware of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, leaving the RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt text files in each directory with the encrypted files.

What is known about the Sabsvirus?

☝️ A scientifically accurate denomination for the Sabs is “a ransomware infection”.

Sabs will add its own .SABS extension to every file’s name. For example, an image named “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.SABS”. Just like the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.SABS”, and so on.

In each folder with the encrypted files, a RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is pretty much the scheme of the malefaction.

Sabs abstract:

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

How did my machine catch Sabs ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for tamperers to have the Sabs virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a viral file attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. 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 Sabs virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your files, the Sabs virus will most likely install the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware² can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Often tamperers would decode few of your files so you know that they do have the decryption program. As Sabs virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are constantly updated, so the solution may soon arrive.

Sure thing, if the evildoers succeed in encoding someone’s essential files, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports about hackers just disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The optimal 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 disk. Surely, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon 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.

Sabs is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Qqqw, Maak, Bbbw, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Sabs are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky victims were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decoding key to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, 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 do I avert ransomware infiltration?

Sabs ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your system from ransomware injection taking three easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious email with caution. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal solution 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 “.SABS” files?Is it possible to open“.SABS” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.SABS” files first. Then you will be able to open 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. 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. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 What to do if the Sabs malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the blocked data can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to give those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try doing 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.

USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery utilities⁵ to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you can do it only after you kill the virus 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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