Security specialist (Tomas Meskauskas) described the Scorp virus, which belongs under the VoidCrypt ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, creating the Decrypt-me.txt files in every directory with the encrypted files.
What is known about the Scorpvirus?
☝️ A strictly accurate description for the Scorp would be “a VoidCrypt family ransomware-type infection”.
The pattern of renaming is the following: scorp. In the process of encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.[[email protected]][MJ-YA9348065721].scorp”.
In each directory that contains the encoded files, a Decrypt-me.txt file will be created. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. You can get this tool after contacting [email protected], [email protected] via email. That is how they do it.
Scorp outline:
| Name | Scorp Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | VoidCrypt ransomware |
| Extension | .scorp |
| Ransomware note | Decrypt-me.txt |
| Contact | [email protected], [email protected] |
| Detection | TrojanRansom.AutoIt, Virus.Virlock.03, Trojan.ShipUp |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .scorp extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Scorp virus |
The Decrypt-me.txt document accompanying the Scorp ransomware states the following:
All Your Files Has Been Encrypted You Have to Pay to Get Your Files Back 1-Go to C:\\ProgramData\\ or in Your other Drives and send us prvkey*.txt.key file , * might be a number (like this : prvkey3.txt.key) 2-You can send some file little than 1mb for Decryption test to trust us But the test File should not contain valuable data 3-Payment should be with Bitcoin 4-Changing Windows without saving prvkey.txt.key file will cause permanete Data loss Our Email:[email protected] in Case of no Answer:[email protected]
In the picture below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Scorp looks like. Each filename has the “.scorp” extension added to it.
That is how encrypted “.scorp” files look.
How did Scorp ransomware end up on my PC?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for criminals to have ransomware working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a ransomware item attached to them. So it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrents 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 resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.
How do I get rid of the Scorp virus?
It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Scorp virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often racketeers would decode some of your files so you know that they do have the decryption tool. Since Scorp virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware engineers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the decryption tools are frequently upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Sure thing, if the evildoers do the job of encrypting victim’s essential data, the desperate person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about ransomware developers simply vanishing 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 critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system is rolled back.
Scorp 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 Qqqw, Maak, Bbbw, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Scorp are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: files become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate victims were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.
How сan I avert ransomware infection?
Scorp ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, neither does any similar malware.
You can defend your system from ransomware infiltration taking several easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious email carefully. A fake letter will surely have mistakes.
- Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try to find information about this software product 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”.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 Can I somehow access “.scorp” files?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.scorp” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.scorp” files ASAP. How can I do that?
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. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 What should I do if the Scorp ransomware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the blocked files might still be at your disposal
- If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to give those images back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, phone, flash memory, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery utilities5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you kill the virus with an antivirus 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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