SSEAR Virus File 🔐 Encryption Attack Ransomware

The Ssear virus falls under the ransomware type of infection. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file.

What is known about the Ssear virus?

Ssear will append its extra _SSEAR extension to the title of every encrypted file. For instance, an image named “1.jpg” will be altered to “1.jpg_SSEAR“. Likewise, the Excel table with the name “2.jpg” will be renamed to “2.jpg_SSEAR“, and so on.

The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. That is basically the scheme of the crime.

Ssear Summary:

The note coming in package with the Ssear malware states the following:

Encryption Attack Ransomware

Notice:
What happened to my computer?
Don\'t worry, the data in your computer is only encrypted by me, not permanently destroyed by me, please don\'t try to decrypt it yourself, because this is stupid, I used DES and AES256 two encryption methods, AES256 is used to encrypt your files, DES encrypts the public key and key of AES256, so even if the god comes, it is impossible to decrypt
So what should I do to decrypt my files?
You just have to pay the ransom! The ransom is very cheap, just 100USTD, 100USTD for all your files, is it not worth it? For poor people who cannot afford to pay for more than half a year, we have activities that may be discounted! For example, 100USTD discount to 50USTD and other activities,How should I contact you? Please open your telegram,I have a channel on it and can find me
I have paid the ransom fee, and I have been given a program, how should I use it?
It\'s very simple, copy your two codes into that program and decrypt them one by one, note that the two codes change in real time Oh, please decrypt within 5 minutes, otherwise he will change into a brand new code!
I don\'t have time to decrypt the files at the moment, can I turn off the computer
Of course! Your public key and key have been stored by me, but please don\'t try to use the mentally retarded way of shutting down the computer to escape me, unless you don\'t want your files anymore.
My cybersecurity worker, your program has been suspected of breaking the law
I\'m sorry, but I have already indicated when I published that this is malware and the user opens it voluntarily, the original author does not assume any responsibility (including legal responsibility), and this program is only for learning and communication
This is a business server, what should I do?
I said you have to pay a ransom of 100USTD, otherwise even God\'s server will not be able to decrypt the files

That\'s all I left behind, if you have a ransom ready please come to me

In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Ssear looks like. Each filename has the “_SSEAR” extension added to it.

How did Ssear ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most exploited methods for tamperers to have ransomware working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

If you access your inbox and see letters that look like familiar 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 letters. They are most likely to have a malicious item enclosed in them. So it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse model. A Trojan is an object that gets into your PC disguised as something different. For example, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful agent that encodes your data. Since the installation wizard can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer networks 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 websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove ransomware?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Ssear virus will most likely deploy Vidar Stealer on your machine to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

How to avoid ransomware infiltration?

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

You can protect your PC from its injection in three easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange 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?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable email with caution. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often spreaded as an element of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” to prevent the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to tell from reliable software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “_SSEAR” files?Can I somehow access “_SSEAR” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “_SSEAR” files are decrypted.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “_SSEAR” files ASAP. How can I do that?

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. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Ssear 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 within your reach

• If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to give those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a portable device, phone, memory stick, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use data recovery utilities¹ 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 be advised: you can do it only after you kill the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.

1. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.