The Strip4you virus belongs to the Xorist ransomware family. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, creating the КАК РАСШИФРОВАТЬ ФАЙЛЫ.txt text files in every folder which contains the encrypted files.
Strip4you virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically correct denomination for the Strip4you is “a Xorist family ransomware malicious agent”.
Strip4you will append its own .strip4you extension to every file’s name. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.strip4you”. Just like the Excel sheet named “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.strip4you”, and so on.
In each directory with the encrypted files, a КАК РАСШИФРОВАТЬ ФАЙЛЫ.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information about 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 tamperers. That is how they do it.
Strip4you summary:
| Name | Strip4you Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Xorist ransomware |
| Extension | .strip4you |
| Ransomware note | КАК РАСШИФРОВАТЬ ФАЙЛЫ.txt |
| Detection | MSIL/Spy.Agent.DSV, TrojanSpy:Win32/Delgent, Trojan.Ransom.Magniber |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .strip4you extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Strip4you virus |
In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Strip4you looks like. Each filename has the “.strip4you” extension appended to it.
That is how encrypted “.strip4you” files look.
How did my machine catch Strip4you ransomware?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most popular methods for evil-doers to have the Strip4you virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer networks.
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 “from” field is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a ransomware file attached to them. So it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. 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 directory containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is complete.
How to remove the Strip4you virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Strip4you virus will most likely install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Sometimes criminals would unblock some of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Strip4you virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software designers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the decoding instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon be available.
Understandably, if the evildoers succeed in encrypting someone’s essential files, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After receiving the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports about criminals just vanishing 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 drive. Surely, that might be not enough. The most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.
Strip4you 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, Qbaa, Fgui, Rtgf, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Strip4you are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in every folder containing encoded files.
Some lucky users were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.
How to avoid ransomware attack?
Strip4you ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can defend your computer from ransomware infiltration within several easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A hoax letter will always contain a mistake.
- Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But untrusted programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information on this program on the anti-malware message boards, 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
🤔 How can I open “.strip4you” files?Is it possible to open“.strip4you” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.strip4you” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.strip4you” files ASAP. How can I do that?
If the “.strip4you” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. All other solutions require time.
🤔 What to do if the Strip4you virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the encoded files might still be within your reach
- If you sent or received your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to give those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a portable device, phone, memory stick, etc.
HINT: You can use data recovery utilities5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes 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 be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the virus with an antivirus 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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