The Teamdarkanon virus falls under the Chaos ransomware family. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (images, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, creating the read_it.txt text files in every folder with the encrypted files.
Teamdarkanon virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A strictly correct description for the Teamdarkanon is “a Chaos family ransomware-type infection”.
Teamdarkanon will append its extra .anon extension to every file’s title. For instance, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.anon”. In the same manner, the Excel file named “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.anon”, and so on.
In each directory containing the encrypted files, a read_it.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other information. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is pretty much the scheme of the crime.
Teamdarkanon overview:
| Name | Teamdarkanon Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Chaos ransomware |
| Extension | .anon |
| Ransomware note | read_it.txt |
| Detection | Trojan:Win32/Phorpiex.AE!MTB, AutoIt:Runner-BH [Trj], VirTool:Win32/Injector.CJ |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .anon extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Teamdarkanon virus |
In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Teamdarkanon looks like. Each filename has the “.anon” extension appended to it.
That is how encrypted “.anon” files look.
How did my computer get infected with Teamdarkanon ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for tamperers to have the Teamdarkanon virus working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open your inbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malware item attached to them. So it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse model2. A Trojan is an object that gets into your machine pretending to be something different. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that corrupts your data. As the installation wizard can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Teamdarkanon virus?
It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Teamdarkanon virus will most likely install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often criminals would unblock several of your files so you know that they do have the decryption tool. As Teamdarkanon virus is a relatively new ransomware, anti-malware engineers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. However, the decryption instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the tamperers do the job of encoding someone’s essential data, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of malefactors simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.
The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have a system 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. The most important thing could be that file 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 OS is rolled back.
Teamdarkanon 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, Eewt, Aawt, Mmdt, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Teamdarkanon are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in each folder containing encrypted files.
Some lucky people were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.
How сan I avoid ransomware infection?
Teamdarkanon ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can defend your system from its attack taking several easy steps:
- Ignore any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A hoax email will surely contain a mistake.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to tell from reliable software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful 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 PC for Teamdarkanon 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
🤔 How can I open “.anon” files?Can I somehow access “.anon” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.anon” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.anon” 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. The rest of the methods require patience.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Teamdarkanon virus?
No way! Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your system off the actual viruses. The virus that has infected your computer is must be still functional and running scans from time to time to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has already been said, the Teamdarkanon malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your system after some time.
🤔 What to do if the Teamdarkanon virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.
If that happened, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or brought into your PC. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right now?
Some of the blocked files can be found elsewhere.
- If you sent or received your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, 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 computer, a laptop, phone, memory stick, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery programs5 to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate 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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Brendan SmithHow to Remove TEAMDARKANON Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: TEAMDARKANON Virus
Description: TEAMDARKANON Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .anon 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 Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
