The Venus virus belongs under the ransomware type of infection. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the README.html files in each directory with the encrypted files.
Venus virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically accurate designation for the Venus would be “a ransomware-type infection”.
Venus will add its specific .venus extension to the name of each encrypted file. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.venus”. Likewise, the Excel sheet named “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.venus”, and so on.
In every directory that contains the encrypted files, a README.html text file will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is pretty much the scheme of the felony.
Venus abstract:
| Name | Venus Virus |
| Extension | .venus |
| Ransomware note | README.html |
| Detection | Trojan.MalPack.ME, Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.SF!MTB, Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.SE!MTB |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .venus extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Venus virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Venus looks like. Each filename has the “.venus” extension added to it.
That is how encrypted “.venus” files look.
How did my computer get infected with Venus ransomware?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for malefactors to have ransomware acting in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer networks.
If you open your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, 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 very likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file model1. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your PC pretending to be something different. Imagine, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some software. However, what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful agent that encodes your data. Since the installation file can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger 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 finished.
How to remove the Venus virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Venus virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware2 can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Sometimes tamperers would unblock several of your files to prove that they do have the decryption tool. As Venus virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.
Understandably, if the hackers succeed in encoding victim’s essential files, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports about malefactors simply disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.
The best solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. The most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.
Venus 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, Qqmt, Oopu, Oodt, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Venus are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become blocked, their extensions altered, ransom notes appear in every directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky victims were able to decode the blocked files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.
How do I avert ransomware injection?
Venus ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your computer from its attack in three easy steps:
- Never open any emails from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize 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 shared as an element of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best solution is not to use such software.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with 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 computer for Venus 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 “.venus” files?Are the “.venus” files accessible?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.venus” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
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. All other solutions require time.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Venus virus?
No way! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will remove actual malware from your computer. The ransomware that has attacked your computer is must be still active and it scans your system from time to time to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the initial attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Venus ransomware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide criminals with easy access to your PC after some time.
🤔 What should I do if the Venus malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
In such an unfortunate situation, you need to have a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to execute the procedure. You see, the ransomware runs 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 vital programs to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the encrypted files might still be at your disposal
- 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 family members. Just ask them to post those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, flash memory, etc.
HINT: You can employ data recovery programs5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself 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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Brendan SmithHow to Remove VENUS Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: VENUS Virus
Description: VENUS Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .venus extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- You can read more on spyware variants and nature in the respective 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 are Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
