WANACRAY2023+ Files Ransomware – Remove WANACRAY2023+ Virus

The Wanacray2023+ virus falls under the Xorist ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (photos, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt files in every directory which contains the encrypted files.

What is Wanacray2023+ virus?

☝️ A strictly accurate description for the Wanacray2023+ is “a Xorist family ransomware malicious agent”.

Wanacray2023+ will add its own .WanaCray2023+ extension to the name of every encoded file. For instance, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.WanaCray2023+”. In the same manner, the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.WanaCray2023+”, and so on.

In each folder that contains the encoded files, a HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt text file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is it.

Wanacray2023+ overview:

In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Wanacray2023+ looks like. Each filename has the “.WanaCray2023+” extension added to it.

How did Wanacray2023+ ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for hackers to have ransomware settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer networks.

If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose mailer is strange to you, beware of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a malicious item attached to them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters 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 guess 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 items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Wanacray2023+ virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Wanacray2023+ virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware³ can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes racketeers would unblock several of your files so you know that they do have the decryption tool. Since Wanacray2023+ virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware engineers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are constantly upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Sure thing, if the evildoers do the job of encoding someone’s essential files, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. However, paying to racketeers gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of racketeers just disappearing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The best safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud disk or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be not enough. Your 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 OS is rolled back.

Wanacray2023+ 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 Jhdd, Hhjk, Dewd, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Wanacray2023+ are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become blocked, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in every folder containing encoded files.

Some lucky victims were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decryption code to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ tool to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How сan I avoid ransomware injection?

Wanacray2023+ ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can defend your system from its infiltration within three easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious letter carefully. A fake email will always have a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as an element of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are very hard to tell from reliable ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. Try to find information on this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such software.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft⁴

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 “.WanaCray2023+” files?Are the “.WanaCray2023+” files accessible?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.WanaCray2023+” 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. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 What should I do if the Wanacray2023+ ransomware 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 at your disposal

• If you sent or received your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can use data recovery utilities⁶ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself 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.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Here are Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.