XSPACE Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove virus?

The Xspace virus belongs under the VoidCrypt ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the Decryption-Guide.txt text files in each folder with the encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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What is Xspace virus?

☝️ A strictly accurate designation for the Xspace is “a VoidCrypt family ransomware infection”.

The scheme of renaming is the following: id-*******.[email address].xSpace. In the course of encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx.id-1fjD371BQ003.[recoverdata.131@protonmail.com].xSpace”.

In each folder containing the encoded files, a Decryption-Guide.txt text file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can get this decoding tool after contacting recoverdata.131@protonmail.com by email. That is it.

Xspace outline:

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Xspace looks like. Each filename has the “.id-*******.[email address].xSpace” extension added to it.

An example of encrypted .id-*******.[email address].xSpace files.

How did Xspace ransomware end up on my PC?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most popular methods for hackers to have the Xspace virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse scheme². A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your machine disguised as something legal. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some software. However, what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful agent that encodes your data. Since the update file 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 developers’ official websites.

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 Web. You can never guess 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 files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Xspace virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Xspace virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Often criminals would decode few of your files to prove that they really have the decryption tool. As Xspace virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.

Sure thing, if the tamperers do the job of encoding victim’s critical files, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. However, paying to racketeers gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of ransomware developers just disappearing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The best solution against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage 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 wise to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the OS restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Xspace, that work similarly. For instance, Qbaa, Ooii, Fgui, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Xspace are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become blocked, their extensions altered, ransom notes appear in each folder containing encoded files.

Some fortunate victims were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But obviously, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware injection?

Xspace ransomware has no endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can defend yourself from its injection within three easy steps:

• Ignore any letters from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A fake letter will always contain a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or untrusted programs. Trojan viruses are often distributed as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. But dubious programs are very hard to tell from reliable software, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful armor for your system.

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 computer.

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 Xspace 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

🤔 Is it possible to open “.id-*******.[email address].xSpace” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.id-*******.[email address].xSpace” files are decrypted.

🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?

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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Xspace malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?

No way! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual threats. The malware that has infiltrated your PC is most likely still active and it scans your system every so often to arrest any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has already been said, the Xspace virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide malefactors with easy access to your system after some time.

🤔 What should I do if the Xspace malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.

In such a case, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a pre-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 imported into your machine. To block this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the blocked data can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to send those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery programs⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the ransomware itself 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.

How to Remove XSPACE Ransomware & Recover PC

Name: XSPACE Virus

Description: XSPACE Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .id-*******.[email address].xSpace extension. So, you can't use them at all.

Operating System: Windows

Application Category: Virus

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