The Zery virus falls within the Xorist ransomware family. Malware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, leaving the HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt files in every directory which contains the encrypted files.
What is Zery virus?
☝️ A strictly accurate designation for the Zery would be “a Xorist family ransomware-type infection”.
Zery adds its own .ZeRy extension to every file’s title. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.ZeRy”. Just like the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will be changed to “table.xlsx.ZeRy”, and so forth.
In each directory that contains the encoded files, a HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can obtain this tool after contacting zery@tuta.io through email. That is basically the scheme of the crime.
Zery overview:
| Name | Zery Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Xorist ransomware |
| Extension | .ZeRy |
| Ransomware note | HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt |
| Ransom | 0.05 BTC |
| Contact | zery@tuta.io |
| Detection | Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Blocker.pef, Win32/GenKryptik.GCGO, Win32/Filecoder.OKE |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .ZeRy extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Zery virus |
The HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt file coming in package with the Zery malware provides the following discouraging information:
HELLO! As you can see all your files are encrypted To get them back, you have to pay me 0.05 bitcoins At this address: bc1qgfef9nlwffftl6m5qet95yxa0x7arah0h580gs After you have made the payment, contact me at this email address: zery@tuta.io with this topic: - After payment confirmation, you will receive the keys and a tutorial to decrypt your files. If you don\'t own bitcoin, you can buy it very easily here: www.localbitcoins.com www.paxful.com www.coinmama.com You can find a larger list here: hxxps://bitcoin.org/en/exchanges If you don\'t contact me or you won\'t make the payment in 5 days I will assume that you do not want to recover your files and as a result I will delete the keys generated for your PC.
In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Zery looks like. Each filename has the “.ZeRy” extension added to it.
An example of encrypted .ZeRy files.
How did my computer get infected with Zery ransomware?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most popular ways for tamperers to have the Zery virus settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a malicious file attached to them. Therefore, it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse model2. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your machine pretending to be something else. For instance, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some service. However, what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that corrupts your data. Since the update 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 optimal thing is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-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 know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.
How do I get rid of the Zery virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Zery virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware3 can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Often tamperers would decode few of your files to prove that they really have the decryption program. Since Zery virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware developers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are frequently updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.
Understandably, if the tamperers succeed in encoding victim’s essential data, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. However, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of malefactors just vanishing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.
The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Surely, that might be not enough. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.
There are other ransomware products, besides Zery, that work similarly. For instance, Nuis, Tury, Powd, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Zery are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: documents become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes emerge in every folder containing encrypted files.
Some lucky people were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decryption code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How do I avoid ransomware infection?
Zery ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can armour your computer from its infiltration taking three easy steps:
- Never open any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious letter carefully. A fake letter will always contain a mistake.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often shared as an element of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try to find information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful defense for your PC.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft4
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft5.
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 system.
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 Zery 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 “.ZeRy” files?Can I somehow access “.ZeRy” files?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.ZeRy” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
If the “.ZeRy” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. 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.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Zery malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
Of course not. Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete active threats from your system. The ransomware that has infected your system is must be still functional and launching checks every so often to encrypt any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has been said above, the Zery 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 in the future.
🤔 What should I do if the Zery malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.
In such an unfortunate situation, you need to have a flash memory card with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to execute the procedure. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or brought into your computer. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right now?
Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach
- If you sent or received your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to post those pictures 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 drives might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, phone, flash memory, 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 use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the virus with an anti-malware 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 ZERY Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: ZERY Virus
Description: ZERY Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .ZeRy 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.
- 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’s the list of Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
