As you know, viruses and malware on the World Wide Web every day there are more. But today, the consequences of their impact go far beyond the disruption of the system. More and more attackers are beginning to extort money. These threats include the paycrypt @ gmail_com virus, which is an encryptor. He appeared relatively recently, so the fight against him is a rather laborious affair.
What is paycrypt @ gmail_com virus?
In principle, the “infection” itself works according to the knurled algorithm used in the most well-known viruses like CBF, XTBL and I Love You.
Without going into the scheme of its work, we can only say one thing: the consequences of its impact are that all user files and documents are encrypted with a special algorithm that hackers themselves call RSA-1024. Ultimately, after encryption, no document or user file can be opened without a special key.
In addition to the existing extension, file names include paycrypt @ gmail_com. How to decrypt such files (and whether it is possible at all), we will now see.
How does a virus enter the system?
The penetration of threats to a separate terminal or even to a local network can be carried out in several ways. The most common are e-mail containing attachments, downloaders that catch the virus directly on the infected site, or hidden objects that are activated when copying information from removable media. Sometimes you can pick it up by simply clicking on an advertising banner.
Email is believed to be the main tunnel. This does not apply to mail servers, but exclusively to accounts used in stationary programs like Outlook or third-party applications installed on computer terminals.
The user opens, for example, a message about a change in the contract for the supply of products and looks at the attachment. It has some kind of file. If you see that the extension is unknown, it is better not to open it at all. But the postscript, they say, in the attachment contains a scan copy of the new version of the contract, it confuses everyone, and the user opens the file, without even thinking.
But very often you can find an attachment in the form of a regular text file or Word-document. The user clicks on it, and ... let's go (notice that you can rename any file by assigning it the extension .txt, .doc or the extension of the graphic object .jpg, as they say, is completely elementary. And the system sees the registered file type and immediately trying to open it).
Sometimes an attachment contains an executable JS file (Java Script), which cannot be opened at all!
The first sign of exposure is the instantaneous “braking” of the computer. This indicates an excessive load on system resources due to the fact that the malicious code embedded in the paycrypt @ gmail_com file started the encryption process. By the way, it can take quite a long time, and no reboot will help. If you reboot the system, the virus will start its dirty work again. At the end of the process, we get fully encrypted paycrypt @ gmail_com files. How to decipher them, of course, we do not understand. Instructions for the proposed actions are later proposed by the attackers themselves.
Hacker Requirements Algorithm
Ordinary users "catch" this virus, in general, infrequently. Rather, it is focused on commercial structures and organizations. At the same time, if the company has a sufficiently branched local area network, encryption can affect absolutely all terminals connected to the network.
As an instruction attached to the paycrypt @ gmail_com virus (how to decrypt data is described in detail in it), an e-mail is used, which states that the files are encrypted using the RSA-1024 algorithm. Further, as if with good intentions, the statement follows that only the group that sent the message can decrypt the data. But such a service costs about 100 to 500 euros.
To get paycrypt @ gmail_com-decryptor, you need to send the KEY.PRIVATE file and several infected files to the specified mail address. After that, it is assumed that the user will receive their own unique key. Frankly, this is hard to believe.
At the same time, it is reported that you can not even try to decrypt paycrypt @ gmail_com files yourself, since the only way out is to completely format the disk or partition. Immediately there is a hint that the user data is very important for him, so formatting is impractical.
Should I get involved with intruders?
Unfortunately, trusting users or owners of very important information immediately run to pay for services, but in return do not receive anything. If at the dawn of the appearance of this threat, someone might have also received a key, today you can not even dream about it - the usual extortion of money.
Some nevertheless try to use anti-virus scanners, but the trouble is that the virus is really detected by the programs, it even seems to be treated and deleted, but the information remains encrypted.
Is there a decryptor for paycrypt @ gmail_com virus?
As for data decryption, practically no well-known anti-virus software developer can imagine any specific and universal solution.
You can search the entire Internet for a key. But nothing good will come of it. The only thing you can try is to look for already known keys like unblck@gmail.com, uncrpt@gmail.com, unstyx@gmail.com, etc. Perhaps some combinations will help, but you should not flatter yourself.
How to get the decryption utility on the official site of the antivirus developer?
But let's see what can be done if the paycrypt @ gmail_com virus is caught. How to decrypt it, for example, the user does not know. In such a situation, provided that the computer terminal has the official (licensed) version of the anti-virus software installed, it is better to contact the developer support center directly.
At the same time, you should use the treatment request section on the official website, and then send several infected files. If you have a copy of the original uninfected object, even better. In this situation, the likelihood that the data will be decrypted increases many times, because, for example, the paycrypt @ gmail_com virus, Kaspersky (a regular scanner), simply cannot cure.
If all else fails ...
If, for some reason, the answer has not been received, and there are no intentions to contact the attackers, there is nothing to be done. The only way out is to format the hard drive. In this case, you need to perform full formatting, and not clear the table of contents.
Separately, it is worth saying that the virus, when it penetrated the hard drive or its logical partition, could create its own copy, so absolutely everything that is needed would have to be formatted and the system should be reinstalled. There is no other way.
By the way, utilities downloaded before the system starts (like Kaspersky Rescue Disc) will not help either. As mentioned above, they will detect the virus, even delete it, but they will not be able to bring the data to its original readable state. This is understandable, because initially, even such powerful utilities for this, in general, were not designed.
Last few tips
Here, in fact, the paycrypt @ gmail_com virus has been examined. How to decrypt it? To this question, as is already clear, there is no answer. It is better to protect yourself in advance from the penetration of threats into the system.
You should open only email attachments received from reliable sources, you should not click on ads on the Internet in vain. Pay special attention to letters in which the name of the attached file contains abracadabra (some set of unreadable characters), and changing the encoding does not help to see the name in the normal representation. In general, be vigilant!
Well, it goes without saying that there is no point in paying money to ransomware, and in return not getting the necessary key. However, this is proved quite simply by the example of other well-known viruses and malicious codes that have already been registered in world practice.