[[email protected]].USA Ransomware - How to remove

[[email protected]].USA is a virus that costs many people their data and even money. [[email protected]].USA, the new member of the Phobos family, is part of a trend of increasingly varied and dangerous file-encrypting viruses. It seems like cryptoviruses are lucrative for their developers who infect both individual PCs and networks of businesses.

Ransomware can have devastating consequences to the victim, especially if they didn’t have backups of their data. [[email protected]].USA is work of experienced cybercriminals and cannot be easily defeated, but if you fell victim to it, there are a few things to try that might restore some of your data.

Characteristics of [[email protected]].USA

The virus is named after the extension that it attaches to the names of the encrypted files. It’s .id-[random].[[email protected]].USA. This virus uses encryption to make the files unusable, so renaming the files to remove the extension won’t work in the vast majority of cases. The encryption is strong and, so far, it hasn’t been cracked. While it’s true that an early version of Dharma has been decrypted, the developers have improved their following viruses enough to avoid that.

[[email protected]].USA then asks for money in exchange for a decryption key. It does this in the ransom note in a pop-up window “[email protected]”. A shorter note called FILES ENCRYPTED.txt is also created. The extortionists behind [[email protected]].USA want Bitcoins for a promise to restore the files. They don’t seem to keep their promise often — many people complain about their lost thousands of dollars to the criminals of the sister ransomware without getting any help in restoring their files.

Who is vulnerable to ransomware?

To avoid [[email protected]].USA and similar infections, or being substantially hurt by those attacks, it’s important to know how ransomware is distributed and how to be ready for it.

• Malspam is used to distribute ransomware, so people who aren’t very careful could accidentally download and start a virus thinking that it’s an important attachment. [[email protected]].USA’s predecessor, Phobos, was distributed this way. Macro viruses and disguised executables can start encrypting files without the victim even noticing what’s going on. And the encryption by [[email protected]].USA is fast.
• Outdated software is abused by infected sites online to deliver malware, for example, Sodinokibi or Seon. WannaCry also exploited a vulnerability in outdated software, despite a security patch having already been released.
• Those who use Remote Desktop and don’t secure it properly also risk having their accounts broken into. Remote Desktop needs strong passwords securing the accounts, be limited to specific times and IPs, etc. A breached RDP can be used to cause an incredible amount of harm, including leaked data and repeated attacks. This method is often used to perform targeted attacks, but that doesn’t mean that individual users are safe from them.
• Downloading and installing infected software is a great risk — some viruses, such as the newer versions of STOP, are uploaded online as wanted programs. People who don’t scan their downloads risk losing all of their data.

Backups are the single most important thing when it comes to being protected against ransomware. Copies of the files that are inaccessible to a malicious program will be safe and, as long as you remove the virus before recovering the files, you should be able to return to normal painlessly. [[email protected]].USA can be ignored simply by overwriting the encrypted files with the ones from a backup.

How to remove the [[email protected]].USA virus

Despite the fact that no decryptor exists for Phobos or [[email protected]].USA, there are a few things that can be done by the victims which might help restore some data, such as data recovery.

Some people have reported that, because [[email protected]].USA does not deal well with big files, a lot of data remains unencrypted even in broken files. Additionally, the virus might fail to destroy shadow copies, so look for them. Ransomware can have bugs like any other software. If your files are still broken, if you really want to get your files back, seek out a specialist, but make sure it’s someone you trust. And be wary of promises that are too good to be true. If there is anything that the [[email protected]].USA ransom note was right about, it’s that there are scammers who prey on ransomware victims.

Before you restore your files, make sure that [[email protected]].USA virus is gone from your computer before you use the device. Most competent tools can recognize it, as you can see on this page, so try any trusted tool, for example, Spyhunter.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover [[email protected]].USA Ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before [[email protected]].USA has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of [[email protected]].USA Ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to [[email protected]].USA. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore [[email protected]].USA Ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually [[email protected]].USA tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover [[email protected]].USA Ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.