In
my research for computer viruses this week I came across a particularly nasty
one called Thanatos. It is a ransomware that, once activated, encrypts
every single file on your computer. Some of the symptoms you might see
when you have been infected are you “can't
open files stored on your computer, previously functional files now have a
different extension, for example my.docx.locked. A ransom demanding message is
displayed on your desktop. Cyber criminals are asking to pay a ransom (usually
in bitcoins) to unlock your files.” (pcrisk.com, 2018) When a
user logs back in they are prompted with a text file that states:
"Your
computer is encrypted. All data will be lost if you do not pay 0.01 BTC to the
specified BTC wallet
1DRAsxW4cKAD1BCS9m2dutduHi3FKqQnZF
After
payment you will receive the decryption code from this mail
c-m58@mail.ru" (pcrisk.com, 2018)
If you receive, he above message then you know you have
been infected. Since most of us are
Windows 10 users we will tackle the removal steps for how to get rid of this
pesky bug on that OS.
First thing you want to do is click the windows logo and
click the Power icon. Then choose to
restart while holding the shift key down.
When it reboots it will give you a number of options. Choose Troubleshoot, then Advanced
Options. Once the next window comes
available pick Startup Settings and click Restart. When the next window comes up choose option 5
for Enable Safe Mode with Networking. Then
like normal sign into the account that is infected. Start your internet browser and then download
a legitimate anti-spyware program. I
have previously mentioned Malwarebytes anti-malware in my other blogs and also
recommend it here. Once you have this
program downloaded and updated run the program and delete all entries dealing
with Thanatos or any other abnormalities that it discovers.
Now your cooking with gas!
Reference
Pcrisk.com (2018). THANATOS Ransomware. Retrieved December
20, 2019, from https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/12339-thanatos-ransomware.
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