What is known about the Arazitevirus?

Arazite adds its specific .arazite extension to the title of each encrypted file. For example, a file named “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.arazite”. Likewise, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will be changed to “table.xlsx.arazite”, and so on.

The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can get this decryptor after contacting , through email. That is it.

Name	Arazite Virus
Extension	.arazite
Contact	,
Detection1	Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.SK!MTB, Trojan:Win32/Phorpiex.AE!MTB, AutoIt:Runner-BH [Trj]
Symptoms	Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .arazite extension and you can’t open them.
Fix Tool	GridinSoft Anti-MalwareSee If Your System Has Been Affected by Arazite virus

The note coming in package with the Arazite ransomware provides the following frustrating information:

ALL YOUR DATA TURNED TO USELESS BINARY CODE
Your computer is infected with a virus.
Send an email , specify in the subject your unique identifier - and you will definitly be helped to recover.
NOTE:
You can send 2 files as proof that we can return all your data.
If the provided email doesn\'t work, please contact us at
Algorithms used are AES and RSA.
IMPORTANT:
1. The infection was due to vulnerabilities in your software.
2. If you want to make sure that it is impossible to recover files using third-party software, do this not on all files, otherwise you may lose all data.
3. Only communication through our email can guarantee file recover for you. We are not responsible for the actions of third parties who promise to help you - most often they are scammers.
4. Please, do not try to rename encrypted files.
5. Our goal is to return your data, but if you don\'t contact us, we will not succeed.

In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Arazite looks like. Each filename has the “.arazite” extension appended to it.

An example of encrypted .arazite files.

How did Arazite ransomware end up on my PC?

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for tamperers to have the Arazite virus settled in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction 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, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a harmful item attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse scheme². A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your computer pretending to be something legal. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful agent that encodes your data. As the update file can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. 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 folder containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Arazite virus?

Sometimes tamperers would decrypt few of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption tool. Since Arazite virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Sure thing, if the criminals do the job of encoding victim’s essential files, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about ransomware developers just vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.

The best safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.

Arazite is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Eewt, Aawt, Mmdt, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Arazite are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encoded files.

Some fortunate people were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decryption key to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avert ransomware injection?

You can protect your system from its injection within three easy steps:

• Ignore any letters from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the dubious email carefully. A hoax letter will always have mistakes.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.
• And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a perfect armor for your PC.

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft">⁴.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware

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 Arazite 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 “.arazite” files?Is it possible to open“.arazite” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.arazite” files are decrypted.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. All other solutions require time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Arazite virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Absolutely not! Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete active viruses from your PC. The malware that has attacked your computer is probably still active and launching checks from time to time to encrypt any new files you might create on your PC after the infection. As it has been mentioned above, the Arazite virus comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your system after some time.

🤔 What to do if the Arazite ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

In such a case, you need to have a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or imported into your PC. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Some of the encrypted data can be found elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, cellphone, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ data recovery utilities⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the virus with an antivirus 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.

References

1. Encyclopedia of threats.
2. You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
3. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site:
4. More information about GridinSoft products:
5. Here’s the list of the top 10 file recovery tools of 2021.