Ransomware: How to avoid CYBORG ransomware.

[Alucard1]

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction.

2. History of ransomware.

3. What is Cyborg Ransomware.

4. How a ransomware can affect your device?
       4.1. Trojans
       4.2. Spam campaigns.
       4.3. Fake software updater
       4.4 Cracks

5. How to protect yourself from a ransomware.


Introduction
There are many people who have so many important information or data stored in their computer or any devices that is why they are really afraid when a specific virus enters their computer but there are still some things that we do that causes a virus to enter our devices one of which is the ransomware specifically the cyborg ransomware.

History of ransomware
The first documented ransomware was on 1989 which is the AIDS Trojan and also called PS Cyborg. A biologist Josep L. Popp sent 20,000 infected diskettes labeled as "AIDS information - Introductory Diskettes" to the WHO's international AID conference, after 90 reboots the trojan hid the directories and encrypted the names of the file to its customers. They asked for $189 to be sent to CYBORG corp to regain access.

What is Cyborg ransomware?
It is a kind of malicious software discovered by GrujaRS, this malware is considered as ransomware which is design to encrypt your data and will ask for ransom or payment to decrypt the data. Your files will be renamed with the extension of ".petra" examples, picture.png.petra, intro.txt.petra. when you see that extension then you are under cyborg ransomware. Once the cyborg's process has finished, it will store a text file ("Cyborg_DECRYPT.txt) on your desktop and will change your wallpaper.

Text presented in CYBORG ransomware text file ("Cyborg_DECRYPT.txt"):

Code:

------------------------ ALL YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED BY CYBORG RANSOMWARE ------------------------

Don't worry, you can return all your files!

All your files like documents, photos, databases and other important are encrypted

What guarantees do we give to you?

You can send one of your encrypted file and we decrypt it for free.

You must follow these steps To decrypt your files :   

1) Send $300 bitcoin to wallet :9e3d4e3fad796f4eb15962b74fb2e55fe47

2) write on our e-mail :petra-mail.ru

Your personal ID :3N3LN3RJ7OBBQ90191NJ2F51N7K L02R2A99K75QKPKLOA79933

Threat summary:

Code:

Name:	CYBORG virus
Threat Type:	Ransomware, Crypto Virus, Files locker.
Encrypted Files Extension:	.petra
Ransom Demanding Message:	Cyborg_DECRYPT.txt
Ransom Amount:	$300 in Bitcoins
Cyber Criminals' Cryptowallet Address:	3N3LN3RJ7OBBQ90191NJ2F51N7KL02R2A99K75QKPKLOA79933 (Bitcoin)
Cyber Criminal Contact:	petra-mail.ru
Detection Names:	Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan-Ransom.MSIL.Gen.gen), Fortinet (MSIL/Kryptik.OVF!tr), McAfee-GW-Edition (BehavesLike.Win32.Backdoor.tc), CrowdStrike Falcon (Win/malicious_confidence_80% (D)), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms:	Cannot open files stored on your computer, previously functional files now have a different extension (for example, my.docx.locked). A ransom demand message is displayed on your desktop. Cybercriminals demand payment of a ransom (usually in bitcoins) to unlock your files.
Distribution methods:	Infected email attachments (macros), torrent websites, malicious ads.
Damage	All files are encrypted and cannot be opened without paying a ransom. Additional password-stealing trojans and malware infections can be installed together with ransomware infection.

This text file includes a message saying that your data has been encrypted by CYBORG and they will ask you a ransom or a payment of $300 in the bitcoin currency for decryption, and for the proof that they can decrypt your data, they will decrypt one file for free to show that the can still be encrypted by them. There is also an email address provided to contact them, those hackers used a strong way of encryption and cannot be "cracked" by free programs.

How ransomware can infect your device?
Trojans, spam campaigns, fake software updater, software crack can spread the virus and the ransomware as well.

1. Trojans - is a malicious program that can infect the chain, it downloads and installs other malware.
2. Spam campaigns - it is used to send out emails containing some deceptive words and infectious attachments. Those mails are commonly highlighted as:
- priority
- official
- important
These attachments can be in various formats:
- archive and executable files.
- Microsoft office documents(PDF, Docx, etc.)
- Javascripts
Opening one of these can trigger the sustem infection.
3. Fake software updater - it install a malware instead of installing new updates.
4. Cracks - infects the system by downloading and installing a malware,

How to protect yourself from a ransomware
1. Suspicious and irrelevant emails should not be opened.
2. Use official and verified download channels
3. Software should be updated with functions/tools provided by legitimate developers.
4. Have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept up-to-date.

Here is the text file from the CYBORG ransomware:


This is the picture of the encrypted data.


This is the picture of what will be your desktop after the process of CYBORG:


PS: Photos not mine.
https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/16253-cyborg-ransomware
https://www.varonis.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-ransomware/#:~:text=The%20first%20documented%20and%20purported,trained%20evolutionary%20biologist%20Joseph%20L.&text=But%20after%2090%20reboots%2C%20the,files%20on%20the%20customer's%20computer.

[Charles-Tim]

You have tried to let us know the risks of ransomware and how to avoid it, but the topic title is a bit different from your write up, your write up is about how to avoid while your topic title is about how to get rid of (remove) ransomware, it will be good if you edit the topic title. Preventions has always been better than cure.

It will also be good if it is generalized that all malware can be avoided using the same process of malware avoidance for all types of malware, be it trojan, botnets and ransomware etc.

How to protect yourself from CYBORG ransomware
1. Suspicious and irrelevant emails should not be opened.
2. Use official and verified download channels
3. Software should be updated with functions/tools provided by legitimate developers.
4. Have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept up-to-date.

You are right, but only one more I will like you to add, avoiding clicking on ads and link ads, ads are threats these days. We should also be mindful of the information we are giving online like kyc.

[Alucard1]

You have tried to let us know the risks of ransomware and how to avoid it, but the topic title is a bit different from your write up, your write up is about how to avoid while your topic title is about how to get rid of (remove) ransomware, it will be good if you edit the topic title. Preventions has always been better than cure.

It will also be good if it is generalized that all malware can be avoided using the same process of malware avoidance for all types of malware, be it trojan, botnets and ransomware etc.

Sorry sir, I am not that good at English grammar, its just a misunderstanding about what word will I am going to use in the title  , anyway thank you for the good criticism, I appreciate it. I am done editing my topic title and I already generalized about how to avoid ransomware.

[Trinx01]

Thank you for this information mate, it would be a big help for every newbie like me to be careful about some activities we are doing online. You really need to be careful especially when you have important data in your device because the virus is always there and hackers are always there as well trying to gain an advantage over you. If you won't be careful and you don't secure very well your device then it will be a big loss for you.

One thing that hooked me is that why they have a fixed ransom which is $300 only for decryption, well in fact they can make it more especially if they get very controversial information on a company, business, and person.

How to protect yourself from a ransomware
1. Suspicious and irrelevant emails should not be opened.
2. Use official and verified download channels
3. Software should be updated with functions/tools provided by legitimate developers.
4. Have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept up-to-date.

We can also don't forget the most important things on how can we avoid this ransomware. Always back up your files so whenever you received ransomware like that, you won't panic because you have the backup.

[bob123]

This is such a merit-begging post, it really hurts my eyes.

If there were negative-merits, you'd truly deserve them.

How ransomware can affect your device?
Trojans, spam campaigns, fake software updater, software crack can spread the virus and the ransomware as well.

1. Trojans - is a malicious program that can infect the chain, it downloads and installs other malware.
2. Spam campaigns - it is used to send out emails containing some deceptive words and infectious attachments. Those mails are commonly highlighted as:
- priority
- official
- important
These attachments can be in various formats:
- archive and executable files.
- Microsoft office documents(PDF, Docx, etc.)
- Javascripts
Opening one of these can trigger the sustem infection.
3. Fake software updater - it install a malware instead of installing new updates.
4. Cracks - infects the system by downloading and installing a malware,

How ransomware can affect our devices?
It affects it in only one way: All data is encrypted and a ransom has to be paid to decrypt them.

I don't know what you are mentioning here in your list. It simply doesn't make any sense.

1) A trojan is simply a specific form of a malware.
2) Spam campaigns have literally nothing to do with ransomware. Infected devices can be used to perform such campaigns.
3) Fake software updater and 4) software cracks can be a way to get infected with malware itself (not just ransomware).

Your list is pretty much just random points from multiple articles you have found via google.

How to protect yourself from a ransomware
~snip~

This does not only apply to ransomware, but any other malware too.
And it is already mentioned in those 481 other threads about how to protect against malware. And every single of them is better structured and contains more useful information than yours.


Simply just merit begging from you.

[Alucard1]

...

I don't want to argue with you, just think what you want to think, I just shared this information that I gathered from the sources given. I don't beg for merit, do you see any a "merit" word in my thread?

How ransomware can affect our devices?
It affects it in only one way: All data is encrypted and a ransom has to be paid to decrypt them.

It's my bad, it should be "infect" and not affect, sorry for the mistake, the word is already edited.

[Shimmiry]

...

I don't want to argue with you, just think what you want to think, I just shared this information that I gathered from the sources given. I don't beg for merit, do you see any a "merit" word in my thread?

How ransomware can affect our devices?
It affects it in only one way: All data is encrypted and a ransom has to be paid to decrypt them.

It's my bad, it should be "infect" and not affect, sorry for the mistake, the word is already edited.

I agree with bob not by his judgement of this thread being a merit begging post, but to the fact that there are a lot of threads and articles out there that talks about ransomware in general and how to prevent it. This topic - the ransomware attacks / malware in general) keeps being opened in this Beginners and Help board yet in fact this must be in Off-topic section as this wasn't really that related nor connected to cryptocommunity Beginners nor crypto-help at all. But still, thumbs up for the effort!

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

A friend of mine once said, if I experienced having ransomware on my device or my computer, it is better if I would format or let go of all of my personal and important data on my computer because even I pay them a million or hundred of dollars hackers already stole my data. So it's useless, and it's better to format your computer, as long your computer is safe again.

...

I don't want to argue with you, just think what you want to think, I just shared this information that I gathered from the sources given. I don't beg for merit, do you see any a "merit" word in my thread?

How ransomware can affect our devices?
It affects it in only one way: All data is encrypted and a ransom has to be paid to decrypt them.

It's my bad, it should be "infect" and not affect, sorry for the mistake, the word is already edited.

I agree with bob not by his judgement of this thread being a merit begging post, but to the fact that there are a lot of threads and articles out there that talks about ransomware in general and how to prevent it. This topic - the ransomware attacks / malware in general) keeps being opened in this Beginners and Help board yet in fact this must be in Off-topic section as this wasn't really that related nor connected to cryptocommunity Beginners nor crypto-help at all. But still, thumbs up for the effort!

Indeed. OP is not intentionally asking or begging for merits after he creates this kind of topic. He would like to spread awareness, especially for non-technical people, to avoid getting infected by a ransomware virus. But it is better if he posted it on the off-topic section because it is less connected to the crypto community that would help beginners.