What is Freefoam Ransomware?
Freefoam Ransomware is one of the many ransomware applications out there that can seriously impede your everyday life. It is not an exaggeration because this program can encrypt your files, and if the files are really important, it can be devastating. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to restore the files affected by this infection. Therefore, it is extremely important that you keep a file backup somewhere. That is the best way to ensure that the files will be recovered in the case of the infection. And as for the removal, you can get rid of Freefoam Ransomware quite easily.
Where does Freefoam Ransomware come from?
This program is probably spread by Russian hackers because the entire ransom note that we see on our screens when we get infected is in Russian. It also means that the program mostly targets computer users in Russia. However, if you find yourself entangled in the ransomware’s distribution scheme, you might as well get infected with it, too. It goes without saying that malware infections do not recognize national borders.
So how does this program spread around? It is very likely that Freefoam Ransomware employs spam email campaigns to reach its targets. That is actually the most common ransomware distribution tactic, so it would not be surprising. Spam emails distribute attachments that carry the ransomware installer files. Those files usually look like ordinary document files, and thus, unsuspecting users are tricked into opening them. What’s more, sometimes those files or the emails might say that they are some official documents, and users would feel even more inclined to download and check them out.
Needless to say, if you do not open the spam email, if you do not open the attachment, Freefoam Ransomware (or any other ransomware program for that matter) cannot infect you. Hence, you need to know how to recognize the potentially suspicious messages and then delete them from your system for good. There is also a way to check whether a downloaded file is safe before opening it. For that, you can use a licensed antispyware tool to scan it.
What does Freefoam Ransomware do?
But what if you accidentally launch the file and this program takes over your system? Well then, you can expect it to behave just like any other ransomware program out there. First, it will scan your computer looking for the files it can encrypt. After all, ransomware programs usually do not encrypt every single file on the target system because it still needs your browsers or network connection to work. Second, it will launch the encryption using powerful encryption algorithms. You will know at once which files have been encrypted because Freefoam Ransomware will add the .freefoam extension to every single affected file. Finally, the program will drop a ransom note in the MESSAGE.txt file that will tell you how you can “restore” your files.
The note will be in Russian, and it will tell you that you have to contact the people behind it via the freefoam@protonmail.com address. It also says that only when you contact these criminals directly will they let you know how much you have to pay for the decryption. The message says that you have to use the ID given in the ransom note. If you do not do that, the system will not recognize you, and you will not be able to restore your files. What’s more, the ransom note also gives you a deadline you have to meet if you want to get your data back. However, it is more than obvious that paying the ransom does not guarantee the criminals would issue the decryption key.
How do I remove Freefoam Ransomware?
It is not that hard to remove this program because you need to delete the file that initiated the infection, and then terminate the ransom note. As you can probably tell, no antivirus program would help you restore your files, so if you do not have a file backup, you may need to delete the encrypted ones and then start anew.
It might be rather discouraging, but you need to do everything to ensure that your system is safe. Please consider investing in a security application that would protect your PC from similar threats in the future.
Manual Freefoam Ransomware Removal
- Go to your Downloads folder.
- Delete the most recently downloaded files.
- Remove the MESSAGE.txt ransom note.
- Scan your PC with SpyHunter.
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