What is Gandcrab V4?
Gandcrab V4 is just another name for the GandCrab4 Ransomware. It is very common for computer infections to have multiple names because different researchers may assign these programs different names. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean that each “version” of the program is different. It’s just the same infection, and we can apply the same removal methods to all these “names.” So whatever we did to get rid of GandCrab4 Ransomware can also be applied to remove Gandcrab V4, too. You can also leave us a comment if you need assistance with malware removal. Our team is always ready to assist you.
Where does Gandcrab V4 come from?
Reports from various researchers suggest that Gandcrab V4 uses a very well-known method of distribution to travel around. This program gets distributed via spam email attachments.
We receive multiple spam messages every single day, but we do not see most of them because, for the most part, spam emails get filtered into the Junk folder. Of course, there are email services out there that may not be that good at filtering potentially harmful messages, and that is why you must remain attentive. If you receive an email that urges you to open a certain file, but you have no idea why you have received that email, it would be better to double check it.
Does it look like an invoice from an online store, but you haven’t bought anything recently? Maybe it looks like a financial report from a bank, but you do not have an account there? Does the message content make it seem urgent that you open the attachment? If the answers to all these questions are positive, it is very likely that the email in question carries a dangerous infection.
It also means that users can often avoid getting infected with Gandcrab V4, as long as they think before they download and open anything. Also, if you are not sure whether the downloaded file is safe, but you still want to open it no matter what, you can scan it with an antispyware application. If the file is safe, the program will let you know that.
What does Gandcrab V4 do?
However, what happens if Gandcrab V4 manages to enter your system either way? The infection drops the payload immediately, and then the program initiates a full system scan. During the scan, it locates all the file types that it is programmed to encrypt and then launches the encryption. This program affects most of the files stored in the %USERPROFILE% directory, but it leaves the system files intact because it needs your computer to function. If it kills your system, Gandcrab V4 cannot receive the ransom fee. And the ransom fee is preposterous. Here’s what the program claims in its ransom note:
Attention!
All your files, documents, photos, databases and other important files are encrypted and have the extension: .KRAB
The only method of recovering files is to purchase an unique private key. Only we can give you this key and only we recover your files.
While the previous versions of the Gandcrab V4 infection would often demand around $500 in cryptocurrency for the decryption key, the ransom window that pops up once the encryption is complete sometimes displays $1600 and even $4000 for the ransom fee. It goes without saying that a regular user would find it practically impossible to gather such sum of money immediately, so whoever came up with Gandcrab V4 are definitely out of their minds.
Not to mention that paying the ransom would not guarantee that you would get your files back. So there is no need to follow the instructions you find in the ransom note.
How do I remove Gandcrab V4?
Although the infection itself is highly dangerous, it is not that complicated to remove Gandcrab V4 for good. It does not drop any additional files, so you just need to delete the file that launched the infection. You will probably find it in your Downloads folder (or any other directory where you saved your downloaded files). You will also have to delete the ransom note and the encrypted files. If you have copies of your data backed up in an external drive, you can simply copy and paste it back once your computer is clean again. If not, you should look for alternative ways to retrieve your files.
Manual Gandcrab V4 Removal
- Remove the KRAB-DECRYPT.txt ransom note.
- Navigate to the Downloads folder.
- Delete the most recently downloaded files.
- Perform a full PC scan.
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