What is Xpan Ransomware?
Xpan Ransomware is a new threat from the notorious Brazilian cyber criminal organization often referred to as "TeamXRat" or "CorporacaoXRat." These criminals are also responsible for creating the infamous Xorist Ransomware; however, this new ransomware seems to be more complex than any previous ones from this team. After sneaking on to your system without your knowledge, it encrypts all your important files, including documents and archives. Our malware specialists at anti-spyware-101.com say that this ransomware may mostly target corporations and bigger companies. Therefore, it is possible that the ransom fee these crooks demand is rather high. While you as a personal computer user may be safe from this nightmarish attack, we believe that it is important to know how this threat can slither onto a computer and how it works because this information may help you avoid similar hits. We advise you to remove Xpan Ransomware immediately from your computer, or at least what could be left of it after the attack. Please read our full report to learn more about this vicious program.
Where does Xpan Ransomware come from?
While most ransomware programs are spread via spamming campaigns or Exploit Kits, this particular malicious program is distributed manually. This means that these criminals target certain companies and corporations, such as hospitals, and infect the system manually via RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) brute force attacks. In other words, if the system is weakly protected, i.e., there is no updated security software defending it and the system password is weak, too, these crooks can crack it by using brute force. This kind of attack is a trial-and-error method used to obtain information like passwords by trying all possible combinations and phrases. Once these cyber crooks gain access to your computer, they can manually disable any security tool found on the system and infect it with this ransomware. This is why prevention is so essential because a ransomware attack is possibly the worst that can happen to you as you can lose all your important files. When you get to the point that you delete Xpan Ransomware, your files cannot be saved from encryption unless you have a backup copy on a removable disk or you find a free decryption tool on the web that can be used to recover the files for this particular infection. In this case, you may be in the luck as there is indeed a working free tool on the web that may be able to decrypt your encrypted files. But it is important that if this ransomware managed to penetrate your system, you make sure that you protect it with a stronger password as well as a professional anti-malware program that can automatically detect and remove all potential threat sources and thus evade such nightmarish attacks, too.
How does Xpan Ransomware work?
As we have mentioned, this malicious program is a lot different from its predecessor, Xorist Ransomware as it is coded in C++ and not Assembly, and it uses AES-256 to encrypt your files instead of XOR or TEA. Also, before the encryption process starts up, this vicious program kills popular database services, including "FirebirdServerDefaultInstance," "SSQL$SQLEXPRESS," and "MSSQLSERVER" in order to make sure that all related files can be successfully accessed and encrypted. This ransomware infection also ends the following tasks: "fb_inet_server.exe," "pg_ctl.exe," and "sqlservr.exe", for similar reasons possibly. The following extensions remain untouched by this threat: .exe, .dll, .lnk, .bat, .ini, .msi, and .scf. Yet, it can encrypt all your photos, documents, archives, and third-party program files, which can be rather devastating if you work in a hospital or a large firm storing sensitive information in large quantities.
All the encrypted files get a new "___xratteamLucked" extension so you can easily identify this attack. The ransom note text file called "Como descriptografar os seus arquivos.txt" is created in every affected folder just in case you would miss the desktop background image that is replaced with the ransom note screen. This ransom note tells you about the encryption and that you have to send an email to "xRatTeam@mail2tor.com" for further information about the payment and how you can restore your files. We cannot yet confirm the amount these criminals try to extort from you for the decryption key. But we can tell you this: You can find a working decryptor tool on the web. Also, this ransomware actually deletes itself after its dirty job is done, though it leaves some mess behind that should be removed anyway. Even if there is a file recovery application on the net, we do not advise you to look for it or download it yourself, let alone apply it unless you are an experienced computer user. If you are not, you should ask a friend who is or find a local IT expert.
How to delete Xpan Ransomware
Although this malware infection takes care of itself after this attack and removes its malicious executable file, there could still be some leftovers on your system, including the ransom note files. These should all be eliminated if you want to clean your system. We have included the necessary instructions for you if you want to manually take care of these leftovers. After such a serious hit, you may start thinking that it would be good to protect your system properly. We recommend that you download and install a professional anti-malware application, such as SpyHunter. Of course, it also pays to be more cautious while surfing the web or scanning through your e-mails. Should you have any questions regarding the removal of Xpan Ransomware, please leave us a comment below.
Remove Xpan Ransomware from Windows
- Press Win+E to launch Windows File Explorer.
- Locate and bin any suspicious files and leftovers you may find relating to this attack, including the ransom note text file, "Como descriptografar os seus arquivos.txt" in all affected folders.
- Empty your Recycle Bin.
- Restart your PC.
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