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New GandCrab v5.1 Decryptor Available Now

Today we’re happy to announce that our collaboration with the Romanian Police, Europol and other law enforcement agencies has yielded another new decryptor for all GandCrab ransomware versions released since October 2018.

If you need to decrypt versions 1, 4 and up through 5.1, then download and run our brand new tool:

Download the new GandCrab decryption tool

Bitdefender Labs on the Case

When GandCrab
started spiking on the threat map in January 2018, Bitdefender released the
first free decryptor to help victims take their digital lives back. More than 2,000
home users, companies and non-profits used it to retrieve their lost data and avoid
paying millions in ransom.

Ten months later,
we released another decryptor to expand support to GandCrab versions 1, 4 and 5
up to 5.0.3. Ever since, we been contacted by and keeping in touch with
thousands of victims seeking help.

While this is the
third time we have defeated GandCrab encryption in the past year, our celebration
will be short-lived. We’ll be back to work tomorrow, as GandCrab operators will
no doubt change tactics, keys and techniques.

GandCrab in Numbers

GandCrab has inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in losses globally since its emergence, and is now one of the most prevalent families of ransomware on the market. Since our first decryptor, in aggregate we have already helped nearly 10,000 victims save more than $5 million dollars in decryption fees.

GandCrab on the Attack

Last year, some
GandCrab affiliates began attacking organizations via exposed Remote Desktop
Protocol instances, or by directly logging in with stolen domain credentials.
After authenticating on a compromised PC, attackers manually run the ransomware
and instruct it to spread across the entire network. Once the network is
infected, the attackers wipe their traces clean and contact the victim with a
decryption offer. 

Recently, GandCrab
operators have also started
delivering ransomware to companies
via vulnerabilities in remote IT
support software used by managed service providers to manage customer
workstations.

This persistence is
why prevention is crucial. If you have a security solution, make sure it is
up-to-date and has layered defenses against ransomware. The better it is at
detection, the lower your chances of infection. Also make sure you are running
the latest version of your OS and third-party software.

If you don’t have a
security solution, get one now. It helps a lot, and it’s way less expensive
than a $600 ransom payment.

Last but not least,
stop whatever you are doing and make and
verify an external backup of your important data
. Should disaster strike,
you will have a copy to restore from.

Otherwise, Bitdefender
and partner law enforcement agencies advise victims to reject the demands of
ransomware operators. Instead, back up the encrypted information and notify the
police immediately. And follow us here for updates.


*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Bitdefender Labs authored by Bogdan Botezatu. Read the original post at: https://labs.bitdefender.com/2019/02/new-gandcrab-v5-1-decryptor-available-now/