Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Note! Your computer might be affected by Anatel Ransomware and other threats.
Threats such as Anatel Ransomware may be persistent on your system. They tend to re-appear if not fully deleted. A malware removal tool like SpyHunter will help you to remove malicious programs, saving you the time and the struggle of tracking down numerous malicious files. SpyHunter’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
A dangerous virus created for Portuguese-speaking countries has been detected by malware research experts to use the .lok file extension and a strong cipher to encrypt files. The files which are encrypted by the Anatel virus can no longer be accessed by the user, and the ransomware drops a LEIA.txt readme file which notifies the user that he must contact the cyber-criminals’ e-mail address for most likely making a ransom payoff. The name Anatel comes from the Brazilian Agency for Telecommunications. Users who have become victims of the Anatel crypto-virus are given recommendations by experts to remove this threat immediately and instead of paying the ransom to seek alternative methods for file reverting. We suggest you to red this article to learn more about how to remove Anatel Ransomware and attempt alternative methods to revert your files.
Threat Summary
Name
Anatel Ransomware
Type
Ransomware
Short Description
The malware encrypts users’ files and drops a ransom note afterwards.
Symptoms
The user may witness ransom messages and “instructions” and the files encrypted with an added .lok file extension.
Distribution Method
Via an Exploit kit.
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by Anatel Ransomware
Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive.
Anatel Ransowmare – How Does It Infect
To cause a successful infection, researchers believe that Anatel ransomware is spread via massive spam e-mail campaigns. Such campaigns are a very expensive investment because they may either contain malicious attachments or malicious URL’s and since most e-mail providers have spam defensive mechanisms nowadays, it becomes trickier and trickier to spread malware via this method. However, the cyber-criminals behind Anatel Ransomware may have used sophisticated technology to conceal the malicious files, such as process obfuscators and browser redirecting web links which lead to malicious JavaScript, Exploit Kit or drive-by download attacks.
Anatel Ransomware Viewed In Depth
When the user opens malicious files by Anatel Ransomware, it immediately drops the payload files. Here are some of the folders in which malicious files by Anatel Ransomware may exist:
%AppData%
%SystemDrive%
%Local%
%LocalRow%
%User’s Profile%
%System%
%Windows%
After its malicious files have been dropped, the Anatel Ransomware virus may either run immediately or perform the safer action – modify registry keys to run when you start Windows. If it does so, you may find suspicious String Values associated with Anatel in the following Windows Registry Key:
In the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce and Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run In the key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
After the encryption process by Anatel Ransowmare is initiated, it is reported by Symantec(Symantec.com) researchers that it looks for widely used types of files to encode them:
After it has encrypted the files, Anatel Ransowmare may also connect to several malicious hosts associated with the following domain to send generated decryption keys and other system information:
mpf1.16mb(dot)com
Researchers report that the host name, the user’s profile name along with the keys is sent out to cyber-criminals. After this has been done, Anatel ransomware drops its LEIA.txt file which translates to the word “Read” in the following location:
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\LEIA.txt
The file contains a brief message written In Portoguese:
“Anatel, seus arquivos foram criptografados Exigmos o fim do bolqueio de franquias Envie um email para {cyber-criminals’ e-mail address} para receber a senha We are anonymous” Approximate English Translation: Anatel, the files were encrypted We demand the end of the franchise block Send an email to {cyber-criminals’ email address} to receive the password We are anonymous
The encrypted files by this ransomware are appended the .lok file extension and they may look like the following:
Picture.jpg.lok
So far it is quite unclear as to why the ransom note ends with “We are anonymous” and why Anatel’s name is involved but theorists believe that the money generated from this attack may be used in a hacktivist attack.
Anatel Ransomware – Removal and File Restoration Alternatives
To remove Anatel Ransomware, we strongly suggest using the instructions which we have provided after this article. In case you are experiencing difficulties in manually getting rid of this virus, we suggest using an advanced anti-malware program to get automatically rid of this virus.
To restore your files, we suggest the solutions which we have provided below in step “3. Restore files encrypted by Anatel”. They are not 100 percent guarantee you will get your files back; however they are worth a try. Also, we suggest using file decryptors since this Ransomware may have a so-called CBC mode which may break the files if a decryptor other than the original is used.
Picture Icons by Freepik – Freepik.com
Note! Your computer system may be affected by Anatel Ransomware and other threats. Scan Your PC with SpyHunter SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as Anatel Ransomware. Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
To remove Anatel Ransomware follow these steps:
1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Anatel Ransomware files and objects
OFFER
Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!
We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria
Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
For Windows XP, Vista and 7 systems:
1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu. 2. Select one of the two options provided below:
– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.
– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.
3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.
4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account
While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.
Step 1: Open up the Start Menu.
Step 2: Click on the Power button (for Windows 8 it is the little arrow next to the “Shut Down” button) and whilst holding down “Shift” click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, a blue menu with options will appear. From them you should choose Troubleshoot.
Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu choose Advanced Options.
Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.
Step 6: From the Startup Settings menu, click on Restart.
Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You can choose any of the three Safe Mode options by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.
Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.
2. Find files created by Anatel Ransomware on your PC
Find files created by Anatel Ransomware
1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
For Newer Windows Operating Systems
Step 1:
On your keyboard press + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.
Step 2:
Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.
Step 3:
Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:
N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.
For Older Windows Operating Systems
In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:
Step 1:
Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.
Step 2:
After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.
Step 3:
After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.
Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.
IMPORTANT! Before starting the Automatic Removal below, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode. This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Scan your PC and Remove Anatel Ransomware with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Anatel Ransomware and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Anatel Ransomware. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.
It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.
Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.
Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.
Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.
Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future
IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup.
4. Try to Restore files encrypted by Anatel Ransomware
Try to Restore Files Encrypted by Anatel Ransomware
Ransomware infections and Anatel Ransomware aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that these methods may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software. Another method for restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some suggestions for preferred data recovery software solutions:
Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors. If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:
To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for Volume Shadow Copies, if ransomware has not deleted them, in Windows using the below software:
Method 4: Finding the decryption key while the cryptovirus sends it over a network via a sniffing tool.
Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
A dangerous virus created for Portuguese-speaking countries has been detected by malware research experts to use the .lok file extension and a strong cipher to encrypt files. The files which are encrypted by the Anatel virus can no longer be accessed by the user, and the ransomware drops a LEIA.txt readme file which notifies the user that he must contact the cyber-criminals’ e-mail address for most likely making a ransom payoff. The name Anatel comes from the Brazilian Agency for Telecommunications. Users who have become victims of the Anatel crypto-virus are given recommendations by experts to remove this threat immediately and instead of paying the ransom to seek alternative methods for file reverting. We suggest you to red this article to learn more about how to remove Anatel Ransomware and attempt alternative methods to revert your files.
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7.
2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Anatel Ransomware and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
