Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Note! Your computer might be affected by PoisonFang and other threats.
Threats such as PoisonFang 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
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
The PoisonFang virus is a new ransomware that contains many advanced components that can cause widespread damage on the infected hosts. The security analysis shows that it bears no code from any of the other famous families. Our article shows how active infections can be removed and the data restored.
Threat Summary
Name
PoisonFang
Type
Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description
The ransomware encrypts sensitive information on your computer system and demands a ransom to be paid to allegedly recover them.
Symptoms
The ransomware will encrypt your files with a strong encryption algorithm.
Distribution Method
Spam Emails, Email Attachments
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by PoisonFang
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.
PoisonFang Virus – Distribution Ways
The PoisonFang virus is a newly released virus that probably originates from Israel. The ongoing hacker attacks use the most popular tactics in order to increase the number of infected users.
A main tactic is the use of email phishing messages — they utilize text, images and design elements taken from well-known companies or services. The associated virus files may be either attached directly or hyperlinked in the body contents. Along with the fake download sites that are created in a similar fashion the emails are the most widely used mechanisms for spreading infected payloads.
The first type is associated with infected documents in which the hackers embed code that launches the virus infection sequence. Once they are opened by the victims a notification message will be called which asks the users to enable the built-in macros (scripts). As soon as this is done the PoisonFang virus will be instituted on the host system.
The second type makes of hacker-modified installers which are made by taking the legitimate installer from the official download page of the vendor. The criminals usually target software that is popular with end users: creativity suites, system utilities or general purpose productivity apps.
The other mechanism that can be used to spread the files is the use of browser hijackers. They are hacker-made plugins for the most popular web browsers that are usually found on the associated repositories. They often utilize fake user reviews and developer credentials along with an elaborate description.
PoisonFang Virus – In-Depth Analysis
The PoisonFang virus is a newly released ransomware that appears to be made by its hacker or criminal collective. The initial security analysis does not showcase any code snippets from any of the famous ransomware families.
During the investigation the researchers were able to uncover that the engine was modular in nature allowing many components to be included in its default infection sequence. This gives hackers the ability to customize the attacks according to the targets.
The captured strains have been found to contain numerous mechanisms that infiltrate the system on a deep level. One of the first actions that are started involve the use of a data harvesting module. It is customized to extract strings that can reveal sensitive data both about the users and their machine. The collected information can be classified into two different data types:
Private Information — Strings that are related to the victims and can expose their identity. This includes data such as their name, address, location, interests, passwords and etc.
Campaign Metrics — This data type consists of information that can be used to optimize the hacker attacks. This can include anything from the installed hardware components to certain operating system values.
The collected information can then be used by another module that is responsible for bypassing the security countermeasures found on the infected host. The list includes signatures belonging to ant-virus software, virtual machine hosts and sandbox/debug environments.
Once the infections have been deployed onto the computers the virus process can hookup to any running programs and services, including those that have administrative privileges. To make things more difficult it can spawn numerous processes and launch commands in virtual memory. This makes it very difficult for system administrators to contain the infection.
Further system modifications include a wide range of malicious actions such as the following:
Windows Services Modification —The PoisonFang virus has been found to be able to enable/disable certain services such as Windows Defender.
System Checks — The virus has been found to perform several different types of security checks such as the presence of certain files, strings in configuration files and etc.
Guarded Memory Regions Creation — The virus engine can run in protected memory which avoids memory dumping and further analysis.
Settings Manipulation — The virus is capable of changing the Internet proxy settings which can redirect the traffic through a hacker-controlled server.
The virus also manipulates the boot options by disabling the boot recovery menu – this also makes manual user recovery very difficult. In addition the PoisonFang virus module is installed as a persistent threat which automatically starts it whenever the computer is booted.
Additionally the engine will delete the Shadow Volume Copies and System Restore files to make it more difficult to recover the victim data. In such cases the victims will need to resort to a professional data recovery program, refer to our instructions for more details.
The engine is capable of infecting other computers on the network by interacting with the Windows Mount Manager, the component that is responsible for network shares and removable devices connections.
PoisonFang Virus — Encryption
The ransomware engine is started once all prior components have finished executing. It uses a strong cipher in order to affect data, it is suspected that the virus utilizes a built-in list of target file types:
Archives
Images
Videos
Music
Documents
Databases
Backups
A lockscreen instance is then created which blocks all typical computer interactions until the threat is completely removed. It reads the following message:
THIS SOFTWARE IS FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY! Poisonfang was developed as part of a ransomware project at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology
At the moment we cannot confirm if this is true as it has been found to contain many components that are reminiscent of actual advanced ransomware.
Remove PoisonFang Ransomware Virus and Restore Encrypted Files
If your computer got infected with the PoisonFang ransomware virus, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of this ransomware as quickly as possible before it can have the chance to spread further and infect other computers. You should remove the ransomware and follow the step-by-step instructions guide provided below.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by PoisonFang 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 PoisonFang. 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 PoisonFang follow these steps:
1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove PoisonFang 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 PoisonFang on your PC
Find files created by PoisonFang
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.
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 PoisonFang with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for PoisonFang and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove PoisonFang. 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 PoisonFang
Try to Restore Files Encrypted by PoisonFang
Ransomware infections and PoisonFang 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:
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
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 PoisonFang and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
