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 malware
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Malware Removal Tool
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss PoisonFang. |
| Data Recovery Tool | 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.
Martin Beltov
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.
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Attention! SensorsTechForum strongly recommends that all malware victims should look for assistance only by reputable sources. Many guides out there claim to offer free recovery and decryption for files encrypted by ransomware viruses. Be advised that some of them may only be after your money.
As a site that has been dedicated to providing free removal instructions for ransomware and malware since 2014, SensorsTechForum’s recommendation is to only pay attention to trustworthy sources.
How to recognize trustworthy sources:
- Always check "About Us" web page.
- Profile of the content creator.
- Make sure that real people are behind the site and not fake names and profiles.
- Verify Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter personal profiles.
About the PoisonFang Research
The content we publish on SensorsTechForum.com, this PoisonFang how-to removal guide included, is the outcome of extensive research, hard work and our team’s devotion to help you remove the specific malware and restore your encrypted files.
How did we conduct the research on this ransomware?
Our research is based on an independent investigation. We are in contact with independent security researchers, and as such, we receive daily updates on the latest malware and ransomware definitions.
Furthermore, the research behind the PoisonFang ransomware threat is backed with VirusTotal and the NoMoreRansom project.
To better understand the ransomware threat, please refer to the following articles which provide knowledgeable details.
References
1. How to Recognize Spam Emails with Ransomware
2. How Does Ransomware Encryption Work?
3. How to Decrypt Ransomware Files
4. Ransomware Getting Greedier and Bigger, Attacks Increase by 40%
5. 1 in 5 Americans Victim of Ransomware
How to Remove PoisonFang from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove PoisonFang
1. Hold Windows Key + R.
2. The "Run" Window will appear. In it, type "msconfig" and click OK.
3. Go to the "Boot" tab. There select "Safe Boot" and then click "Apply" and "OK".
4. When prompted, click on "Restart" to go into Safe Mode.
5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.
Step 2: Uninstall PoisonFang and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
1. Hold the Windows Logo Button and "R" on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear.
2. In the field type in "appwiz.cpl" and press ENTER.
3. This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press "Uninstall"
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by PoisonFang on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by PoisonFang there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
1. Open the Run Window again, type "regedit" and click OK.
2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.
3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", 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.
Step 4: Scan for PoisonFang with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
1. Click on the "Download" button to proceed to SpyHunter's download page.
2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.
3. After the update process has finished, click on the 'Malware/PC Scan' tab. A new window will appear. Click on 'Start Scan'.
4. 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.
Video Guide for Automatic and Fast Removal
Step 5 (Optional): 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 a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
1. Download the recommended Data Recovery software by clicking on the link underneath:
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on the top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
Step 6: How to Restore Files Encrypted by Ransomware (Video Guide)
Get rid of PoisonFang from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall PoisonFang and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it:
3. In the Activity Monitor look for any suspicious processes, belonging or related to PoisonFang:
4. Click on the "Go" button again, but this time select Applications. Another way is with the ⇧+⌘+A buttons.
5. In the Applications menu, look for any suspicious app or an app with a name, similar or identical to PoisonFang. If you find it, right-click on the app and select “Move to Trash
”.
6. Select Accounts, after which click on the Login Items preference.
Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to PoisonFang. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“-“) icon to hide it.
7. Remove any left-over files that might be related to this threat manually by following the sub-steps below:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove PoisonFang via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
1: Click on "Go" and Then "Go to Folder" as shown underneath:
2: Type in "/Library/LauchAgents/" and click Ok:
3: Delete all of the virus files that have similar or the same name as PoisonFang. If you believe there is no such file, do not delete anything.
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 3 (Optional): 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 a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
1. Download the recommended Data Recovery software by clicking on the link underneath:
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
PoisonFang FAQ
What is PoisonFang ransomware and how does it work?
PoisonFang is a ransomware infection - the malicious software that enters your computer silently and blocks either access to the computer itself or encrypt your files.
Many ransomware viruses use sophisticated encryption algorithm how to make your files inaccessible. The goal of ransomware infections is to demand that you pay a ransom payment to get access to your files back.
How does PoisonFang ransomware infect my computer?
Via several ways.PoisonFang Ransomware infects computers by being sent via phishing e-mails, containing virus attachment.
This attachment is usually masked as an important document, like an invoice, bank document or even a plane ticket and it looks very convincing to users.
After you download and execute this attachment, a drive-by download occurs and your computer is infected with the ransomware virus.
Another way, you may become a victim of PoisonFang is if you download a fake installer, crack or patch from a low reputation website or if you click on a virus link. Many users report getting a ransomware infection by downloading torrents.
How to open .PoisonFang files?
You can't. At this point the .PoisonFang files are encrypted. You can only open them once they are decrypted.
Decryptor did not decrypt my data. What now?
Do not panic and backup the files. If a decryptor did not decrypt your .PoisonFang files successfully, then do not despair, because this virus is still new.
One way to restore files, encrypted by PoisonFang ransomware is to use a decryptor for it. But since it's a new virus, advised that the decryption keys for it may not be out yet and available to the public. We will update this article and keep you posted as soon as this decryptor is released.
How Do I restore ".PoisonFang" files (Other Methods)?
Yes, sometimes files can be restored. We have suggested several file recovery methods that could work if you want to restore .PoisonFang files.
These methods are in no way 100% guarantee that you will be able to get your files back. But if you have a backup, your chances of success are much greater.
How do I get rid of PoisonFang ransomware virus?
The safest way and the most efficient one for the removal of this ransomware infection is the use a professional anti malware software. It will scan for and locate PoisonFang ransomware and then remove it without causing any additional harm to your important .PoisonFang files.
Also, keep in mind that viruses like PoisonFang ransomware also install Trojans and keyloggers that can steal your passwords and accounts. Scanning your computer with an anti-malware software will make sure that all of these virus components are removed and your computer is protected in the future.
What to Do If nothing works?
There is still a lot you can do. If none of the above methods seem to work for you, then try these methods:
- Try to find a safe computer from where you can can login on your own line accounts like One Drive, iDrive, Google Drive and so on.
- Try to contact your friends, relatives and other people so that they can check if they have some of your important photos or documents just in case you sent them.
- Also, check if some of the files that were encrypted it can be re-downloaded from the web.
- Another clever way to get back some of your files is to find another old computer, a flash drive or even a CD or a DVD where you may have saved your older documents. You might be surprised what will turn up.
- You can also go to your email account to check if you can send any attachments to other people. Usually what is sent the email is saved on your account and you can re-download it. But most importantly, make sure that this is done from a safe computer and make sure to remove the virus first.
More tips you can find on our forums, where you can also asks any questions about your ransomware problem.
How to Report Ransomware to Authorities?
In case your computer got infected with a ransomware infection, you can report it to the local Police departments. It can help authorities worldwide track and determine the perpetrators behind the virus that has infected your computer. Below, we have prepared a list with government websites, where you can file a report in case you are a victim of a cybercrime:
Cyber-security authorities, responsible for handling ransomware attack reports in different regions all over the world:
- Germany - Offizielles Portal der deutschen Polizei
- United States - IC3 Internet Crime Complaint Centre
- United Kingdom - Action Fraud Police
- France - Ministère de l'Intérieur
- Italy - Polizia Di Stato
- Spain - Policía Nacional
- Netherlands - Politie
- Poland - Policja
- Portugal - Polícia Judiciária
- Greece - Cyber Crime Unit (Hellenic Police)
- India - Mumbai Police - CyberCrime Investigation Cell
- Australia - Australian High Tech Crime Center
Reports may be responded to in different timeframes, depending on your local authorities.