WannaCry – a ransomware cryptovirus, that has infected computers over the globe across 150 countries, is already being looked up to by criminals. Successfully delivering the biggest ransomware attack in history, there is no wonder cybercriminals have started developing imitations of the WannaCry virus. In case you get infected by a clone of the malware, you should read the article and see how you could try to potentially recover some of your data.

WannaCry Ransomware Infection

WannaCry ransomware uses different methods to infect users’ PCs, and thus its imitations could use any number of ways to infect computer systems. Those ways however wouldn’t be much different. Using multiple malware e-mail spam campaigns might be the main way of distribution or using a worm to continue the infection from one machine to another over a network. These methods are used by WannaCry 2.0 right now and are viable for maintaining believable copycat version of it. However, impostors might utilize other ways for infecting.

As you can see above, one of the WannaCry ransomware copycats has a malicious executable that launches a script that infects a computer. Such files could be delivered even through social media and file-sharing networks. Often, files like these are advertised as freeware that is helpful, but instead might serve as the entry point for an infection. Refrain from opening files right after you have downloaded them, especially if they are from an unknown source. You should always first scan the files with a security tool. Read the ransomware prevention tips in our forum section to educate yourself on how to prevent ransomware attacks in general.

Below we will look at a few imitations of WannaCry that have surfaced and were discovered by malware researchers. As they are all still in-development, there is not much information to go on.

WannaCry Impostor #1 – DarkoderCrypt0r

DarkoderCrypt0r is still in its development phase, but probably the closest to being released, if you compare it to the other impostors. After encrypting files on your Desktop, it will display the following window:

As you can see it uses the same design and ransom note as the newest variant of the WannaCry virus aka Wana Decrypt0r 2.0.

All files are encrypted with the .DARKCRY extension and it gives you three days to pay the ransom sum of 300 US dollars. Its executable will be named @[email protected], similarly to the original ransomware. Interestingly enough, this one uses the code of HiddenTear, so it would be decryptable, if it is released.

WannaCry Impostor #2 – Wanna Crypt v2.5

The Wanna Crypt v2.5 is also in-development, but sill behind, as it only shows the following lock-screen:

As you can see, the design is the same, with minor changes to the lock icon, timers etc. The ransom sum is 600 US dollars right from the beginning.

The ransom note of both variants described above is the following:

Ooops, your files have been encrypted!
What Happened to My Computer?
Your important files are encrypted.

Many of your documents. photos, videos, databases and other files are no longer
accessible because they have been encrypted. Maybe you are busy looking for a way to
recover your files. but do not waste your time. Nobody can recover your files without
our decryption service.

Can I Recover My Files?

Sure. We guarantee that you can recover all your files safely and easily. But you have 1
not so enough time.
You can decrypt some of your files for free. Try now by clicking
But if you want to decrypt all your files, you need to pay.
You only have 3 days to submit the payment. After that the price will be doubled.
Also, if you don’t pay in 7 days, you won’t be able to recover your files forever.
We will have free events for users who are so poor that they couldn’t pay in 6 months.

How Do I Pay?

Payment is accepted in Bitcoin only. For more information, click
Please check the current price of Bitcoin and buy some bitcoins. For more information.
click
And send the correct amount to the address specified in this window.
After your payment, click Best time to check: 9:00am – 11:00am
GMT from Monday to Friday.
Once the payment is checked, you can start decrypting your files immediately.

Contact
If you need our assistance, send a message by clicking .

We strongly recommend you to not remove this software, and disable your anti-virus for a while, until you pay and the payment gets processed. If your anti-virus gets updated and removes this software automatically, it will not be able to recover your files even if you pay!

WannaCry Impostor #3 – WannaCrypt 4.0

WannaCrypt 4.0 is also in its early stages of development and does not encrypt data at this time. However, while it copies the design of the ransom message window, it has an additional feature, as you can see below:

The whole ransom payment instructions text is written in the Thai language as it is probably made by and intended for the individual user of Thailand. That language is not supported by the original WannaCry.

WannaCry Impostor #4 – Aron WanaCrypt0r 2.0 Generator v1.0

Last, but definitely not least is the Aron WanaCrypt0r 2.0 Generator v1.0. The idea behind it is to make it into a generator of custom WannaCry versions, as seen right down here:

As seen above, there are multiple customizations that can be done, in terms of images, color and text, but only limited to the lock screen.

WannaCry Impostor #5 – Wana Decrypt0r 2.0 (Wana Descrypt0r)

A copycat variant called Wana Decrypt0r 2.0 and Wana Descrypt0r written in the Indonesian language is also being spread. The malware’s executable file is called MS17-010.exe referring to the Microsoft patch, which the original WannaCry virus used as an entry point exploit. Here is how it looks like:

Fortunately, it doesn’t encrypt files for now.

WannaCry Impostor #6 – @kee

@kee is an imitator which doesn’t care about your files. It will encrypt them and show the following message window:

The ransom note is also inside a file called “Hello There! Fellow @kee User!.txt“.
It states that there is no way for you to receive the key, and afterward it will delete your files.

WannaCry Impostor #7 – WannaDecryptOr 2.0

WannaDecryptOr 2.0 is an imitation of the WannaCry ransomware virus, which is still in-development and shows a blank page in its window as seen from the picture here:

Your files will not get encrypted, but they could be in the near future.

WannaCry Impostor #8 – Wanna Subscribe 1.0

Not much information is found about the Wanna Subscribe 1.0 impostor, other than that it is written in Java and has the following gray-colored design:

The following extensions which are encrypted by the current WannaCry variant, could also be placed for its clones to seek and lock:

→.der, .pfx, .key, .crt, .csr, .pem, .odt, .ott, .sxw, .stw, .uot, .max, .ods, .ots, .sxc, .stc, .dif, .slk, .odp, .otp, .sxd, .std, .uop, .odg, .otg, .sxm, .mml, .lay, .lay6, .asc, .sqlite3, .sqlitedb, .sql, .accdb, .mdb, .dbf, .odb, .frm, .myd, .myi, .ibd, .mdf, .ldf, .sln, .suo, .cpp, .pas, .asm, .cmd, .bat, .vbs, .dip, .dch, .sch, .brd, .jsp, .php, .asp, .java, .jar, .class, .wav, .swf, .fla, .wmv, .mpg, .vob, .mpeg, .asf, .avi, .mov, .mkv, .flv, .wma, .mid, .djvu, .svg, .psd, .nef, .tiff, .tif, .cgm, .raw, .gif, .png, .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .vcd, .iso, .backup, .zip, .rar, .tgz, .tar, .bak, .tbk, .PAQ, .ARC, .aes, .gpg, .vmx, .vmdk, .vdi, .sldm, .sldx, .sti, .sxi, .hwp, .snt, .onetoc2, .dwg, .pdf, .wks, .rtf, .csv, .txt, .vsdx, .vsd, .edb, .eml, .msg, .ost, .pst, .potm, .potx, .ppam, .ppsx, .ppsm, .pps, .pot, .pptm, .pptx, .ppt, .xltm, .xltx, .xlc, .xlm, .xlt, .xlw, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .xls, .dotx, .dotm, .dot, .docm, .docb, .docx, .doc

The WannaCry copycats might also be set to erase the Shadow Volume Copies from the Windows operating system by implementing the usage of the following command:

→vssadmin.exe delete shadows /all /Quiet

Remove WannaCry Ransomware Impostors

If your computer got infected with some impostor of the WannaCry ransomware virus, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of the ransomware as fast 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.

Manually delete WannaCry Impostor from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the WannaCry Impostor threat: Manual removal of WannaCry Impostor requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove WannaCry Impostor files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by WannaCry Impostor on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista, 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 the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

2. Find malicious files created by WannaCry Impostor on your PC

Find malicious files created by WannaCry Impostor

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

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.

Automatically remove WannaCry Impostor by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove WannaCry Impostor with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

Remove WannaCry Impostor with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove WannaCry Impostor.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove WannaCry Impostor. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by WannaCry Impostor in the future.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly 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.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any WannaCry Impostor files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

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 automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

2. Restore files encrypted by WannaCry Impostor

Restore Files Encrypted by WannaCry Impostor

Ransomware infections like WannaCry Impostor aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to directly 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 they may not be 100% effective but they may help you little or a lot in some situations.

Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software.
Another method of 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:

• Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Technicians License(Pro version with more features)
• Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
• Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery

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:

• Kaspersky Decryptors
• Emsisoft Decryptors

Urgent! It is strongly advisable to first remove the WannaCry Impostor threat before attempting any decryption, since it may interfere with system files and registries. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using an advanced malware removal tool.

Method 3: Using Shadow Explorer

To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for shadow copies in Windows using this software if ransomware has not deleted them:

• Shadow Explorer

Method 4: Finding WannaCry Impostor decryption key while it communicates it via a network sniffing software.

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:

Instructions on How to Find Decryption Key for Files Encrypted By Ransowmare

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove WannaCry Impostor Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove WannaCry Impostor.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all WannaCry Impostor associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Berta Bilbao

Berta is the Editor-in-Chief of SensorsTechForum. She is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space.

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