An infection with the dangerous WantMoney virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove WantMoney virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of WantMoney virus
The WantMoney virus is a new virus which has been sighted in a limited attack campaign. At the moment the security researchers cannot determine the primary infection strategy. We presume that the most widely used tactics are going to be employed.
Among them are the email messages created in an automated way and sent to large lists of potential victims. The WantMoney virus can be directly attached to the messages. This is one of the easiest way for the criminals to attempt the infection. However a lot of email hosting providers usually capture the signatures of the virus and as such discard such messages or label them as dangerous or spam. Other infection methods related to this one is the option of inserting hyperlinks in the body content of the messages. The links are usually labeled as leading to a familiar website or a file of user interest. Redirects can redirect to hacker-controlled sites, infected payloads or other instances that can lead to an WantMoney virus infection.
The computer criminals behind the malware can create malicious sites or download portals which distribute malware of different kinds, including the WantMoney virus. A popular option is the use of infected documents which may be of different types ‒ spreadsheets, rich text documents, presentations and databases. They are modified to initiate the virus once the built-in scripts are run. Usually when the files are opened a notification will ask the users to run the macros (scripts). If this is done the infection follows.
The hacker-controlled sites are specialist portals that have been created either manually or automatically by the criminals behind the WantMoney virus. They can either directly distribute the threat by initiating various scripts or automated operations or link to such instances. Redirects are usually caused by email interaction, ad networks or other browsing activity. However one of the main sources is the availability of browser hijackers. They are malicious addons made for the most popular web browsers ‒ Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Once installed they not only infect the users with the malware, but also redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled site. Depending on the configuration the browser hijackers can also steal sensitive information such as any stored passwords, account credentials, history, bookmarks, form data and settings.
Impact of WantMoney virus
The Want Money virus is a new malware detected by the security community. At the moment the initial code analysis does not showcase a similarity between the collected samples and any of the famous malware families. An alias related to the hacker or the criminal collective behind the threat has been identified : TheYuCheng.
The collected samples so far include only a basic ransomware engine along with the basic infection module. As it appears future versions of it can be updated to include further updates to the code.
A fundamental change that can be implemented is the inclusion of additional steps during the infection mechanism. Most of the advanced virus strains are known to include different kinds of stealth protection — mechanisms that evade or disable the currently running security software such as firewalls, IDS systems and anti-virus applications. Specialist anti-spyware solution have the ability to detect and effectively clean such threats.
Another option would be to include a Trojan component, it allows the criminal operators to spy on the users in real time. Depending on the type of the Trojan module it can also record the mouse movement and key strokes. Other versions can allow the hackers to obtain control of the hosts at any time thus overriding any user commands or behavior. Combined with the fact that the WantMoney virus gains access to the whole computer, such infections have the ability to hijack a lot of personal information as well: account credentials, settings, preferences, passwords and private data.
The information gathering phase allows the hacker operators to obtain all kinds of data from the infected computers including the following:
- Detailed System Profile — The WantMoney virus has the ability to obtain detailed information on the available hardware components and connected external devices to the host computer.
- Language Settings — A comprehensive report on the set language settings and regional preferences are extracted. The data allows the hacker operator to locate the users. based on their language of choice a respective message or ransomware note can be shown.
- Personally-identifiable Information — The infection engine harvests information from the browsers and applications such as accounts, passwords, preferences, bookmarks, history and etc.
Once these steps have taken place follow-up commands can follow. These include malicious system changes that can modify essential Windows services and the registry. As a result of manipulation the users may experience performance issues or experience application failure. Certain malware families like Cryptomix can also modify the boot up options by disabling the recovery process and prevent basic data recovery by deleting the found volume shadow copies found on the installed computers.
When all necessary conditions are met the WantMoney virus starts its ransomware process. Like other similar threats it uses a built-in list of target file type extensions, examples of which include the following data types: images, documents, music, videos, archives, backups, databases, configuration files and etc. After this is done an application frame is created which serves as a lockscreen instance thus effectively blocking ordinary computer interaction until the threat has been completely removed. The ransomware note itself is created in _Want Money_.txt file which reads the following message:
English:
Can not find the file you need?
Can not open your file?
Do not worry, all your files are only encrypted by “Want Money Ransomware.”
Want to retrieve all your files? You only have to pay a small fee
Send 0.1 bitcoins to the following address:
17SGfA1QSffaDMnG3TXEC4EiLudjLznQR6
After payment send e-mail to the specified e-mail address
E-mail address: [email protected]
Mail title: Request to decrypt
E-mail content: Your ID + your payment information
After sending you will get a reply, reply to the message contains the Key, please enter in the input box to decrypt the file.
What is Bitcoin? Please go to Baidu or Google search for details
There are more questions? Please contact email: [email protected]
note! Please do not modify the file after the stop, or the file will not be restored, try not to restart the system.
We recommend that all users abstain from communicating with the hackers and use our full WantMoney virus removal guide below to recover their data and delete the active infections.
Remove WantMoney virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the WantMoney virus requires being familiar with system files and registries. Removing important data accidentally can lead to permanent system damage. If you don’t feel comfortable with manual instructions, download a powerful anti-malware tool that will scan your system for malware and clean it safely for you.
SpyHunter anti-malware tool will diagnose all current threats on the computer. By purchasing the full version, you will be able to remove all malware threats instantly. Additional information about SpyHunter / Help to uninstall SpyHunter
WantMoney virus – Manual Removal Steps
Start the PC in Safe Mode with Network
This will isolate all files and objects created by the ransomware so they will be removed efficiently. The steps bellow are applicable to all Windows versions.
1. Hit the WIN Key + R
2. A Run window will appear. In it, write msconfig and then press Enter
3. A Configuration box shall appear. In it Choose the tab named Boot
4. Mark Safe Boot option and then go to Network under it to tick it too
5. Apply -> OK
Remove WantMoney from Windows
Here’s a way to remove the program. This method will work regardless if you’re on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP. Simply selecting the program and pressing delete won’t work, as it’ll leave a lot of small files. That’s bad because these leftovers can linger on and cause all sorts of problems. The best way to delete a program is to uninstall it. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Hold the “Windows” button (It’s between CTRL and Alt on most keyboards) and press “R”. You’ll see a pop-up window.
2. In the textbox, type “appwiz.cpl”, then press“ Enter ”.
3. The “Programs and features” menu should now appear. It’s a list of all the programs installed on the PC. Here you can find the program, select it, and press “Uninstall“.
Remove WantMoney Virus From Your Browser
Before resetting your browser’s settings, you should know that this action will wipe out all your recorded usernames, passwords, and other types of data. Make sure to save them in some way.
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1. Start Mozilla Firefox. In the upper right corner, click on the Open menu icon and select “Add-ons“.
2. Inside the Add-ons Manager select “Extensions“. Search the list of extensions for suspicious entries. If you find any, select them and click “Remove“.
3. Click again on the Open menu icon, then click “Options“.
4. In the Options window, under “General” tab, click “Restore to Default“.
5. Select “Search” in the left menu, mark the unknown search engine and press “Remove”.
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1. Start Google Chrome. On the upper-right corner, there a “Customize and Control” menu icon. Click on it, then click on “Settings“.
2. Click “Extensions” in the left menu. Then click on the trash bin icon to remove the suspicious extension.
3. Again in the left menu, under Chrome, Click on “Settings“. Go under “On Startup” and set a new page.
4. Afterward, scroll down to “Search“, click on “Manage search engines“.
5. In the default search settings list, find the unknown search engine and click on “X“. Then select your search engine of choice and click “Make default“. When you are ready click “Done” button in the right bottom corner.
2. In the “Manage add-ons” window, bellow “Add-on Types“, select “Toolbars and Extensions“. If you see a suspicious toolbar, select it and click “Remove“.
3. Then again in the “Manage Add-ons” window, in “Add-on Types“, Select “Search Providers“. Chose a search engine and click “Set as default“. Select the unknown search engine and click “Remove and Close”.
4. Open the Tools menu, select “Internet Options”.
5. In the “General” tab, in “Home page”, enter your preferred page. Click “Apply” and “OK”.
Repair Windows Registry
1. Again type simultaneously the WIN Key + R key combination
2. In the box, write regedit and hit Enter
3. Type the CTRL+ F and then write the malicious name in the search type field to locate the malicious executable
4. In case you have discovered registry keys and values related to the name, you should delete them, but be careful not to delete legitimate keys
Click for more information about Windows Registry and further repair help
