'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware

The 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware is a file-locker Trojan that can keep files from opening by encrypting them, which prevents other programs from reading and interpreting them correctly. Because the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware belongs to a family without a free decryptor, backing up your work is the only, foolproof recovery method for an attack. Adhere to good security practices for reducing the possibility of infections and use anti-malware tools for removing the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware automatically, if the former fails.

A Different Species of Phoenix Has Arisen

It's been years since the Phoenix Ransomware variant of Hidden Tear's attacks, but threat actors are continuing to harp upon the mythological theme. Nothing demonstrates the shift from freeware to Ransomware-as-a-Service campaigns quite so well as the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware, which shares the old HT Trojan's theme but implements it with code from Phobos Ransomware's family. This historical trivia means little to the victims, however, who have their files just as blocked, either way.

This fear-themed family is being introduced through RDP channels, currently, which lets remote attackers control the UI of vulnerable systems remotely. Careless administrators may leave this feature open indefinitely, or threat actors could enable it, once they get access through such methods as corrupted torrents, brute-forcing or spam e-mails. Typically, the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware will run immediately after being introduced and installed on a Windows PC.

While the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware doesn't lock or encrypt essential OS components, it can do so with most of the other formats on your drives, including documents, pictures and various forms of backups. However, its default behavior will delete the backups that Windows uses in its Restore Points. It also appends an ID, its e-mail, and a 'phoenix' extension, with the first two being provisions for the threat actor's ransom demands.

Copies of its ransom note have yet to be confirmed by malware experts, but most versions of the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware's family, Phobos Ransomware, use TXT and HTA (advanced HTML) messages. They will state a price of five hundred to one thousand USD ordinarily and give a strict deadline for the unlocking services.

How to Shoot Down a Flaming Bird

Administrators should monitor their open ports and RDP settings for vulnerabilities that an attacker could take advantage of, along with, as always, choosing secure passwords. All individuals can further defend themselves against file-locking Trojans by being careful when opening e-mail attachments, which may carry embedded exploits, and enabling risky Web-browsing features only on appropriately-safe sites. Torrents and other, usually illicit file-sharing content, also, may facilitate the spreading of these threats.

Other than the ransom-based solution that its threat actors offer, the decryption options for the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware's family are limited to nonexistent. If at all possible, back your work up to a device that's protected by other security credentials or is detachable, which can prevent the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware from damaging it. Although most anti-malware programs shouldn't find issues with deleting the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware, they can't unlock the locked files that are the consequences of infections.

Unlike brethren like the 'tedmundboardus@aol.com' Ransomware or the 'fobosamerika@protonmail.ch' Ransomware, the 'audrey.b@aol.com' Ransomware is compromising the systems of Netherlands residents. But the greater family that's responsible for it is more than just a problem for one country or many of them – it's a world-traveling file saboteur.