Do you know what Banta Ransomware is?
When did Banta Ransomware attack your operating system? Did that happen after you clicked a strange spam email attachment or downloaded a new program or file? If you can pinpoint the moment that happened, you might be able to locate the infection’s launcher also. If you can, deleting Banta Ransomware manually might be very easy. On the other hand, if you cannot separate harmless files from malware, or if you have no idea when or how this dangerous infection got in, you might struggle to clean your operating system. Luckily, there are other options that you can explore, and we discuss them further in this report. First, however, let’s learn more about this dangerous infection.
When our research team started analyzing Banta Ransomware, the name of Phobos Ransomware came up right away. Banta was modeled after Phobos, and that is why this might be the name that malware scanners and removal tools identify the new infection by. Although the structure of these infections is shared, there are a few differences. These differences can be seen in the ransom note and the extension that is added to the corrupted files. When Banta Ransomware encrypts files – which is a process during which the data is changed to lock it, in a sense – the “.id[unique ID].[bytens@cock.li].banta” extension is added. This infection does not encrypt everything everywhere. Instead, it goes after all files (excluding .COM files) in %APPDATA%, %HOMEDRIVE%, %PROGRAMFILES%, and %USERPROFILE%. Do you have personal files stored in these directories? If you do, you are not in luck.
After encryption, Banta Ransomware launches a window named “encrypted,” and it also drops a file named “info.txt” on the Desktop. Both the window and the file present messages, and the goal behind them is to make you want to email bytens@cock.li and backuping@protonmail.com. Do you know what would happen if you did that? The attackers would know for a fact that your files were corrupted, and they could ask you to pay a ransom to get a decryptor. The attackers allude to the ransom in the message represented via the window as well, but no concrete details are provided, and so victims who want to learn more have no other choice but to send a message. If that is what you are thinking about as well, make sure you communicate with cyber criminals from a new email account. Once you are done, and you need to be careful all the way, you will be able to remove the account to stop the attackers from sending you spam and phishing emails. If you receive them, delete them immediately.
We do not suggest waiting long once you identify Banta Ransomware because this is an infection, and cyber criminals controlling it are unpredictable. At the end of the day, even if you are not at risk of facing more issues because of this threat, you want to get your operating system back to normal as soon as possible. Of course, you should not want to restore things to their regular order completely because you clearly have security issues; otherwise, ransomware would not have slithered in. Securing the operating system is not easy, but if you leave this up to reliable anti-malware software, you will not need to think about it twice. The best part is that this software will remove Banta Ransomware and any other malware that might have slithered into your operating system.
Delete Banta Ransomware
- Delete malicious, recently downloaded, or suspicious files. A few possible locations:
- %TEMP%
- %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
- %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
- Move to the Desktop and Delete the file named info.txt.
- Empty Recycle Bin and then quickly install a legitimate malware scanner.
- Perform a thorough system scan to check for leftovers.
In non-techie terms:
Banta Ransomware encrypts personal files, and once that is done, restoring files might be impossible. The attackers, of course, want you to believe that you can purchase a decryptor. We would never trust them, and that is why we cannot recommend you trusting them either. It is best if you remove Banta Ransomware from your operating system. Hopefully, you have backups, and your personal files are not completely lost. To ensure that your files are safe in the future, make sure that you always create backups. Store them outside the system to ensure that they are not affected by malware as well. Right now, you need to focus on the removal, and while you might be able to delete the threat manually, we recommend installing anti-malware software. It will instantly erase threats and reinstate full protection.