How to remove Faizal ransomware virus

Faizal ransomware virus attacks users in Southeast Asia

Faizal virus is a crypto-malware based on the HiddenTear open source ransomware project.^[1] Malware spreads as an obfuscated installer package of “Street Racing Club” game. At the moment of writing, ransomware launches the attacks in Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia. However, malware researchers assume that this cyber threat might expand its target field and start spreading worldwide. After the infiltration, ransomware starts scanning the system looking for targeted files for the encryption. All encoded files have .gembok file extension that means “locked” in English. Faizal follows the classic ransomware behavior and drops a ransom note as soon as all files are protected with a strong encryption cipher. The ransom note called PENTING !!!.htm informs that users need to send a voucher code of 100,000 Indonesian Rupees to leprogames777@gmail.com. The size of the ransom looks ridiculously small in the Western world – it’s only 7.50 USD. However, the cost of living in Indonesian region is not as high, and it’s a reasonable sum of money cyber criminals might expect to receive from each victim. Sadly, data recovery might be complicated without particular decryption key because the virus is designed to delete Shadow Volume Copies which are crucial for this procedure. Though, this fact should not motivate victims to pay the ransom and rely on criminals’ promises. No matter how valuable the files are, Faizal removal should be the primary task after ransomware attack.^[2] We recommend assigning this task to professional anti-malware program, such as FortectIntego.

Faizal ransomware is created to attack a wide range of files stored on the local disks, connected external devices, and even computer networks. Therefore, if you suspect ransomware attack, disconnect your computer from the Internet and disable all removable devices. It will help to stop malware from spreading further and causing more damage. The virus is designed to encrypt all popular and widely used file types. Unfortunately, if users do not back up their files, ransomware attack may seem like an end of the world and to pay the ransom may look like the only solution. However, it’s better to remove Faizal from the machine rather than risk to lose the money as well. There are numerous cases when victims of ransomware have never received a promised decryption key. What is worse, cyber criminals might demand to pay even more money^[3] and use various threatening techniques to make people obey. Thus, we do not recommend having business with developers of ransomware.

Malware spreads as a fake game installer

Faizal ransomware spreads with the help of Street Racing Club – SETUP.exe file. This file is supposed to trick people who love playing computer games, more specifically – car racing. Malware pretends to be an installer for “Street Racing Club” game developed by GameHitStudio. Thus, you should be cautious when installing this game. Always choose reliable sources for downloads and avoid using file-sharing sites, torrents, P2P networks, etc. However, there’s always a chance that authors of the Faizal virus apply other ransomware distribution techniques, such as malvertising,^[4] exploit kits or spam email campaigns. If the virus starts spreading in Europe or America, probably cyber criminals update malware distribution strategies as well. Thus, we want to remind to be careful when browsing the web and backup your files regularly.^[5]

Safe way to remove Faizal malware

The only safe way to remove Faizal from the computer is to rely on professional antivirus or malware removal program. We suggest dedicating this task for one of these tools: FortectIntego, SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes. Using your preferred security software, you need to scan infected computer’s system. However, we want to stress out that this task may not be as easy as it may look at first. Malware can prevent you from installing, updating or accessing malware removal program. In order to carry out automatic Faizal removal, you may need to reboot your device to the Safe Mode with Networking. The instructions below will explain to you how to do it. Besides, you will find an alternative data recovery methods that might be useful as well.