Fixed virus: what is known so far?
Fixed adds its extra .FIXED extension to every file’s title. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.FIXED”. Likewise, the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.FIXED”, and so on.
In each directory containing the encrypted files, a Info.hta text document will be created. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is how they do it.
| Name | Fixed Virus |
| Extension | .FIXED |
| Ransomware note | Info.hta |
| Detection1 | Ransom:Win32/Cryptolocker.PAL!MTB, UDS:Trojan-Banker.Win32.Bandra, Trojan:MSIL/AgentTesla.EPQ!MTB |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .FIXED extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Fixed virus |
In the picture below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Fixed looks like. Each filename has the “.FIXED” extension added to it.
How did Fixed ransomware end up on my PC?
Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for tamperers to have ransomware settled in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose mailer is unknown to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a ransomware item attached to them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus scheme2. A Trojan is a program that gets into your computer disguised as something different. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some service. However, what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful program that corrupts your data. As the update file can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is finished.
