What is Scarab Bin ransomware? And how does it implement its attack?
Another new variant of Scarab ransomware called Scarab Bin ransomware has surfaced. This was spotted in the wild recently and is using .bin extension to mark encrypted files. This new variant follows the same infection sequence as the previous iterations of the ransomware engine. At the time of writing, it isn’t known who the group behind this ransomware is. However, security experts speculated that the crooks might have accessed the original source code of Scarab ransomware.
Once it implement its attack, it may employ a data gathering module used to gather strings that are related to the identity of the user as well as information about the system. The data obtained is used to optimize the attack campaign and is processed by another module called stealth protection used to apply a signature scan that detects any antivirus programs, virtual machine hosts and sandbox environments and prevent them from interfering with the attack. Shortly after these modules are implemented, Scarab Bin will begin encrypting its targeted data that are mostly user-generated such as files with the following extensions:
.PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG .CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG
During the encryption, Scarab Bin uses the same encryption algorithm as the other Scarab variants. It then adds the .[[email protected]].bin suffix to every affected file and releases the following ransom note:
“Your files are now encrypted!
Your personal identifier:
6A02000000000000***7DF100
For instructions for decrypting files, please write here:
[email protected]
[email protected]
If you have not received an answer, write to me again!!”
How is the malicious payload of Scarab Bin ransomware disseminated?
Like other Scarab variants, the malicious payload of the new Scarab Bin ransomware is most likely disseminated using malicious spam email campaigns. Crooks attach an obfuscated attachment containing malicious scripts used to install Scarab Bin in the computer. Thus, you need to be more extra cautious in opening emails and downloading attachments.
Terminating Scarab Bin ransomware wouldn’t be easy so you need to use the following removal guide to successfully do so.
Step 1: Tap the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys to open a menu and then expand the Shutdown options which is right next to the power button.
Step 2: After that, tap and hold the Shift key and then click on Restart.
Step 3: And in the Troubleshoot menu that opens, click on the Advanced options and then go to the Startup settings.
Step 4: Click on Restart and tap F4 to select Safe Mode or tap F5 to select Safe Mode with Networking.
Step 5: After your PC has successfully rebooted, tap Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
Step 6: Go to the Processes tab and look for any suspicious-looking processes that could be related to Scarab Bin ransomware and then end their processes.
Step 7: Exit the Task Manager and open Control Panel by pressing the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.
Step 8: Look for suspicious programs that could be related to Scarab Bin ransomware and then uninstall them.
Step 9: Close Control Panel and tap Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
Step 10: Navigate to the following locations and look for the malicious components created by Scarab Bin ransomware like “HOW TO RECOVER ENCRYPTED FILES.txt” and make sure to delete them all.
- %APPDATA%
- %TEMP%
- %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\
- %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
- %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
Step 11: Close the File Explorer.
Before you proceed to the next steps below, make sure that you are tech savvy enough to the point where you know exactly how to use and navigate your computer’s Registry. Keep in mind that any changes you make will highly impact your computer. To save you the trouble and time, you can just use [product-name] this system tool is proven to be safe and excellent enough that hackers won’t be able to hack into it. But if you can manage Windows Registry well, then, by all means, go on to the next steps.
Step 12: Tap Win + R to open Run and then type in regedit in the field and tap enter to pull up Windows Registry.
Step 13: Navigate to the listed paths below and look for the registry keys and sub-keys created by Scarab Bin ransomware.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
- HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
Step 14: Delete the registry keys and sub-keys created by Scarab Bin ransomware.
Step 15: Close the Registry Editor and empty the contents of the Recycle Bin.
Try to recover your encrypted files using the Shadow Volume copies
Restoring your encrypted files using Windows’ Previous Versions feature will only be effective if Scarab Bin ransomware hasn’t deleted the shadow copies of your files. But still, this is one of the best and free methods there is, so it’s definitely worth a shot.
To restore the encrypted file, right-click on it and select Properties, a new window will pop-up, then proceed to Previous Versions. It will load the file’s previous version before it was modified. After it loads, select any of the previous versions displayed on the list like the one in the illustration below. And then click the Restore button.
To ensure the removal of Scarab Bin ransomware from your system including the malicious components it has created on your system, follow the advanced steps below.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:
- Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
- After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.
- To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
- Windows will now load the SafeMode with Networking.
- Press and hold both R key and Windows key.
- If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
- Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
- After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
- Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.
- After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now”button.