'.Nano File Extension' Ransomware

The '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware is a new version of the Rapid Ransomware, a family of file-locking Trojans. Using the Ransomware-as-a-Service model, t'.Nano File Extension' Ransomware may circulate through various means, such as spam e-mails, and encrypt or lock the media of any Windows PC that it compromises. Users should keep their files safe by storing backups on other devices and letting their anti-malware software remove the '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware upon its detection.

A Not-So-Small Barrier on Your Files

The RaaS business remains brisk relatively, with even smaller families like the Rapid Ransomware, seemingly, doing well. Different versions of the threat, such as the RPD Ransomware and the No_More_Ransom Ransomware, are just as active as ever in the latter half of 2018, with malware experts adding one more to the list of members. The '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware's payload, like other Rapid Ransomware variants, operates similarly to that of the Scarab Ransomware group, but with a different setup for encrypting your data.

The '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware uses both AES and RSA encryption for blocking files by enciphering their data, and, after doing so, adds its extension into their names. The latter feature doesn't alter the rest of the name and leaves the original format tag intact (for instance, 'this-picture.jpg' becomes 'this-picture.jpg.Nano'). Since malware researchers have long since noted no vulnerabilities in the '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware's encryption method, the users can't unlock their files, except by taking the risk of paying the threat actors' ransom.

The '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware also adds a Notepad TXT file onto the desktop that includes the ransoming negotiation's instructions, along with an ID and an e-mail for contacting the criminal. All readers should note that nearly all transactions involving file-locker Trojans will specify a currency, such as Bitcoin, that the victim can't refund if the decryptor never becomes available. All of the symptoms specified in this article do little to help with identifying the '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware during the encryption scan, which, along with other parts of its payload, runs off of a background process.

Making a File-Locker Trojan Family into a Nano-Sized Issue

Some of the less than obvious features that the '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware also supports involve erasing any Windows backup data and suppressing security features, such as startup error messages, that could let the victim notice it. Backing up work to other devices, either removable or network-based, is the only reliable way of keeping any documents, images, databases, and other media safe from the Rapid Ransomware family. Paying ransoms to threat actors for their decryption help is, at best, always a risk.

Ransomware-as-a-Service is a business model that provides file-locker Trojans to third parties with fees and can lend uncertainty to the infection exploits that each campaign uses. Nonetheless, malware researchers caution against enabling macros in suspicious documents, trusting unusual e-mail attachments or links, or running a network with a vulnerable login combination regularly. Any anti-malware tools that are proficient at removing the rest of its family should suffice equally well for safely uninstalling the '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware.

Stopping most file-locking Trojans, the '.Nano File Extension' Ransomware included, necessitates forethought by their most likely targets. As long as harmful encryption lacks even easier competition, a Windows user without a backup or even the basics of protection against remote attackers will continue being a cash resource for plundering.