MATILAN Virus (.MATILAN Files) — How to remove rasnomware?

What is known about the Matilanvirus?

Matilan adds its own .MATILAN extension to the title of each encrypted file. For instance, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.MATILAN”. Likewise, the Excel table with the name “table.xlsx” will be renamed to “table.xlsx.MATILAN”, and so on.

In each directory that contains the encrypted files, a RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is it.

Name	Matilan Virus
Extension	.MATILAN
Ransomware note	RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt
Detection1	MSIL/Spy.Agent.DSV, TrojanSpy:Win32/Delgent, Trojan.Ransom.Magniber
Symptoms	Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .MATILAN extension and you can’t open them.
Fix Tool	GridinSoft Anti-MalwareSee If Your System Has Been Affected by Matilan virus

In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Matilan looks like. Each filename has the “.MATILAN” extension added to it.

That is how encrypted “.MATILAN” files look.

How did my computer get infected with Matilan ransomware?

Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for evil-doers to have the Matilan virus working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer networks.

If you access your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a viral file enclosed in them. Thus it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse model². A Trojan is a program that gets into your computer pretending to be something different. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some service. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that encrypts your data. As the installation wizard can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The optimal thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. 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 files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.

How to remove the Matilan virus?

Often tamperers would decode few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. As Matilan virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the anti-ransomware tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.

Sure thing, if the malefactors do the job of encrypting victim’s critical data, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. However, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about malefactors just vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.

The optimal solution against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive or at least on an external drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working on when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.

Matilan is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Wdlo, Kqgs, Bpqd, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Matilan are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become encoded, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in every folder containing encrypted files.

Some lucky victims were able to decrypt the blocked files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decryption key to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware injection?

You can armour your system from ransomware attack within several easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious letter with caution. A hoax letter will always contain a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information on this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful shield for your PC.

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft">⁴.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your system.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your computer for Matilan infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has completed, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.MATILAN” files?Are the “.MATILAN” files accessible?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.MATILAN” files you will not be able to access them.

🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. All other solutions require time.

🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Matilan virus?

Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with actual threats. The ransomware that has attacked your PC is must be still active and running scans periodically to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Matilan malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide hackers with easy access to your computer after some time.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Matilan malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

In such an unfortunate situation, you need to have a memory stick with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to execute the procedure. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or brought into your machine. To suppress this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Some of the encrypted data can be located elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your critical files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to post those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, mobile, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can employ file recovery utilities⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but remember: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.

Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

• In the United States: On Guard Online;
• In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
• In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
• In Australia: SCAMwatch;
• In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
• In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
• In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
• In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

References

1. Encyclopedia of threats.
2. You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
3. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site:
4. More information about GridinSoft products:
5. Here are the best 10 file recovery tools of 2021.