The FonixCrypter ransomware development team announced today on Twitter that they have deleted the ransomware source code and intend to shut it down.
As a goodwill gesture to previous victims, the FonixCrypter gang released one packet which contains a decryption tool, instructions and the ransomware master decryption key.
These files can be used by infected users to decrypt and recover their files for free, without having to pay a ransom.
Fonix Ransomware Master RSA Key (Spub.key & Spriv.key) and Sample Decryptor: #Phoenix #ransomware #XINOF #FonixCrypter #close_project #hack #Malware #raas #ransomware_as_a_servicehttps://t.co/JcijzvOKvf
- fnx (@ fnx67482837) January 29, 2021
Allan Liska, a researcher security tested the decryptor and confirmed that the FonixCrypter app, instructions and master key work as the criminals say.
“The decryption key provided by the hackers behind Fonix ransomware seems to be legitimate, I believe it requires from every archive to be decrypted separately ", said Liska on ZDNet.
"The important thing is that they released the master key, which enables someone to create a much better decryption tool," he added.
A better cryptographer is currently in Emsisoft projects and is expected to be released next week, said Michael Gillespie, an Emsisoft security researcher.
Users are advised to wait for the Emsisoft decoder instead of using the FonixCrypter developer decryptor. No one can be sure if it contains backdoors.
The FonixCrypter ransomware gang has been active since at least June 2020, according to Andrew Ivanov, a Russian security researcher who tracks problems ransomware on his personal blog for the past four years.
Ivanov's blog post about FonixCrypter presents a history of constant updates to FonixCrypt code, with at least seven different FonixCrypt variants released last year.
