How to Remove ‘CALVO’ Ransomware – Security Tips

Cybersecurity researchers have determined that CALVO ransomware is a type of malicious program that belongs to the family of ransomware-type viruses called Phobos.

There’s no doubt that ransomware-type viruses are among the topmost unpleasant and dangerous cyber security threats lurking on the internet. One such ransomware-type infection that has been detected in the wild is CALVO.

The main purpose of this virus is to encrypt all the stored files (make them inaccessible) on the targeted computer and demand ransom payment in exchange for decryption software.

Keep on reading to know about the working methodology of CALVO ransomware, how it gets spread, and what you can do to protect yourself against it.

What is CALVO Ransomware?

This is a high-risk computer infection categorized as ransomware. The purpose of this ransomware-type program is to extort money from users, either by locking their files or by locking the system’s screen.

Like LegionLocker 3.0, Mammon, Combo13, and countless other ransomware-type infections, it uses strong AES and RSA cryptographic algorithms to encrypt the stored files and then renames the filenames by assigning them a unique extension (“.[seamoon@criptext.com].CALVO”). For example, a file named “myselfie.jpg”, once encrypted by CALVO ransomware, would become “myselfie.jpg.[seamoon@criptext.com].CALVO”.

After encrypting files on the targeted machine, the CALVO virus creates two identical ransom notes. One is placed on the victim’s desktop as the pop-up window (“info.hta”) and the other one (“info.txt” text file) is dropped in all folders that contain affected files.

Typically, ransom notes generated by malware infections of this type contain a short message which states that victims’ files have been encrypted. And in order to access them, users need to contact the ransomware authors via the given email address (cusapool@firemail.cc) and purchase decryption software from them.

How Does CALVO Ransomware Infect Your Computer?

Cyber crooks use various techniques to deploy these ransomware-type infections to the target computers. Let’s take a look at the most common ones below.

Fake emails with malicious attachments
Misleading pop-up alerts, ads, deals, banners, etc.
Dubious download sources
Fake software updaters
Shady websites with illegal/pirated content
Bugs/ flaws of installed software

How to Remove CALVO Ransomware?

A professional security program with real-time protection is your best option to battle against computer virus threats and stay safe online. So, in order to protect your system against malware threats like CALVO ransomware, we recommend you running a scan with a competent anti-malware software.

Adrian