Understanding Banta Ransomware

Banta ransomware – Another high-risk variant of Phobos ransomware family! It was 21st October, 2017, when this infamous ransomware make its presence felt for the first time. The file-encrypting virus targets the personal documents stored in the compromised system. In order to ensure successful encryption, ransomware uses strong encryption algorithm.

Similar to its parent ransomware, Banta virus uses RSA and AES cryptographies to encrypt files. The encrypted files are renamed & appended with unique extension – ‘.banta’ and hence making them inaccessible.

The malicious virus is recognized by the Banta extension, which is appended to the filenames. After successful encryption, the malicious crypto virus aims to extort large amount of money from the users. Let us understand the menace caused by .Banta file virus.

Threat Summary

Name	Banta
Type	Ransomware
Category	Malware
Targeted OS	Windows
Symptoms	Encrypt your files and keep them hostage until you pay ransom amount. Once the files are encrypted, it becomes unreadable.
Damage	If the victim fails to make payment within specified time, the encrypted files can be lost permanently.
Removal	Download Removal Tool

Distribution Technique

The seed of the malicious Banta ransomware is carefully planted on the websites to form a honey trap for the lurking users. The moment a connection is established with such sites, the dangerous macros silently come into existence. Hence, one way to propagate this virus is via questionable websites.

However, the most common method is spam email attachments. They contain malicious codes in the form of word file, document files, zip files, text files and so on. Once, you download or open such files, the malicious .Banta file virus initiate its mal activities in your system.

Apart from it, Trojans are another method used to increase the dangerous payload on the targeted system. Trojans are basically designed to create ‘Chain-infections’. Once, in your system, it will further install other dangerous applications.

Once it makes itself comfortable, the nasty Banta ransomware shows its quality of true master disguise! Its own set of rules gradually ensures it presence on connecting networks as well. The ransomware is finely tuned to invade the cyber security protocol and reach out to the selective destination in your system.

After allocating the files, it locks the files by embedding Banta extension with the filenames. The virus can become the major reason behind your data or identity theft!

Threat Behavior

To set fear in the mind of computer users, Banta ransomware show its unethical behaviour by encrypting stored files in your system. To ensure successful encryption, strong cryptographic algorithm is used! However, encryption is just the beginning of the destruction! In addition to corrupting the files, the malicious virus drops two files – ‘info.hta’ and ‘info.txt’.

The text file basically informs about the data encryption. Furthermore, the info.hta file displays other important information such as the amount of demanded ransom. If you want to recover .banta files, you have to purchase the Banta decryption tool. It is stored at the hacker’s server and hence, getting the key is not an easy task. The cost of decryption key is $500 – $1500 and payment is expected in bitcoins.

Additionally, the developer of this malicious virus allows you to send 5 encrypted files, which they decrypt for free. It is just a sample to make the victims believe about the capability of Banta Ransomware data recovery. Nevertheless, even if you are capable to pay the asked ransom, you should not opt to pay them.

Many of the users fall in the trap set by this expert marksman and end up paying to the demands. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee to the cure offered and the information may never be restored in many cases.

Removal guidelines for Banta Ransomware

STEP A: Reboot your system to Safe Mode

Windows 7/ Vista/ XP

1. Click on Windows icon present in the lower left corner of the computer screen.
2. Select and click  Restart.
3. When the screen goes blank, Keep tapping  F8  Key until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
4. With the help of arrow keys on keyboard, Select Safe Mode with Networking  option from the list and press the Enter Key. The system will then restart to Safe Mode with Networking.

5 Once the system restarts, click on the username and enter the password (if any) to log in.

Windows 10 / Windows 8

1. Press and hold the Shift Key and simultaneously click on the windows icon present in the lower left corner of your computer screen.
2. While the Shift key is still pressed click on the Power button and then click on Restart.
3. Now select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings.
4. When the Startup Settings screen appears which is the first screen to appear after restart, select and click on Enable Safe Mode with Networking. The system will then restart to Safe Mode with Networking.
5. Once the system restarts in Safe Mode, click on the username and enter the password, if any to log in.

STEP B: Delete the malicious file in system Configuration setting

1. Type “Msconfig” in search box / Run Box, select it and press Enter.
2. Click on “Services” Tab and click on “Hide all Microsoft services”.
3. Select Banta ransomware from the list of remaining services and disable it by removing the tick mark from the checkbox and click on Apply button.

Windows 7

1. Click on the next tab – “Startup”.
2. Find any blank or suspicious entry or the entry with Banta ransomware mentioned and remove the check mark.
3. Click on Apply button and then click on OK.

Windows 10

1. Click on the next tab – “Startup”.
2. Take the mouse cursor to ‘Open task Manager‘ link and click on it.  This opens the Task Manager window.
3. Find any blank or suspicious entry or the entry with Banta ransomware mentioned and click on it.
4. Then click on Disable button.

STEP C: Remove the suspicious file using Command Prompt

Once the system starts, ensure to use an account with administrative privilege to access Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

After the user enters admin credentials, Command prompt window is displayed wherein you are entitled to enter the below commands:

1. Type the command “sc delete Banta ransomware” in the command prompt and press Enter.
2. Type “exit” to exit the command prompt and restart the system in safe mode with command prompt.

STEP D: Restore system Files & Folders

From Control Panel

For Windows 7

1. Click on the ‘Start’ button on the taskbar. This will open the Start menu.
2. Click on the ‘Control Panel’ button in the Start menu. This will open the control panel window.
3. In the Control Panel window, click on the ‘View by:’ button on the top right. Select the Large Icon option
4. In the control Panel window click on the ‘Recovery Icon’. This will open a window that will ask ‘Restore the computer to an earlier point in time’.
5. Click on the ‘Open system restore’ button. This will open the ‘system restore ’window where you need to click on the Next Button.
6.  Select the restore point that is prior the infiltration of Banta ransomware. After doing that, click Next.
7. This will open the ‘Confirm your restore point’ dialog box. Click on Finish button. This will restore your system to a previous restore point before your system was infected by Banta ransomware.

OR

From Command Prompt

1. Type cmd in the search box and click on the command prompt to open the Command Prompt window. box and clicking on it.
2. Once the Command Prompt window shows up, enter cd restore and click Enter.(Ensure that you in the system32 directory of Windows folder in C Drive)
3. Now type rstrui and press Enter again.
4. When a new window shows up, click Next and select your restore point that is prior the infiltration of Banta ransomware. After doing that, click Next.
5. This will open the ‘Confirm your restore point’ dialog box. Click on Finish button. This will restore your system to a previous restore point before your system was infected by Banta ransomware.

OR

Method 3 : Directly type ‘rstrui’ in the search box

1. Type ‘Rstrui’ in the search box present on the task bar. This will open the System restore dialog box.

Continue to follow steps 4 & 5 of Method 2 to restore the System Files and settings.

Tips to prevent your system from Banta Ransomware

1. Keeping the Operating System Updated- In order to remain protected and avoid such infections, it is recommended to keep your Operating System updated by enabling the automatic update on your system. The systems with outdated or older versions of Operating System become an easy target for the attackers.
2. Resist clicking on spam emails – One of the major techniques used for malware distribution is forwarding spam emails to the user. The system gets infected as soon as the user clicks on the attachment. These mails appear to be genuine, so be aware and resist falling for these tricks.
3. Keep an eye on third party installations- It is quite important that you take due care while installing any third party applications for they are major source of such infections. Such malware programs come bundled with the free applications thereby requiring the user to remain cautious.
4. Regular periodical backup- In order to keep your data and files safe, it is recommended to take regular back up of all your data and files either on an external drive or cloud.
5. Use Anti-Virus Protection- We strongly recommend the use of antivirus protection/internet security in your PC like Kaspersky, Hitman Pro and Bull Guard so that it remains safe.
6. Enable the Ad Blocker/Popup Blocker in your browser- Enabling the popup blocker/ ad blocker in your chosen browser will help you to stay protected from annoying adware.