BugsFighter

Akaiksots.com is a fraudulent website designed to trick users into allowing its push notifications. While push notifications are a totally legitimate feature available in many popular browsers, developers behind Akaiksots.com and hundreds of other such pages abuse this feature to deliver intrusive advertisement campaigns. To deceive visitors into enabling it, the rogue website can display various messages (depending on users' geolocation and previous browser activity) that ask them to click on the "Allow" button. One of the observed messages was saying "Click the 'Allow' button to subscribe to the push notifications and continue watching". Others may say it is necessary to click "Allow" in order to pass fake Captcha verification, download a file, or something similar. Unfortunately, after allowing it, the website will gain permission to spam your desktop with shady notifications. Such notifications will most likely spread fake and deceptive information (e.g., fake system alerts, virus detections, outdated software, etc.) that can redirect users to unwanted, scam, or even malicious pages. Thus, never interact with notification banners received by Akaiksots.com and remove them the soonest. Use our guide below to do it correctly and without traces.

Cooper is a ransomware virus that infects systems to encrypt potentially important files and demands money for their decryption. Along with running secure encryption, it also assigns the .cooper extension to affected files. For instance, a file originally named 1.pdf will change to 1.pdf.cooper and lose its original icon. After this change, files will no longer be usable, even if you remove the added extension. To reverse these changes, decryption instructions are presented within the Cooper_Recover.txt file. Cybercriminals urge victims to contact them via e-mail and pay for unique decryption software. Threat actors are the only figures who have access to it, and it is said no other tool is able to provide decryption for enciphered .cooper files. While contacting, victims are also asked to include the ID in the subject line of an e-mail message. Unfortunately, unless you have an available backup that can be used to retrieve copies of encrypted files, paying the ransom to cyber-crooks might be the only way to return back your files. Multiple ransomware infections use strong encryption algorithms and generate online keys, ensuring decryption is barely possible without the help of initial developers.

Developed by InfoSpace, Isearch.nation.com is part of the Nation Search toolbar that hijacks users' browsers to replace the default search engine and homepage address. The main problem with hijackers is that their sole purpose is to generate revenue for their developers. This is why search results generated through isearch.nation.com, search.nation.com, or avg.nation.com are likely to display a lot of advertisements along with sponsored links that may lead to potentially dubious and compromised resources. In addition to this, the browser hijacker may also be capable of collecting sensitive browser information (e.g., IP addresses, geolocations, cookies, etc.), which can then be abused for getting additional financial earnings. Thus, we recommend you against letting the Nation Search toolbar run in your browser whether it got installed with or without your consent. Use our guide below to delete it and prevent privacy and security threats.

Some users happen to face the 0x8024500c error, which prevents the successful installation of new updates. Such errors have been quite a common occurrence over the entire Windows existence. The reasons why they occur often come from corruptions in system files, misconfigured settings, bugged update services, incompatibilities of third-party security software, and even malware infection in rarer cases. Identifying the root of the problem and finding the right solution may be impossible to do immediately. This is why it is important to try each solution until one of them fixes the issue. Here are our top seven methods that will help you deal with the error 0x8024500c.

Coza is a new ransomware sample developed by the notorious STOP/Djvu group of extortionists. Alike many other variants published by these cybercriminals, this one employs an almost identical encryption and extortion pattern. Upon settling down on an infected machine, the virus starts scanning and therefore encrypting potentially important pieces of data. By doing so, the virus aims to create more incentives for victims to pay for decryption proposed by the attackers. In addition to encryption, the malware also makes sure victims can differentiate locked from non-locked files – by simply assigning the .coza extension. For instance, a file previously named 1.xlsx will change to 1.xlsx.coza, 1.pdf to 1.pdf.coza and so forth with other targeted file types. To undo the encryption, victims are said to follow instructions within the _readme.txt text note.

Search.rspark.com is an unwanted search engine promoted by a browser-hijacking extension/add-on (called Rspark). Users are often tricked into installing such software through dubious ads or third-party program installers. Although search.rspark.com may seem legitimate and useful at first glance, its capabilities should be treated with pristine caution and dispute. Many browser hijackers tend to show untrustworthy search results, cause redirects to unwanted pages, and display various ads and pop-ups. Such features may significantly downgrade both browser experience and PC performance, by making users overwhelmed with too much irrelevant content. As a result, users' safety may also be put at risk at some point as some promoted content may expose users to facing potentially dangerous/malicious content, such as malware or online scams. On top of that, some browser hijackers are also known for running a stealth collection of browsing data and using it for illegal commercial purposes. Thus, if you became a victim of Search.rspark.com, we strongly advise you to remove it from your computer. Feel free to follow our detailed guide below to get rid of its presence within a couple of steps.

Pwpdvl is a ransomware virus designed to extort money from victims by running encryption of data. In other words, people affected by this malware will no longer be able to access and view their files. When Pwpdvl enciphers potentially important files, it also assigns the victim's ID, along with the .pwpdvl extension at the end. For instance, a file like 1.pdf will alter to something like 1.pdf.[ID-9ECFA84E].pwpdvl and rest its original icon. To make victims pay money for the recovery, the file encryptor creates a ransom text note (RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt), which contains decryption instructions. It is demanded of victims to contact the swindlers (via Bitmessage or qTOX) and pay for decryption in Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency. Before sending the payment, cybercriminals also offer to test free decryption – victims can send 2 encrypted files (non-important and 1 MB max) and get it unlocked for free. This is a kind of guarantee that extortionists offer to prove their decryption abilities and give extra confidence for paying the ransom. Though, please note that trusting cybercriminals is always a risk. Some users get fooled and do not receive the promised decryption tools/keys regardless of meeting the demands. Despite this, it is unfortunately only ransomware developers who hold the necessary decryption keys for safely restoring access to data. Independent decryption using third-party tools or Windows shadow copies can be possible but in very rare cases when ransomware contains flaws or did not manage to encrypt the data as intended.

VapeV7 is a ransomware virus designed to encrypt data across successfully infected systems. By doing so, the virus makes sure users are no longer able to access/view their own data, which enables threat actors to demand money for its decryption. The encrypted files will appear with the new .VapeV7 extension and reset their original icons to blank. After this, victims will be presented with decryption instructions in a dedicated pop-up window. In order to restore access to data, victims are demanded to send $200 to the cybercriminals' BTC wallet (via an address inside the pop-up window) and notify the extortionists with the transaction ID by e-mail. Note that BTC wallets and contact e-mails are changing each second creating a lot of uncertainty as to what wallet address and e-mail to use. Also, displayed BTC wallets are actually incorrect and thus non-existent at all. Such a strange phenomenon could be a sign that VapeV7 Ransomware is bugged or still under development. However, not excluded that cybercriminals behind this ransomware will remove the bugs and strike future victims with more reliable decryption guidelines. Unfortunately, despite this fact, files enciphered by VapeV7 Ransomware are less likely to be decryptable manually.