A new free decryption tool for counteracting the effects of GandCrab ransomware is now available to the public.
This latest decryptor is effective against versions 1, 4 and 5.x up through 5.1, which means GandCrab variants released as recently as October 2018 can now be defeated.
The tool is the result of a collaborative effort between researchers at Bitdefender, the Romanian Police, Europol, and other law enforcement agencies from the U.S. (FBI), Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, UK and Canada.
Users can download the tool from Bitdefender here or from the No More Ransom website.
According to Europol, GandCrab infected more than a half million victims since emerging in January 2018. Two previous releases of decryptors have collectively helped nearly 10,000 victims retrieve their encrypted files. The previous release took place in October and covered GandCrab versions 1, 4 and 5.x through 5.0.3.
The new decryptor has only limited effectiveness against GandCrab 2.x and 3.x., and there are already rumblings of a new 5.2 strain being released, Bleeping Computer has reported.
