520 Ransomware (.520 Files) — How to Remove Virus?

520 Virus

520 adds its specific “.520” extension to the name of every file. For example, your photo named as “my_photo.jpeg” will be transformed into “my_photo.jpeg.520“, report in Excel tables named “report.xlsx” – to “report.xlsx.520“, and so on.

Inside of the ransom note, there is usually an instruction saying about purchasing the decryption tool. This decryption tool is created by ransomware developers, and can be obtained through the email, contacting !_INFO.txt.

The image below gives a clear vision of how the files with “.520” extension look like:

How did I get 520 ransomware on my computer?

However, nowadays there are only two ways of 520 injection – email spam and trojans. You may see a lot of messages on your email, stating that you need to pay different bills or to get your parcel from the local FedEx department. But all such messages are sent from unknown email addresses, not from familiar official emails of these companies. All such letters contain the attached file, which is used as a ransomware carrier. If you open this file – your system will get infected by 520.

In case of trojans presence, you will be offered to download and install ransomware on your PC under the guise of something legit, like a Chrome update, or update for the software you are storing on your computer. Sometimes, trojan viruses can be masked as legit programs, and ransomware will be offered for download as an important update, or a big pack of extensions which are essential for proper program functioning.

There is also the third way of ransomware injection, however, it becomes less and less popular day-to-day. I am talking about peering networks, such as torrents or eMule. No one can control which files are packed in the seeding, so you can discover a huge pack of different malware after downloading. If circumstances force you to download something from peering networks – scan every downloaded folder or archive with antivirus software.