WannaCry is not invincible. An in-depth analysis conducted by Kaspersy's experts has revealed how to recover deleted files for free
If you are among the tens of thousands of victims affected by WannaCry, don't despair and, most importantly, don't pay. An in-depth analysis conducted by Kaspersky's security experts shows that the ransomware virus contains several flaws, some of which allow you to recover files easily and for free.
The most serious vulnerability detected by the Russian developer's technicians concerns file encryption (the system that prevents users from accessing their contents) and their subsequent deletion. Perhaps due to the haste of releasing the malicious program or for other reasons that cannot be identified at the moment, cyber criminals have made some serious mistakes, so that users can recover files deleted by WannaCry (or, at least, a part of them) without being forced to pay the ransom of several hundred euros. All you need, in fact, is a software to recover deleted photos from your hard drive or SD card.
WannaCry Errors
As pointed out by Kaspersky experts in a post on their blog, WannaCry creators made several "distraction" mistakes in making their malware. In particular, the ransomware makes a distinction between "important" and less important files. The former (located in folders such as Desktop or Documents) are encrypted and, once deleted, replaced with random character sequences; the latter, on the other hand, are stored inside a hidden folder on the hard drive, so that the user cannot immediately locate them.
The analysis conducted by Kaspersky researchers, therefore, reveals a logical error made by the hackers when creating their ransomware virus. WannaCry creates a sort of "hierarchy" among the files on your hard drive, making the ones saved on the Desktop unrecoverable but giving a "second chance" to images, videos and documents stored on the rest of your hard drive.
How to recover files deleted by WannaCry
In case of WannaCry infection, in short, there are high hopes to recover most of your files. All you need is one of the many free programs for recovering deleted files (those used, for example, to recover deleted photos from SD cards or external hard drives) and a bit of patience. According to the Russian software house's technicians, with one or two scans at most you will be able to get your photos back.
Alternatively, you can try one of the many tools and applications that computer security companies have released in recent weeks to recover files locked by WannaCry.