There Is Now A Free Ransomware Decryptor For Victims of Phobos and 8base

Begone “.phobos”, “.8base”, “.elbie”, “.faust”, and “.LIZARD”!

The Japanese police have made a ransomware decryptor available, for free, that will allow victims of Phobos and 8-Base to recover any files encrypted by those ransomware attacks.  It may also work on encrypted files with extensions other than listed in the title, so you might want to give it a shot if you have been hit by ransomware in the past.  Your browser may detect malware in the downloaded file, but Bleeping Computer has extensively scanned the file and it is safe.  It is likely being flagged because it contains some of the code often present in files used to spread the Phobos ransomware, in this case used to decrypt data.

Phobos was a ransomware-as-a-service operation which appeared in December 2018, in 2023 8-Base modified the Phobos encryptor to offer their own horrific service for horrible people.  Thanks to a coordinated international law enforcement operation which took place this year, most Phobos and 8-Base control servers have been taken offline and at least some of the culprits have been arrested.  Hopefully this will brighten up Monday for a few people.