Avast Decryption Tool for Akira was developed to assist in decrypting files infected by the Akira ransomware. All the Avast Decryption Tools are available in one zip here.

Since its emergence in March 2023, the Akira ransomware has become increasingly prevalent. The group responsible for this ransomware has successfully targeted multiple organizations within the education, finance, and real estate industries. These attacks have had significant repercussions, highlighting the need for robust cybersecurity measures across various sectors.

Per Avast, this ransomware is not linked to the Akira ransomware discovered by Karsten Hahn in 2017. Therefore, the decryptor cannot be used to decrypt files from the older variant. Also, there is a newer variant that this decryptor will not be successful in decrypting, but we figured we would list it just in case.

When it runs, the ransomware employs CryptGenRandom(), a random number generator implemented by the Windows CryptoAPI, to produce a symmetric encryption key. It encrypts files using D. J. Bernstein's implementation of Chacha 2008.

The symmetric key is encrypted using the RSA-4096 cipher and appended to the end of the encrypted file. It's important to note that each instance of the ransomware binary contains a distinct public key that is hardcoded within it.

Akira encrypts files based on their size. When a file is 2,000,000 bytes or smaller, the ransomware encrypts only the first half of the file.

Files encrypted by a particular process can be recognized by adding the .akira extension to their original file names. Furthermore, in every folder containing encrypted files, a specific file named akira_readme.txt is placed to serve as a ransom note (screenshot #1), detailing the demands and instructions provided by the perpetrators of the encryption.

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