Armageddon Ransomware - How to remove

If you can’t open and use your files anymore, and if a window with the words “Dark Day” and a countdown timer has appeared on your screen, your computer might be infected with the Armageddon virus.

The Armageddon ransomware is unusual and might be a new project, discovered just yesterday, of some criminals, so there is little information about it. But file-encrypting ransomware viruses usually share a lot of similarities with each other, so there is still a lot that we can say. For one, is the ransom note delivered by the Armageddon virus correct? Are the files really lost?

All your files on this computer have been encrypted: photo, videos, documents etc. Here is complete list of all of the encrypted files, and you can personally verify this.

Encryption was produced using a unique private key RSA-2048 generated for this computer. This key is random for each computer. To decrypt (return your files to normal state) your files need to obtain the private key.

The only copy of a private key, which will allow you to decrypt the files located on our secret server and will destroy itself after a time specified in the timer bellow.
After that, nobody and never will be able to restore your files….

To obtain the private key for this computer, which will automatically decrypt files, you need to pay 100 USD / 100 EUR similar amount in another currency. You can buy Bitcoin here: coinbase.com/buy-bitcoin

Click <Next> to select the method of payment and the currency.

Any attempts to remove or damage this software will lead to the immediate destruction of the private key by the server.

How to restore your files?

The creators of Armageddon want their victims to pay $100, 100€, or a similar sum the whoever is behind the [email protected] e-mail address. That ransom is remarkably small. Even if Armageddon is meant to target individual people (traditionally, ransomware is targeted at businesses with ransoms that start at thousands of dollars); the DJVU virus demands $980, WannaCryptor asks for $300, Ppam — $700. Still, it’s a bad idea to pay. If Armageddon is still new, the extortionists might not have a good way of decrypting the files. Especially with a ransom this low, they’re more likely to take the money and ignore you. Really, paying is the last thing you should do to get your files back.

First, check if the files really are encrypted. Incompetent extortionists in the past have spread viruses that had many bugs that prevented them from working “correctly” and encrypting all the files. Armageddon looks like it’s still new — it could have experienced technical difficulties.

The criminals aren’t lying about how it’s impossible to decrypt the files without the private key. The trick that makes encryption so effective is that though it’s possible to calculate the private key, it takes absolutely insane amounts of computing power and time, which is why encryption is so secure. However, some file-encrypting viruses have implemented encryption imperfectly and malware researchers were able to develop free decryptors, but there is no guarantee that Armageddon will receive the same support — we don’t yet know if that’s possible, but you can save your encrypted files — they’re not dangerous — and check later to see if a decryptor is available.

You don’t need to bother with that if you have backups, of course. Like all ransomware, Armageddon is powerless against people who have copies of their files stored separately. Just remember to keep your backups up-to-date and disconnected from your computer so that Armageddon can’t encrypt them, too.

The last things to try are system restore and data recovery. These are described in detail below this article. They might not work for everyone, but it’s worth trying to restore the files locked by Armageddon.

How did Armageddon infect your computer?

It’s difficult to say, but there are a few possibilities:

• Dsguides as a software crack or another program on a filesharing network.
• Disguised as an important file that arrives attached to a (spam) e-mail.
• Promoted by malicious ads as a (fake) update or installer.
• Included as an additional program in a bundle.
• Invited by Trojans that are already infecting your computer.

Armageddon needs you to run it if it’s going to infect your device, which is why viruses take on various disguises. You could minimize your risk of infection by having an up-to-date antivirus program check your files before you run them, by being careful with suspicious messages and e-mails, and by securing your browsing against ransomware.

How to remove Armageddon

A competent antivirus program should be able to remove Armageddon without any difficulty — most reputable antivirus applications recognize this virus. If your antivirus doesn’t, I can recommend Spyhunter, or another tool that you trust. The important thing is to remove Armageddon and see if any other malware has wormed its way into your machine — viruses often travel in groups.

How to recover Armageddon Ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Armageddon Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Armageddon Ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to Armageddon Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Armageddon Ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually Armageddon Ransomware tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Armageddon Ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.