AKM virus - How to remove

AKM virus is a ransomware program that locks your computer system and blames you for using copyrighted content illegally. The program uses a name of AKM (Autoren Komponisten Musikverleger ) which is an Austrian institution that takes care of music rights copyrighted content. However, the program does that illegally as it is not related to this institution in any way. It became popular to use well known names among cyber criminals when naming their products as this way it immediately gains more trust.

AKM virus gets into computers using compromised websites or spam emails attachments and enters machines without users’ knowledge.Once installed it  locks your system and does not allow you to open any programs there.  You cannot browse the Internet, work with any legitimate programs and even to open your Task Manager. AKM virus just displays one message in the middle of the screen that states:

Autoren Komponisten Musikverleger – POLIZEI
Ihr Computer ist gesperrt.
Illegal heruntergeladen Musikstücke (Raubkopien) auf Ihrem Computer befindet.
Durch das Herunterladen, wurden diese Musikstücke wiedergegeben, wodurch mit einer Straftat nach § 106 des Copyright Act.
Das Herunterladen von urheberrechtlich geschützten Songs über das Internet oder Musik-Tauschbörsen ist illegal und steht im Einklang mit § 106 des Copyright Act unterliegen einer Geldstrafe oder Freiheitsstrafe von einer Strafe von bis zu 3 Jahren.
Darüber hinaus ist der Besitz von illegal heruntergeladenen Musikstücke strafbar nach § 184 Absatz 3 des Strafgesetzbuches und kann auch zur Beschlagnahme des Computers führen, mit dem die Dateien heruntergeladen wurden.

As you see the message appears in German as it targets computers located in Austria. It also uses a name of Austrian police to make users even more scared about possible consequences. Although the message looks very real it has nothing to do with Autoren Komponisten Musikverleger or Austrian police. AKM virus only wants to steal money from you, nothing else. The fact that the message targets computers located in Austria does not mean that other countries are safe. There is a bunch of other version of this badware that can attack computers all over the world.

You are highly advised to remove AKM virus from your system without slightest hesitation. If you have access to other user account, you can scan with reputable anti-malware program from there, such as Spyhunter. We recommend following these removal instructions of Ukash virus which explain how to eliminate this type of ransomware programs in a few different ways.

Here’s a video explaining removal instructions of AKM virus:

If this does not work for you, try starting your system with Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal