Bart Ransomware - How to remove

Bart ransomware at your service: an innovative virus that employs a pretty simply-put strategy, showing the world that an elaborate encryption process is not always necessary to be successful. This virus has rare qualities that were not recognized and utilized before. DEFLATE algorithm for compression is put to use in order to gather all of the precious personal files that would normally be encoded with encryption keys. Bart ransomware stands out from the crowd: it stores all of this data in a ZIP archive file and locks it. Only a precise password can help users to access their files. In the end, all ransomware viruses are cut from the same cloth: all they need is money.

About Bart Ransomware

The creators of Locky ransomware seem to be responsible for this cyber attack as well. Bart virus should not be feared by people living in Russian Federation, Ukraine or Belorussia: the infected file is programmed to delete itself if the users’ location is determined to be somewhere in these countries. People living anywhere else become targets of Bart ransomware.

The primary trace of this virus might be hiding in the %Temp% folder as an executable and not an eye-catching file. Once the downloaded file (RocketLoader malware) maneuvers itself to be run, it will also download the Bart ransomware. Once this virus is brought to work, a sequence of symbols and names that identify files will play a big role. The following files with pathnames like: tmp, winnt, Application Data, AppData, PerfLogs, Program Files (x86), Program Files, ProgramData, temp, Recovery, $Recycle.Bin, System Volume Information, Boot, Windows won’t be corrupted.

However, over a hundred files are fit to be ruined. The following list contains only some of potential casualties: .n64, .m4u, .m3u, .mid, .wma, .flv, .3g2, .mkv, .3gp, .mp4, .mov, .avi, .asf, .mpeg, .vob, .mpg, .wmv, .fla, .swf, .wav, .mp3, .qcow2, .vdi, .vmdk, .vmx, .gpg, .aes, .ARC, .PAQ, .tar.bz2, .tbk, .bak, .tar, .tgz, .gz, .7z. Once the suitable files are detected, they will be placed into the ZIP archive file and receive an extension that will identify which files are archived: .bart. After that, the selected files will not be working. Of course, hackers of Bart ransomware are quick to offer their assistance. The following note is left on desktops (in forms of recover.nmp and recover.txt):

‘!!! IMPORTANT INFORMATION !!!
All your files are encrypted.
Decrypting of your files is only possible with the private key, which is on our secret server.
To receive your private key follow one of the links:
[links to TOR-hosted pages]
If all addresses are not available, follow these steps:
[instructions on how to install the TOR Browser and access the payment portal]
!!! Your personal identification ID: [128-bit long identifier] !!!’

Also, this note can be presented in other languages, according to the users’ settings: English, Spanish, Italian, French and German. Bart ransomware has even created a Decryptor Bart Page with the all information needed to retrieve files: the size of ransom, how bitcoins are bought and where they should be transferred. However, even though Bart virus is an elaborate scam, it probably won’t influence the Shadow Volume Copies, pushing the recovery of files a little closer to success.

How to Decrypt Files Encrypted by Bart Ransomware?

The files encrypted by Bart ransomware can be decrypted by having downloaded the decryptor and having performed the process of decryption. We we want to also recommend you to keep your files in back-up storages, in case you become infected with ransomware and the decryptor has not yet been released. Furthermore, Shadow Volume Copies can be left untouched, so users can use them. We often get asked a question: my files are very important to me, can I pay the ransom and get back my files? Our answer is always the same: it is not worth to give hackers exactly what they want. Especially, when their demanded ransom is so big: 3 BITCOINS, and you can use a completely free decryptor from the trusted sources.

How is Bart Ransomware Spread?

Bart virus is spread via email attachments, titled “photo” with extensions of .zip. The downloaded file has JavaScript incorporated in it. This script is capable to download the Bart ransomware and run it with Trojan-Downloader like Bartalex. If you are suffering from this infection, the best way would be to employ Spyhunter and Hitman for the elimination. These anti-malware tools will automatically remove it from your computer system and proceed to protect it in the future.

Update of the 10th of April, 2017. Now, there are two decryptors to recover files that had been lost thanks to Bart ransomware. One of them can be downloaded from this site, and the other one from here.

How to recover Bart 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 Bart virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Bart 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 Bart virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Bart 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 Bart virus 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 Bart 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.