Cezor Ransomware - How to remove

A new ransomware virus has been infecting people’s computers and locking their files with powerful encryption and the cezor extension. This virus, dubbed Cezor after the extension of the locked files, is part of the STOP/DJVU family of viruses which has persistently been infecting computers for over six months now, finding victims all over the world. Neither individuals nor businesses are immune to Cezor.

Cezor is the type of ransomware that locks your files, and this could be irreversible. This makes this type of ransomware very dangerous and destructive. In order to move forward, you need to get rid of the infection, review your file recovery options, and improve your security moving forward.

Symptoms of Cezor

A successful Cezor infection encrypts files like documents, text files, spreadsheets, image, video, and audio files. These are also renamed by adding “.cezor” to their names, resulting in “picture.jpg” being called “picture.jpg.cezor”. If your Windows does not display extensions, then you might not notice, but the files will also be unopenable and, if you force them open, not functional.

If the virus finished properly, it drops a _readme.txt file in which the criminals provide email addresses [email protected], [email protected], and a Telegraph account called @datarestore. They also set the decryption price at $980 (or $490), but it can grow depending on the greed of the extortionists.

ATTENTION!

Don’t worry, you can return all your files!
All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
What guarantees you have?
You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.
You can get and look video overview decrypt tool:
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Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that’s price for you is $490.
Please note that you’ll never restore your data without payment.
Check your e-mail “Spam” or “Junk” folder if you don’t get answer more than 6 hours.

To get this software you need write on our e-mail:
[email protected]

Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
[email protected]

Our Telegram account:
@datarestore
Mark Data Restore

How to unlock your files

You can remove the Cezor virus, but that won’t help you recover your files. Additionally, there is no guarantee that it’s possible to restore your files at all. Not even if you pay the ransom.

Most importantly, don’t pay the ransom except as the absolute last resort. Not every criminal who makes and spreads ransomware actually knows how to decrypt the files. Sometimes, it’s is developed by a competent programmer, but distributed by criminals who have little idea of what they’re doing. Even getting a working decryptor is likely to include some technical issues, such as failing to decrypt large files. But many extortionists simply take the money and leave. Whether they restore the files or not, they already have the money.

The Cezor file encryption is reversible in theory, but impossible to crack without the help of the criminals responsible. That’s because ultimately, you must have the private decryption key which was never stored on your infected computer. So, the alternate ways of file restoring will have to rely on copies of the lost files having been saved somewhere else before the Cezor infection. For example, if system restore was turned on, then it’s worth trying to use it to access previous file versions. If the restore files were stored on a location that Cezor couldn’t access, you might successfully get most f your files back. A more extreme way is to use file recovery to restore the traces of your deleted files. These processes are included in the guide below this article.

Cezor makes contact with a remote server to make its encryption as unbreakable as it is and, sometimes, it fails. Maybe the server was offline, or maybe your internet wasn’t working. Occasionally, a cybersecurity expert @demonslay335 successfully finds the offline encryption keys which STOP/DJVU cryptoviruses use. Although it’s rare for the offline key to be used, it’s worth keeping your encrypted files and waiting for STOPDecrypter to possibly be updated. STOPDecrypter already supports offline encryption of Kroput, Guvara, and other many other Djvu variants.

Of course, nothing here applies if you have complete and safe backups of your files that weren’t touched by Cezor. Backups are the best insurance against ransomware, it’s just important to store them in a place not accessible for a virus — not on the local network, not on connected hardware. Too many companies have their backups encrypted by ransomware because they didn’t disconnect them properly.

 

How to remove Cezor ransomware

Cezor, like the other STOP/DJVU viruses, can be removed using Spyhunter, and other strong antivirus programs. But they might not fix your hosts file, which is edited by the virus to make certain websites more difficult to access, so if you’re experiencing redirects online, check out this guide.

It’s also important to secure your system with the newest updates of your operating system, browsers, and other software. Security holes get patched as they’re discovered, but criminals still abuse them because not everyone installs updates in a timely fashion.

Even with updates, though, it’s still very important to stay safe online. Most recent victims of STOP/DJVU viruses (including Cezor) say that they got infected by a crack that they downloaded, or a virus that was disguised as a legitimate program. Remember that applications which unlock paid features of a software product, or which generate a product activation key for free are not only illegal, but also very risky to download. Not just Cezor and other file-locking ransomware, but also crypto miners and trojans hide in this type of files. Viruses often try to trick the user to install and run them, and a crack presents a good excuse, especially as they are already expected to set off your antivirus program, as Cezor should.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Cezor 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 Cezor Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Cezor 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 Cezor 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 Cezor 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.