CryptoLite Ransomware - How to remove

CryptoLite ransomware is a recently discovered computer virus. It was Discovered by MalwareHunterTeam and published on Twitter. The virus is classified as ransomware and can cause severe damage to your computer and personal files – they can get encrypted so you won’t be able to open or use them anymore. To do this, CryptoLite employs strong cryptography that encrypts files. They can be decrypted, but the technology to do that is kept in secret by the cybercriminals and they want you to pay the ransom in order to get that data.

Ransomware is definitely a very dangerous type of malware because it can destroy all of your personal files or steal a lot of money from you. It’s best to properly protect your computer and not to get infected in a first place, but if it is too late and CryptoLite is already operating on your computer, please continue reading this article. We will provide you with detailed instructions on how to completely eliminate this infection and decrypt your files for free.

How To Decrypt Files Encrypted by CryptoLite Virus

Obviously, the most important thing to you right now is to decrypt your personal files. You can do that by paying 0.5 BTC to the Cybercriminals (around $3000 at the moment) or by simply using this decryption key:

GuBlZEpxPFqDAtjNh7c6mKs4Iy9Mrfw2UYvn3ei5HTgaO1dCbz8QXLJk0RVoW

It’s a rare case to get working decryption key for free, but it seems like this time the decryption will be much easier and less expensive. All you have to do is to copy and paste this decryption key into the “Decryption Key” field on your desktop and click “Decrypt”.

After several moments all your personal files should be decrypted and good to go once again. This key works for now, but you can’t be sure that it will work in a week or so, thus do not hesitate and do it now.

Also, you should not forget that decrypting your files is not enough – the virus itself will be still operating on your computer and that is very dangerous, so you have to remove it as well. If you have no idea how to do that, scroll down to the “Removing CryptoLite Ransomware” part and learn how to get rid of this naughty infection effectively.

How CryptoLite Infects Computers and Encrypts Files

CryptoLite Ransomware is spread with malicious spam emails. It’s a common method to distribute ransomware – infections like Blood Jaws or Omerta are also distributed this way. Developers of the virus send millions of emails with malicious files attached and when the user opens the letter, the computer gets automatically infected, encryption processes start.

Speaking of developers, Bitcoins wallet provided in the ransom note is already known to the cybersecurity community, thus those criminals behind CryptoLite probably already have some kind of background in this field.

Once the virus is inside the computer, it will automatically start scanning the hard drive to detect files that can be encrypted. Unfortunately, CryptoLite is capable of infecting most of the files – photos, text documents, video and audio files and so on.

Extension “.encrypted” will be added to the end of every encrypted file. By the way, this extension is also used by recently discovered Gollum ransomware, thus it might be that that developer of CryptoLite just scraped the code from this virus and decided to make some easy money.

Also, the virus will automatically open a pop-up window on your desktop that is impossible to close. It serves as a ransom note and decryption key input field. The original text of the message:

 ALL YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN ENCRYPTED!!!
there’s no way to decrypt these files without the decryption key.
To retrieve the decryption key a payment of 0.5 BC will beed to be paid.
INSTRUCTIONS:
* Purchase the bitcoins from localbitcoins.com
* Transfer the bitcoins to blockchain.info/Wallet
* Add a message to the transaction with the following format:
{MAC-ADDRESS_EMAIL}Example: 00:A0:C9:14:C8:[email protected]
Following payment the key will be emailed to you after confirmation.
IF YOU MESS UP YOUR MESSAGE FORMAT, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE THE KEY!
BitCoin Address: 1aa5cmqmvQq8YQTEqcTmW7dfBNuFwgdCD/p>

Removing CryptoLite Ransomware

Assuming that you already used the decryption key we have provided above (GuBlZEpxPFqDAtjNh7c6mKs4Iy9Mrfw2UYvn3ei5HTgaO1dCbz8QXLJk0RVoW) and retrieved your files, you can now remove the virus itself. This process is not complicated, yet very important. To do that, you will need to download reliable anti-malware tool, such as Spyhunter. Scan your computer with either one of those programs and it will detect and automatically remove the virus.

However, if you have failed to decrypt files with the provided decryption key, please take a look at the restore instructions provided below. Do not remove the virus until your files are decrypted.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of CryptoLite 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 CryptoLite ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore CryptoLite 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 CryptoLite 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 CryptoLite 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.