[email protected] virus - How to remove

[email protected] is a new ransomware virus that has been roaming around the virtual world this past October 2018. This cryptovirus demonstrates the typical behavior of ransom-demanding threats, encrypting personal files and asking for a payment in exchange. [email protected] is the main email of the developer, which is mentioned in the note so that the victim could reach out for more information, and as well is used as a name for this virus.   

Decryptfoxprotonmail Com Virus quicklinks

• How does [email protected] ransomware work
• How do you get infected with [email protected] virus
• How to remove [email protected] virus and restore files
• Automatic Malware removal tools
• How to delete .encr ransomware without an antivirus
• How to recover [email protected] virus 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:
• 2.Restore System files and settings.
• Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover [email protected] virus encrypted files

Download Spyhunter
(Win)

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Download Combo Cleaner
(Mac)

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There are many similar threats like [email protected], such as Suri, Godsomware  or BGTX, but despite being the same malware type and working in the same principle, there are many differences that are unique for each variant. Without a doubt, [email protected] infection is very dangerous and hard to solve, but if you’d like to learn our tips and tricks on how to remove it and get your inaccessible files back, take a look at this article for more information.

How does [email protected] ransomware work

[email protected] virus is a way for crooks to earn money by sort of ‘kidnapping’ precious files like pictures, videos, documents, basically everything apart from the system files, and asking for a payment, in order to get them back. Technically, that ‘kidnapping’ is an encryption process that is performed by the fast https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/Advanced-Encryption-Standard, which shifts 256 bits of information of the file and makes it into a key, which is known only for the hacker. It only Takes seconds to encrypt all the files, which are targeted depending on their extension: .jpg, .mp3, .mp4, .doc and etc.  Only personal files are locked so that the victim could be able to use their computer and pay the ransom for crooks. Fortunately, AES ciphers can be often decrypted by malware experts, because their keys are Symmetric and can be found in virus technical data.

Once the encryption is finalized [email protected] ransomware appends .encr extension to affected files, to let the victim know that these documents are unavailable, because of the virus fault. Moreover, it will drop a text file with a written information about the current state of the compromised computer and how to fix that. That usually includes the name of the virus, the contact email, cryptocurrency wallet address and amount of the ransom. In readmy.txt note there is only an email of crooks, therefore the exact encryption costs are unknown and might differ to each person. Usually, they go from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, the Average being around a $1000.

Readmy.txt ransom note:

Attention! All your files are encrypted!
To recover your files and access them,
send a message with your id to email [email protected]

Please note when installing or running antivirus will be deleted
important file to decrypt your files and data will be lost forever!!!!

You have 5 attempts to enter the code. If you exceed this
the number, all the data, will be irreversibly corrupted. Be
careful when entering the code!

[Unique ID]

As scary as it seems, do not pay the ransom. .encr virus is notorious but not impossible to handle. Please, read our instructions first, and try to recover your files yourself, without contacting the crooks, which might only steal your money and not help at all. In the future, to prevent such attacks follow our Ultimate protection guide against ransomware.

How do you get infected with [email protected] virus

Judging from the looks, encryption mechanism, and other features, there is a big possibility that [email protected] virus is developed by someone who just used open-source samples of ransomware, which you can find on GitHub or purchase on DarkWeb. This leads to an assumption that the actor behind .encr did not have much of a technical knowledge to create its own malware version and threat distribution will be typical to other ransomware as well.

Malicious Socially engineered emails are the number one spreading technique that cryptoviruses use to sneak into the systems because they are rather simple to make and can get through antiviruses easily. Macros, which are used to launch the malware, are legitimate applications that can be added to MS Word files by the author and Undetectable by security tools, unlike exploits.

[email protected] developers created a few convincing emails with the attached .docx document and sent it to tons of users, which in the spur-of-the-moment decided to download, open and enable that Word file’s macros to view the content. Then malicious codes were initiated to run in the background until the system was fully compromised.

How to remove [email protected] virus and restore files

The manual removal of .encr ransomware is not suggested as a primary choice unless you have been religiously making backups and have all important data copies taken right before the infection, or don’t care if all your files will be wiped out together with the virus. In that case, you can use our instructions below, demonstrating how to restore the system to the previous, clean state. If you want to get rid of [email protected] ransomware completely, and files that are in your PC do not matter to you, you can then perform a full System Restore, but that will result in the clean reinstall with no turning back to recovering your data.

How to recover [email protected] virus 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 Encr virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of [email protected] virus

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 Encr virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore [email protected] virus 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 Encr 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 [email protected] virus 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.