Dharma-Btc Virus - How to remove

Dharma-Btc is a ransomware that originates from the notorious Dharma virus. It’s considered to be a new variant of original Dharma infection and it’s not less dangerous. It was recently discovered by cyber security researcher Jakub Kroustek.

Same as its’ predecessor, Dharma-Btc can cause a lot of problems by encrypting files stored on the hard drive of the infected computer. It appends .unique-id.[[email protected]].btc extension to the end of every encrypted file and that means you won’t be able to open it anymore. Unfortunately, you will be forced to pay a certain ransom in order to retrieve access to the files that belong to you.

Paying a ransom is never a good choice – you can be ignored by cyber criminals even if you do it. Instead of that, you should for alternative methods that will help you to remove Dharma-Btc ransomware and also restore damaged files.

In this article, we will inform you about the operation methods used by this infection and also provide you with detailed instructions on how to effectively detect and remove it. So if you have your personal files locked by Dharma-Btc at the moment, please continue reading and solve the problem the easiest way possible.

Information About Dharma-Btc

Dharma-Btc employs a strong, military level cryptography to lock files that are stored on the system. Like most of the other ransomware, Dharma-Btc uses either AES or RSA cryptography to do that. So when malicious files of this virus are uploaded to your computer, it will scan a hard drive and detect your personal files, such as audio and video files, text documents, images and so on.

Then, the virus changes the structure of files, so all those 0s and 1s are reordered. As a result, you can’t open or use them anymore. However, they are not damaged for good – cyber criminals automatically generates a unique decryption key that can be applied to unlock your files. That means there is a way back. The problem is that that key is automatically generated separately to every infected computer and stored on a remote server that is controlled by cyber criminals, so there is no way to access it. Unless, you pay a ransom, obviously. Then those crooks behind Dharma-Btc should provide you with the key and you should be able to unlock (decrypt) files by yourself.

After the encryption process is over and all your files are locked with .unique-id.[[email protected]].btc extension at the end, your desktop screensaver will be changed to a ransom note. Also, a pop-up window will be opened automatically, it features the same ransom message:

All your files have been encrypted!
All your files have been encrypted due to a security problem with your PC. If you want to restore them, write us to the e-mail [email protected]
Write this ID in the title of your message 1E857D00
In case of no answer in 24 hours write us to theese e-mails:[email protected]
You have to pay for decryption in Bitcoins. The price depends on how fast you write to us. After payment we will send you the decryption tool that will decrypt all your files.
Free decryption as guarantee
Before paying you can send us up to 1 file for free decryption. The total size of files must be less than 1Mb (non archived), and files should not contain valuable information. (databases,backups, large excel sheets, etc.)
How to obtain Bitcoins
The easiest way to buy bitcoins is LocalBitcoins site. You have to register, click ‘Buy bitcoins’, and select the seller by payment method and price.
hxxps://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins
Also you can find other places to buy Bitcoins and beginners guide here:
hxxp://www.coindesk.com/information/how-can-i-buy-bitcoins/
Attention!
Do not rename encrypted files.
Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam

It is not disclosed how much you will be asked to pay, but it’s clear that they want this transaction to be made in Bitcoins. That’s because it’s much more complicated to track the money receiver using cryptocurrencies – ’they.

Also, a file called “FILES ENCRYPTED.txt” will be placed on your desktop and it says basically the same thing, only in fewer words:

all your data has been locked us
You want to return?
write email [email protected]

We highly suggest not to pay the ransom – it’s never a good idea. You would be supporting cyber criminals this way and you can’t be sure that they will actually send you the decryption key after the ransom is paid. Instead of that, you should go for an alternative method to solve this problem.

How To Remove Dharma-Btc Virus And Restore Files

Dharma-Btc can be easily removed with a help of professional anti-malware tools. All it takes is a scan with Spyhunter and all files that belong to the ransomware will be detected and removed automatically. It will take only a few minutes and if your computer is infected with some other viruses, they will be detected and removed too.

Unfortunately, anti-malware software can’t decrypt files, so after the removal, your files will remain locked. Since Dharma was such a notorious computer virus, cyber security experts put a lot of effort to develop a free decryption tool that is available for everyone. Dharma-btc is very similar to original Dharma, so you should try it – ’download.

In case this doesn’t work out, you still have other options – you can perform a system restore or try to use free files recovery tool to restore locked files.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover Dharma-Btc 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 Dharma-Btc Virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Dharma-Btc 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 Dharma-Btc Virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Dharma-Btc 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 Dharma-Btc 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 Dharma-Btc 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.