Junior Ransomware - How to remove

Junior is the name of a computer virus that is classified as a ransomware. It got the name after the .junior extension it uses to mark files that are encrypted. Since it is ransomware, this virus will try to lock your personal files using specific cryptography. Then, you will be asked or even forced to pay a ransom in order to get a decryption key that would allow you to restore your locked files.

Obviously, your personal files are really important to you and blocking the access to them can be crucial. Cyber criminals use ’social to scare you and make you pay. We highly suggest not to make this move – paying cyber criminals is never a good idea as you can’t be 100% sure they will keep their word. Also, you would be supporting them this way and sponsoring future crimes, so don’t. There are alternatives you can choose in order to solve this problem.

You will need to eliminate the virus itself first and it would be really difficult to do without a proper anti-malware tool. Next, you will have to restore your files using in-built Windows features or using third-party software. If you are interested to learn how to do that or know more about specifics of Junrior ransomware, please proceed reading the article.

Why Junior Virus is Dangerous

Junior virus is rather typical ransomware, just like Masok, Lotej, or Prandel. They all share the same goal and operating technique. First of all, the virus will have to find a way to your computer. Usually, it is done using spam emails. You are most likely to get infected with Junior ransomware if you open an email from spam category. Actually, the email itself is not harmful – it’s the file attached to it.

Crooks attach files that look like text documents with some important information on it, but in reality, it is a payload for Junior virus. All it takes to get infected – open this file. That’s why you should never browse the spam category of your emails.

Unfortunately, if it’s already too late for prevention and Junior ransomware is already inside, it will start scanning your computer for files that it could possibly encrypt. There is some bad news for you – it can encrypt most of file types. They all will be marked with a .junior extension, so you will know that you can’t use it anymore.

In addition to that, Junior virus will place a file named “how to recover.txt” on your desktop. It is a ransom note that goes like this:

All your files was encrypted!
Paradise Team!
Ur personal ID
JmVqCHHg
Your personal KEY

************

YOUR FILES HAS BEEN LOCKED!
All important data that was stored on this computer have been stolen due a security problem.
If you want to back them, just write to us by email,.
You have to pay in Bitcoins.
After payment we will send you the software for decrypt that will back all your files.
DO YOU NEED A PROOF?
Before payment you can send us 1-3 files , and we back you restored files for free.
File size should not exceed 1MB.
Please note that files must NOT contain valuable information.
HOW TO PAY
We accept payments in bitcoins, but you do not need to be able to use bitcoins.
You do not need a bitcoin wallet.
I will explain how you can pay using ANY currency in any way convenient to you.
Communication
Email:
[email protected]
or
Email:
[email protected]
Nix!
Do not rename files
Do not try to back your data using third-party software, it may cause permanent data loss(If you do not believe us, and still try to – make copies of all files so that we can help you if third-party software harms them)
As evidence, we can for free back one file
Decoders of other users are not suitable to back your files – encryption key is created on your computer when the program is launched – it is unique.

It is not disclosed how much you will be forced to pay. Instead of that, you are asked to contact cyber criminals via email [email protected]. Don’t do that – there is no need to communicate with criminals.

Remove Junior Virus and Restore Files

As we have already mentioned, the first thing you need to do in this situation – eliminate the virus itself. To do that you have to scan the computer with either Spyhunter. Those tools should be capable of detecting and removing Junior ransomware in no time.

Unfortunately, this won’t restore your files. To do that, you should perform a system restore. This will work only if you have a backup copy of your hard drive that was made before the infection. Also, you can try to employ some kind of file recovery tool that could fix the problem.

If you have any further questions, you can always ask us in the comments section below.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Junior 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 Junior 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 Junior 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.