Kryptonite virus - How to remove

Kryptonite ransomware virus is not a common infection that would use banal techniques to proceed in an implicated operating system. From the reviews that have been derived so far, we have managed to separate the main points that should be known about this infection. First of all, this variant is not fully developed, but its interesting characteristics have certainly earned it some attention from security researchers.

The main payload pretends to be an old-school Snake game. After the application of the game is launched, users will be briefly presented with a chance of playing it. However, this is not an actual Snake game as soon after being ran, the program will begin to act bizarre, desktop image will change, files will become encrypted and additional files will be extracted. There is an hypothesis that this variant was never meant to get released and was published accidentally. After analyzing its structure, security researchers have found it possible that an IT student might have constructed this sample for his/her class.

500 US dollars (0.20351 BTC) are demanded as the ransom to be sent to hackers for file-decryption. Crooks describe that files are encoded with RSA-2048 cipher which is a powerful algorithm to select. Our researchers’ group was confused by the fact that the ransomware encourages people to read “Ransome Note.txt” which is supposed to be placed on users’ desktop. However, after the novel variant had completed encryption, it did not insert the mentioned file. This strange trait also supports  the theory, suggesting that this variant was never intended to see the light of day.

Many original ransomware infections proceed with original extensions that would be applied to the encrypted digital data. In this case, filenames and their type-indicating extensions remain the same. However, their content does not. After launching files, victims could see that the material is unrecognizable. We do hope that the full version of the virus won’t get published and it won’t turn out that a hacker has serious plans to cause disruption and earn money.

Cad.exe file is suspected of being the payload of Kryptonite crypto-virus. It is possible that this ransomware was generated by a student of one of the institutes in Israel, but we doubt that the real developers will ever be distinguished. For now, it is enough that the infection would not begin viciously attacking computers.

Since this variant is not fully prepared, we do not think that it will be transmitted over the Internet. However, if there are any changes, we will be sure to inform our visitors. Even if one variant does not pose a threat, there are tons of other comparable viruses that can encrypt files in a heart beat. To protect your files from being tampered with, we are insisting you to create copies of your files and store them in a backup. You can place files in online storages or simply select USB flash drives for the job.

Let’s say the author of this ransomware decide to attack users. Before that, it will have to decide upon a method of transmission. We have reason to believe that infection will have the best chance to be spread via malicious spam campaigns. Therefore, be cautious when accessing your emailing accounts. If you notice a letter from an unknown source, be careful not to open its attachments or follow links that it recommends.

To remove a ransomware infection from a device, you will have to select an appropriate tool. Spyhunter or Plumbytes will secure operating systems from viruses, malware, worms and other threats to cybersecurity. It is important to bear in mind that file-recovery should not be carried out until the moment that a crypto-virus is removed without a trace.

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Kryptonite 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 Kryptonite virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Kryptonite 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 Kryptonite 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 Kryptonite 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.