Lyli File Encryptor - How to remove

Lyli is Djvu-type ransomware. It uses cryptography to break files, then asks you to pay to get them back. Its symptoms include many of your files becoming the type LYLI and a second file extension “.lyli”, adware being installed.

Lyli is dangerous because it could cause you to lose your files if you didn’t have a backup. It can be deleted, but recovering your files can be complicated. There are a few things to try, though.

About Lyli ransomware:

Type of threat	Ransomware, trojan.
How Lyli spreads	Downloaded from pirating sites, installs together with other viruses (adware, spyware), deletes backups and makes recovery more difficult.
Can the Lyli-encrypted files be fixed?	Look for unencrypted files, use the free decryptor, repair the files, restore deleted files.
How to remove Lyli	Undo the changes done by Lyli, detect and delete malware with an antivirus program (Spyhunter, others).

How Lyli infects computers

Downloaded with pirated programs

Lyli infects various files online. Mostly, it’s new cracks, activated programs, other “free” versions of commercial software. Lyli might also lurk in cheating tools, mods, and other files downloaded from unreliable websites.

Lyli is part of the Djvu family of ransomware. This family of ransomware is a couple of years old. New variants come out once or twice a week. For example, Kolz is a relatively new variant. Because Lyli is new, antivirus programs have a harder time recognizing it.

Be careful of new links and downloads that do not have a lot of comments. Be wary of unknown uploaders. Scan your downloads with an antivirus program and don’t assume that the file is detected because it’s a crack; read the detection name to see what it actually is. Is it Ransom, Trojan, Cryptor, Filecoder, Encoder? If yes, then make sure you have backups for your files.

Changed settings and encrypted files

Lyli is file-encrypting ransomware. Encryption is hiding information by scrambling it to look incomprehensible. You can use encryption to password-protect your files and folders yourself.

Lyli marks the encrypted files by giving them another extension, “lyli”. For example, “picture.jpg” becomes “picture.jpg.lyli”. The files that Lyli encrypts can’t be opened because their data has been destroyed unless you have the password, or the decryption key, to unlock it.

When Lyli is downloaded and run, it does more than just encrypt your files. It also:

• disables Task Manager,
• disables recovery options,
• deletes backup folders,
• deletes the files of some antivirus programs,
• installs an adware virus that causes pop-ups and redirects in the browser,
• blocks some websites from being accessed,
• drops a ransom note _readme.txt in various folders.

How to fix the files

If you don’t have a backup of your files, then there is still some hope to recover them. Make a backup of the encrypted files – they are not dangerous.

First, check your folders. Maybe Lyli skipped some of them and didn’t encrypt their contents – it happens.

One option is to pay the ransom to Lyli’s operators, however, this is expensive and unreliable (the criminals might fail to sed a working decryption key). It might expose you to the criminals as someone worth exploiting and they may attack your computer again. Be very careful, don’t pay money that you’re not willing to lose, and don’t reveal any personal information.

Try using a data recovery tool to get back the files that Lyli deleted. Carefully read all instructions before attempting this.

Another thing to try is the free decryptor by Emsisoft. There’s a small chance that your encryption key used by Lyli is the same as someone else’s.

Even if you can’t decrypt your files, you can still try to repair them. Photos, audio and video recordings, archives, and various large files are too big for Lyli to encrypt entirely (it would take too long), so it only encrypts parts of those files. The rest of the data is still there, even if the files are broken. Look into manually repairing JPEGs (photos) and other files. Or have a professional do this (it might be expensive).

How to remove Lyli ransomware

Removing Lyli can be done with an antivirus program (such as Spyhunter and others) but it also requires unblocking websites, fixing the Task Manager issue, and downloading updates for your antivirus.

After deleting Lyli and the other malware, reset the passwords of your accounts. Lyli likely installed a password-stealing trojan, so your credentials for various accounts may have been stolen.

Important -- edit the hosts file to unblock security websites

TL DR : The hosts file is edited to block security sites Before the virus can be removed, it's necessary to fix the hosts file (the file which controls which addresses connect to which IPs). That is the reason the majority of security websites is inaccessible when infected with this particular parasite. This infection edits this file to stop certain websites, including anti-malware download sites, from being accessed from the infected computer, making browsers return the "This site can't be reached" error. Luckily, it's trivial to fix the file and remove the edits that were made to it.

Find and edit the hosts file

The hosts file can be found on C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts. If you don't see it, change the settings to see hidden files.

1. In the Start Menu, search for Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, find Appearance and Personalization.
3. Select Folder Options.
4. Open the View tab.
5. Open Advanced settings.
6. Select "Show hidden files...".
7. Select OK.

Open this file with administrator privileges.

1. Open the Start Menu and enter "notepad".
2. When Notepad shows up in the result, right-click on it.
3. In the menu, choose "Run as administrator"
4. File->Open and browse for the hosts file.

The hosts file should look like this: Delete additional lines that they connect various domain names to the wrong IP address. Save the file.

Download and run the antivirus program

After that, download antivirus programs and use them to remove the ransomware, the trojan, and other malware. Spyhunter (https://www.2-viruses.com/reviews/spyhunter/dwnld/).

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Lyli File Encryptor

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 Lyli File Encryptor. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Lyli File Encryptor 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 Lyli File Encryptor 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 Lyli File Encryptor 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.