MADA Ransomware - How to remove

MADA Ransomware is an ultimate threat for your files and overall state of the computer. Although it’s not a new player in the viruses market – technologic aspect of this threat is based on Jigsaw ransomware, which was first detected back in 2016.

So what exactly is a ransomware infection? It is a kind of computer virus which tries to get inside of your system and apply cryptography to your files, thus you will be not able to use them. After that, cyber criminals will demand a ransom to be paid in order to provide you with decryption key which would allow you to unlock those files.

MADA Ransomware is operating exactly this way and it will insist you to pay in Bitcoins. Why Bitcoins? Because this platform provides users with privacy, thus it is more difficult to track down the receiver of the payment.

How did MADA virus managed to infect my computer?

The very fact that this infection managed to get inside of your system tells that it is poorly protected and you should bring your attention to that. Make sure that you follow all basic rules of safe web browsing and keep your computer protected with both anti-malware and anti-virus applications. There are plenty of such programs to choose from – take a look at our reviews section where we discuss both paid and free tools that helps to protect computers from malware and viruses.

In this particular case, MADA ransomware is distributed as an attachment to spam emails. They pretend to be sent from some trustworthy company or authority and suggests users to open the file attached to the email to get more information. Once you do that, malicious files are automatically loaded to your computer and the virus starts running on it.

After the infection, it will place a new file named “MADA Ransomware” on your desktop, which contains a ransom message:

OOPS! YOUR FILES ARE CRYPTED BY MADA RANSOMWARE!!!
Your documents, photos, videos etc .
And after 72 hours, all your files will be removed premanently !!!
But there is nothing to worry about  it will only happen when you fly in a fuck
Every hour I delete one randomly selected file and delete it premanently!!!
I can not recover such a file anymore, even after making the payment!!!
You will lose only a few files for the first 24 hours.
but the next day a few hundred, the third day, a few thousand, etc …
If you turn off your computer or try to shut me down, I will fire again.
I automatically remove 1000 files permanently for trying to recommend me in a fuck!!!
Remember that even the best anti-virus is unable to recover encrypted files!
If you have any questions, please contact us via e-mail [email protected]!!!
Payment for decrypting files is only possible in BITCOIN!!!
If you do not know how to buy bitcoins, visit www[.]4coin[.]pl!!!’

As you can see, users are threatened that a few files will be deleted every 24 hours if one fails to pay the ransom. It is a common technique to force victims into the paying the ransom. Do not believe that – it is still a mystery if this ransomware has this feature. Also, paying a ransom is not a good idea. You can’t be sure that your files will be unlocked even if you do pay the ransom.

All files affected by MADA ransomware will be renamed, as MADA ransomware adds an unique extension “.LOCKED_BY_pablukl0cker” to every single one of them. The only e-mail address associated to this virus is “[email protected]“.

How to remove MADA Ransomware from your computer?

First thing you need to do – remove actual files of MADA virus from your computer. That can be done by downloading and installing anti-malware tool, such as Spyhunter. Scan your system with either one of those programs and MADA ransomware will be detected and removed automatically.

However, this won’t unlock your encrypted files. At the time there isn’t any free decryption tool, therefore the only possible way to retrieve your files is to restore them from a backup file. If you do have one, follow this guide to perform system restore.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore MADA 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 MADA 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 MADA 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.

Manual removal