Masodas Ransomware - How to remove

Masodas is an example of, arguably, the worst malware that currently exists online. This virus can destroy your files and even cost you real money in some cases. It’s ransomware and this type of malware has really improved over the last few years, becoming more and more difficult to recover from.

Masodas renames files to give them the “.masodas” suffix and leaves a ransom note called “_readme.txt”. The virus usually arrives with pirated programs or on infected emails. The best way to deal with it is to delete the virus and replace the locked files with data from a backup, but many people didn’t have a backup before they got infected.

What is Masodas ransomware?

The way that Masodas works is by abusing the technology of cryptography. Cryptography is what allows your messages to be private on various messaging apps, it’s what keeps your online banking secure, it’s used by malware developers to mask the infections to avoid antivirus detection, and it even allows you to lock a file with a password, making it impossible for anyone else to read it, even if they have access to that file.

The last application of cryptography is one that file-locking ransomware abuses: in short, they lock your files, take the passwords, and then try to sell them to you for ridiculous amounts of money. Masodas does this and asks for $980 or $490 for restoring the files, which is clearly extortion and can be reported to law enforcement. If the criminals who are spreading Masodas are ever caught, their computers could be seized, master passwords — released for everyone. That’s unlikely to happen, though, and many criminals all over the world are creating and releasing new cryptoviruses.

The highest profile ransomware attacks tend to be the ones that hit a very big and important target, such as the recent targeted attack in Texas, and that might create the impression that ransomware is something only governments, hospitals, and small businesses need to worry about. That would be wrong, though: Masodas is part of a big ransomware family — Djvu/STOP — that’s been primarily preying on individuals for many months now. And the victims keep piling on, with new computers infected every day. Ransomware viruses range from the high-profile ones like NotPetya, Ryuk, and WananCry to the less competent stuff like JeepersCrypt, RedEye, and puma — a predecessor to Masodas that used a far weaker encryption algorithm.

Multimedia files, documents, archives, and other common files are renamed with the “.masodas” suffix and are run through a brutal encryption algorithm, essentially running their internals through a mixer. There is no way for most of those files to be fixed: you need the decryption key, which the criminals have, and the exact algorithm that can reverse the encryption and reconstruct the files.

So, what can be done to solve this terrible situation?

How to remove Masodas and get the files back

Remove Masodas

First, don’t use the infected computer too much for now. At least not until you remove the viruses (Masodas also installs AZORult, which is meant to steal your passwords if it finds them). You can use antivirus programs, like Spyhunter that work in safe mode. Or scan your disk from another computer, that way, no malicious processes can run on it while you’re cleaning it.

Don’t forget to update your cybersecurity software which Masodas likely disabled before it could stop the virus. Most antivirus tools detect Masodas and recognize it as malware, but they can’t do that if the malware blinds them first.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Check your hosts file, which Masodas probably edited to block websites that write about computer security. This article’s first chapter has the instructions.

Options for fixing the files

If you have backups, you don’t need to worry about how to get your files back because you already have them. Once Masodas is gone from your computer, just replace all the locked files (they’re not dangerous) with the ones that you have saved.

But what if you don’t have backups? Then, back up the infected files, possibly to some external storage. That way, if you accidentally corrupt them, you still have an original. There is a tiny sliver of hope that your files can be decrypted, but even a small edit to the encrypted file can completely ruin it.

If you use a hard drive (a magnetic disk), try using a data recovery program to look for deleted files (a description is included in the guide below, it also talks about the other ways to restore your data). These programs scan your disk for files that were marked as deleted but weren’t yet overwritten with any other data. The more useful files you deleted recently, the more data you might be able to recover.

Go on this forum and read the FAQ. A cybersecurity researcher explains how his program, STOPDecrypter, can be used to decrypt the files that Masodas locked offline, that is, with a key that’s hardcoded in the virus. That’s rare to happen, but some people are lucky enough to have STOPDecrypter decipher some of their important data, so definitely worth trying. If the program doesn’t work then it won’t work, sadly.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Masodas 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 Masodas 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 Masodas 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.