[[email protected]].KICK Ransomware - How to remove

KICK is the new file type of normal files which were infected and corrupted by the KICK ransomware. This is a variant of Dharma, which has been helping criminals extort money from their victims for months by breaking their files. KICK is very harmful — not just because the files might never be recovered, but also because additional malware might be distributed together with the virus.

The virus was first reported on on 8 July,  and it’s very similar to the previous versions of Dharma: NWA, DQB, BGTX, among others. The encryption which edits the files is strong and secure, making it impossible for the individual victims to reverse it and recover their data. While no free decryption is available — not KICK or most other variants of Dharma — there are a few options available even to people who don’t have file backups. However, having complete and up-to-date backups is the only guaranteed way to not lose any of your data.

Besides recovering the files, finding the way that this virus infected your system is very important, too. just as important for your future cybersecurity as removing KICK from the infected machines. Security flaws are abused by criminals for profit all the time, and it’s important to get ahead of them to avoid future infections.

How KICK is distributed

The different ways that KICK might have infected your system:

• Remote desktop protocol
• Pirated and fake programs
• Email spam

An exposed Remote desktop connection would allow criminals to attempt to guess the credentials. If the password used is weak, the people behind [email protected] could not just install KICK, but also change various settings, set up a VPN for later, disable the installed antivirus, read all the files, and install spyware.

Office cracks, software activators, fake browsers found on shady websites, and even malicious ads can result in a ransomware infection. Don’t allow people to install unapproved software on your device and, if you download files from unfamiliar sources, scan each one before opening and running them. KICK should be caught by any competent antivirus program.

Email spam has been used to spread ransomware for a while, often by including a malicious document. Macro viruses would start the infection as soon as the victim enables macros on the document.

How to avoid ransomware

• Update your operating system.
• Update your browser.
• Update your antivirus program.
• Scan downloaded files before opening them (Spyhunter download).
• Back up your data.

Updates are important because sometimes they fix security bugs which would have allowed crafty virus developers to infiltrate and harm systems. If an OS or a browser discovers and fixes the vulnerability, it’s usually made public and revealed to criminals who can then make use of it. And those who didn’t take advantage of the security patches are in more danger than before the update. KICK could be installed by malicious ads which take advantage of one bug or another. Various exploit kits are used to distribute malware even more dangerous than KICK.

The ultimate defense against KICK, other ransomware, and many other problems, is a data backup. Put your files or shadow copies on an external drive and keep it offline. Upload files to the cloud. Update your backup regularly. If you had already done that before KICK infected your machine, you know how good it is to know that most of your valuable data is safe and that you don’t need to worry about losing thousands of dollars for a ransom.

How to remove KICK

It’s important to remove KICK before you start using your device normally again. Otherwise, the virus could encrypt files again, demand a ransom again. So, perform a scan with a strong and reputable antivirus program automatically and remove the suspicious programs and files that are found (Spyhunter). Alternatively, just reinstall Windows and try to be more careful in the future.

If you don’t have backups of your files, you might be tempted to pay the ransom to the criminals. But this should be the last resort. There are quite a few reasons to not pay the developers of KICK, including :

• You’re not guaranteed to get the files back (especially if KICK is distributed as RaaS, then some of the distributors are not going to bother helping you get the files back after they got the money).
• You’re not guaranteed to not have your files encrypted again. On the contrary, you’ll be marked by KICK’s distributors as someone who’s willing to pay.
• It’s possible that a decryptor is developed in the future like there have been for GandCrab and the older versions of Dharma.
• If you were thinking of helping the other victims, getting a decryption key won’t help any of them because each victim requires a unique key.
• The ransom is going to be expensive. Unlike some other lockers which only ask for a few hundred dollars, Dharma generally demands a few thousand.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover [[email protected]].KICK 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 KICK Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of [[email protected]].KICK 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 KICK Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore [[email protected]].KICK 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 KICK 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 [[email protected]].KICK 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.