Mystic Ransomware - How to remove

Mystic Ransomware is indeed very accurate name for this infection – it is classified as Ransomware, and is very mysterious. Usually ransomware infections lock files on infected computer by adding some kind of an extension to the end of every of those files. However, in this case there will be no new extensions – the files will be locked imperceptibly, making them unusable.

If you are a victim of Mystic ransomware, please stick with us – by the end of this post we will tell you how to solve this problem the best way possible.

Mystic Ransomware processes

First of all, in order to lock your files and demand for a ransom, Mystic ransomware virus has to upload files to your system, one way or another. Since it’s not really clear how they manage to do it, it’s worth taking into consideration 3 most likely distribution methods and be aware of that. Obviously, the most common one is to attach some files to the email letter and try to trick users to open spam email. A lot of ransomware and malware in general is distributed this way, thus be very careful about opening letters from spam category. Once you open files attached to such email, ransomware virus will be loaded automatically.

Other method – to spread ransomware with fake notifications and pop-up ads on the Internet. You might have encountered such thing before, when a random “your flash player is out of date” message pops up. If you click on this message, you will be redirected to other websites with download links to “software update”. As it turns out, those fake updates happens to be ransomware files.

Finally, ransomware might get into your computer as a bundle. It can be bundled with other free software available for public download on the Internet, so again, be careful about websites you are visiting and files you are downloading. It would be a smart move to scan every single file downloaded from the Internet with anti-virus or anti-malware tool.

When installed on a computer, Mystic ransomware will run several process, one after another. It will scan your computer for files, that can be encrypted. In order to be able to do that, the infection will drop additional files to following folders:  %AppData%, %Temp%, %Roaming%, %UserProfile%. After the scan, it will use some kind of cryptography to lock files, so you won’t be able to open or use them in any other way. It will also make some modifications to Windows Registry and delete Shadow Volume copies, so you won’t be able to restore your computer to the previous state.

Immediately after that, a ransom note called “ransom.txt.” will be placed on your desktop. Original text of the note:

Your computer has been hacked and your files have been locked.
You have 5 days left to recover your files so quickly follow recovery process below.
Recovery Process in 3 easy steps (Automated System. No human intervention. Works 24/365):
1) Buy 1.01 BitCoin Approx 280$. (Easiest buying option is www(.)localbitcoins.com) and goto the following website:
http//qgpkqxybsm6hk72j.onion.cab/pay/Yf88dLhhOET*y3KgCBZAt8dyB1T5M53CPv1OAPAH1umkBP0D*Y18NTwTkRGL2Q+p5b8026+RnpQYESZmwzXx7g4OGhAU+Ir8SQ*F9bPNcw5GtIszOto8qMgeoAe5KvYUHspID6fPKWYzsbJr0rt66*7neFr7Nfx6lvjQSrx08TrJb53eNPXfPv057CeGmY8ZGdDUaKvWJOYzVMDnoq1jhP1OHhyDkhFaYAsJXEugq4VTDCp8XrInOUhRu4JW3kyxYz5AMUY0r93ftMer9RGasLA9*Kbj25gX9M3XYxA+unfEJJRpLTuTzRVmTrVQlg79QjINAhYvr4ZQn81NoplZ7g==
2) Send payment of 1.01 Bitcoin to the address in the website given above.
3) In approx 15 minutes after making the payment to the bitcoin address, Go back to the above website. If payment is successful then you will receive unlock instructions.
Don’t delete or modify this ransom file till recovery of files as no recovery is possible without this file. This file is on your desktop for future use.
List of files which have been locked are given below.
— MYSTIC

You are informed, that within 5 next days you have to pay 1 bitcoin (around $280 t the current exchange rate) and receive decryption key. Otherwise, the key will be deleted and your files will remain locked forever.

Do not get too scared – it’s not always a good idea to pay the ransom. Cyber criminals can simply ignore you after the payment, there are no guarantees.

Removal options for Mystic Ransomware

Now, you are dealing with 2 separate problems – virus operating on your computer and locked files. First of all, you should remove the infection from a computer. It can be easily done with some help of anti-malware tools. Download Spyhunter and scan your computer with it. The virus will be gone in several minutes. It will also assure, that something similar won’t happen in the future, so keep it installed.

It’s a little bit more complicated when it comes to decrypting files. At the moment, there are no free decryption keys for this particular infection, but cyber security experts are constantly working on it and as soon as one is available, we will update this post with the link to the decrypter. There is still some hope if you have a backup of your files stored on an external hard drive or cloud. Follow this restore tutorial and get back your files from it.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Mystic 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 Mystic 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 Mystic 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