Redl Ransomware - How to remove

Redl is ransomware – malicious software that prevents you from accessing your own files by encrypting them. It’s recognized by files having a second extension, “.redl”. Redl is part of an extortion scheme where the victims are being bullied into paying money to criminals to get their files back. It might be possible for you to get back some of your files without paying, but if you didn’t have a files backup, you may lose some data to Redl ransomware.

Redl ransomware memo:

Type of threat	Ransomware, affects Windows PCs.
Redl ransomware behavior	Spreads in piracy sites, encrypts files and renames them byadding “.redl” to their names, runs multipe times, including after a reboot.
How to restore “.redl” files	Use data backups, use data recovery programs, restore the files using shadow volume copies, use the decrypter.
How to remove Redl	Use anti-malware scanners, like SpyHunter.

Distribution and infection

Downloaded from piracy sites

Redl is Djvu ransomware, which might be the most popular ransomware in the world right now.  Previous versions include Mkos, Nbes, Merl. While Redl might be a danger to small businesses, most of its victims are probably individual Windows users who were looking for a way to get some software for free.

One thing that’s well known about Djvu is that it spreads in piracy sites. It’s likely that you downloaded Redl with a key generator, a cracking program, or maybe some software that had been unlocked. Even trusted members of community may choose to start spreading Redl.

Redl behavior

After the infected file was run, Redl may take a few minutes to get started. It may change your system settings to block sites like this one – cybersecurity blogs. It may also disable or try to disable your installed antivirus program by deleting its updates. It definitely tries to delete shadow volume copies and restore points. Basically, Redl makes it hard for you to stop it, to reverse its damage, and even to find information about it.

Redl encrypts your files and changes their names to include “.redl” at the end. Encryption is a great way to hide information in plain sight, but when used for evil, it basically corrupts your files. Redl also puts a bunch of “_readme.txt” ransom notes in your folders that ask you to pay $490 for a working decrypter and the decryption key.

Redl starts up every time you turn your computer on and runs multiple times. It may show a fake Windows Update pop-up, too. That’s supposed to prevent you from turning your computer off and from investigating why your hardware resources are being used so heavily. The safest thing to do is to turn your computer off and keep it off, to remove Redl and other malware from outside Windows. Then to try and restore your files. However, if Redl already encrypted all of your files, it can’t do more damage. Just remove it like any other malware.

Speaking of other malware, Redl might have infected your machine with a trojan called Azorult. It’s pretty dangerous and you may need to set new passwords for your accounts after you get rid of it.

How to restore the files

Redl ransomware is only a minor inconvenience to those who have file backups. Just clean the computer – any good-quality anti-malware program can be used for that – and then restore the files from a backup.

Other recovery options include:

• restoring deleted files with data recovery,
• fixing some of the bigger encrypted files,
• if your Redl used the offline key on your files – waiting for someone else to pay for it,
• using shadow volume copies, if Redl didn’t delete them.

If you use a hard disk, have a way to connect your computer to another computer, a lot of free storage space, and haven’t used your infected computer a lot, look into data recovery programs. These programs can sometimes restore files that were deleted from a hard disk. Redl and other Djvu ransomware seem to delete your good files and some people have been able to restore them using data recovery.

Redl ransomware doesn’t always encrypt the entirety of a file. It may leave some files only partially corrupted. The bigger a file, the more of it remains unencrypted. This helps Redl work fast. But some victims have noticed that if you take an encrypted audio file and play it, you only lose a few seconds of audio. If you extract an encrypted archive, some of the files are okay. So, you may want to keep your files and not delete them. Always keep copies of the “.redl” files that you don’t edit, by the way, because the smallest edit can make them undecryptable.

As Redl is Djvu, Emsisoft’s decrypter may work for you. Emsisoft released this for victims of Djvu. If you know about cryptography, though, you know that a decrypter is useless without the decryption key. And every victim of Redl requires a unique key. All of which are only known to the people who made Redl.

There’s hope, though – the offline key. It’s shared by multiple Redl victims. If your files were encrypted by it, the C:\SystemID\PersonalID.txt file should include at least one ID that ends with “t1”. Probably. If some unfortunate victim of Redl had files encrypted by the offline key and they pay the criminals, they can receive the decryption key that is the same for all those whose files were encrypted by this offline key. If Emsisoft gets their hands on it, their decrypter will be updated for everyone.

But if Redl didn’t use the offline key, then you need your unique decryption key. There is no way to get this key but from the criminals, who may or may not just take your money and ignore you after you pay them. Don’t trust these extortionists.

How to remove Redl ransomware

Before restoring your files, though, it’s important to remove Redl ransomware and other infections. A normal anti-malware scanner, for example, SpyHunter, would do the job. If you’re unable to download antivirus programs or updates, you may use another computer to clean yours or you can fix the hosts file first (the instructions are below).

And don’t forget to delete the file that started all of this. Else, you’ll unleash the ransomware again.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Redl 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 Redl 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 Redl 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.