Rote File Virus - How to remove

Rote is the name of a file-locking virus that renames the files it attacks to include a second extension – “rote”. This virus attacks most user files, including photos and documents, but doesn’t touch operating system files, so the attacked computer still works, but most of your files refuse to open. Rote can be very damaging to the victims who weren’t prepared for an attack like this: victims might lose their files, their money, and some private information. To solve this problem completely, removing Rote from your PC needs to be done carefully and thoroughly.

Rote infection consequences

Rote is dangerous ransomware:

How Rote spreads	Infects cracking, keygen tools Downloaded with cracked programs
Consequences of the infection	Files renamed to “.rote” Files cannot be read anymore Spyware installed
Remove the Rote file virus	Delete the software that infected your computer Fix the hosts file Use anti-malware tools to get rid of Rote (like rev name=SpyHunter]
Restore the encrypted files	Make backup so of the encrypted files Use backups to restore your files from Try other data recovery options, like the free decrypter (wait until/if the offline decryption key is exposed)

Rote file virus is named after the second extension that it gives the attacked files – “.rote”. It might prevent the files from being opened, but there’s no point removing the extension because that wouldn’t fix the files; “.rote” is just a label that allows you and the ransomware to know that the file has been encrypted.

Encryption is used to hide information by making data look like nonsense – but in a way that’s completely reversible, if you have the decryption key (usually, the key is a long string of numbers and text). Your files were encrypted by Rote and now your programs can’t make sense of those files; if you could open them, the encrypted photos would look like noise, the encrypted text files would be filled with random characters.

The point of Rote is to then force the victims to buy the decryption key from the extortionists – they have all the keys of every victim and they’ve made sure that the keys are unique, meaning that each victim has to pay for their own key. Rote even leaves a ransom note explaining this – a text file that asks $490 of you. The note is in a file called _readme.txt, found in most user folders:

ATTENTION!

Don’t worry, you can return all your files!
All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
What guarantees you have?
You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.
…

Experts always advise against paying – it’s risky, you might lose your files and your money, plus it encourages the extortionists to spread more ransomware.

Oh, and besides encrypting the files, Rote has a chance of installing the Azorult spyware trojan on your computer. This trojan steals passwords and usernames saved in your applications, including your browser, steals crypto wallet data, screenshots of your computer, and it might even download other malware. This means that a Rote infection could end with some of your online accounts being hacked, sold, or used for spreading malware to your contacts. Be sure to change your passwords after you get rid of the virus.

Ransomware sources

Djvu, the ransomware that Rote is a version of, is very widespread. Rote, Kodg, Mbed, and other Djvu viruses might infect PC users all over the world. And they do it mostly by hiding on torrent sites.

You have a chance of downloading Rote when you download some cracked program, cracking software, a key generator, or possibly even a fake free program. Adobe and Microsoft software are commonly used as the lure for Rote and other ransomware, but other content works, too. Piracy is a very popular way to acquire software people can’t get another way because, for example, they can’t afford it, which means that the Rote virus affects a lot of people who simply don’t have the money to pay the ransom.

If the files that are downloaded are scanned by an antivirus program before they’re opened, the infected ones should be caught. But that doesn’t always happen and many antivirus tools do not have real-time ransomware protection. Knowing that and just how fast Rote is in encrypting the files, once you notice the ransomware, it’s probably already too late: Rote sets up scheduled runs, deletes important updates needed for your security software, deletes backups, and encrypts hundreds of Gigabytes of files in a few minutes.

Restoring Rote files and removing the virus

The best way to recovery from Rote is to get rid of the ransomware and then whip out your backups and restore all the files. Not everyone has backups, though, and below are listed a few other options for recovering files.

Rote does not spread to any attached devices, but it does affect the files on them. The files changed by Rote are not dangerous, so it’s totally safe to put them on other devices (and Rote doesn’t automatically infect them, either), as well as the _readme.txt files – and that’s what should be done if you want to save copies of the encrypted files for later.

If you have saved the encrypted files, that means that you can now clean your computer and still keep the encrypted files safe. To clean your computer, use any competent anti-malware program, like SpyHunter, to find and delete malicious programs. Delete whatever program you downloaded that infected your machine, too. You’ll need to fix your hosts file first, though, because Rote edited it to block a lot of cybersecurity sites to prevent you from downloading security tools.

Next, check out the decrypter for Djvu ransomware. This program was developed and released for free by Emsisoft’s ransomware researchers. Since Rote is a version of Djvu, it applies to this ransomware, too. The problem is that the decrypter is only half the story – a decryption key is needed, a unique one for each victim. And only the offline key is the same for everyone, which might be helpful to you if it is discovered, or it might not be helpful: depends on the circumstances in which your files were encrypted, there’s nothing you can do about it now.

Data recovery software and other ransomware recovery options are listed in the last chapter of this article, but remember that Rote is programmed to get around those: it deletes backups and shadow volume copies, so the recovery is made less likely. You might still want to take a look, though, because no program is free of bugs – Rote might have malfunctioned, or something. Also, try to open archives and audio recordings – Rote only breaks parts of big files, so some data might be recoverable.

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 Rote File Virus 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 Rote File Virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Rote File Virus

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 Rote File Virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Rote File Virus 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 Rote File Virus 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 Rote File Virus 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.