Sad ransomware - How to remove

Sad ransomware is a recently discovered computer virus. The discovery was made by Leo (cyber security researcher) and published on a Twitter post. While most of the features of this ransomware is pretty common, it also has a rather unique trait – Sad ransomware tends to spread among computers on the same network. For instance, if you have several computers connected as a network at your home, it’s enough for one of them to get infected and all network will be infected as a result.

AES-256 cryptography is used by this infection, so files encrypted by this virus are really difficult to decrypt. In the even of infection, Sad ransomware will lock almost all files stored on your hard drive – pictures, music files, text documents and so on. Every single file will be marked with a unique extension, which is ID code, assigned to the infected computer.

Symptoms of Sad ransomware virus

Basically there are several symptoms that can clearly tell that your computer is infected and you will definitely notice them. We have already informed that every encrypted file will appear with a new extension. More to that, you should notice new files on your desktop, as well as changed desktop wallpaper. From now on, your wallpaper will look something like this:

The virus will automatically create files called “_HELPME_DECRYPT_.html” and “_HELPME_DECRYPT_.txt” as well as “_HELPME_DECRYPT_.hta”. All these files refer to a ransom note which should provide you with the information about paying the ransom an unlocking your personal files. Take a look at the original text of the ransom note:

Sad Ransomware
Instructions
All of your files(documents, photos, databases,…) have been encrypted with AES 256 bit and a private and unique key generated for this computer.
The private key is stored in our servers and the only way to receive your key to decrypt your files is to pay.
The payment has to be done in Bitcoin to a unique address that we generated for you, Bitcoins are a virtual currency to make online payments.
If you don´t know how to get Bitcoins, you can google: “How to Buy Bitcoins” and follow the instructions.
To recover your files and unlock your computer, you must send 0.3 Bitcoins.
We created an easier way to pay, go on this link
Warten Sie mal…hxxps://satoshibox.com/vud52e2qj467i53njq7t34ch

This ransom note is stored on a .hta file and informs you that your computer has been encrypted with AES 256 bit encryption. In order to recover files, you will have to pay 0.3 Bitcoins. Second, .txt has this message:

— ALL YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN ENCRYPTED —
All of your data(photo, documents, databases,…) have been encrypted with AES 256 bit and a private and unique key generated for this computer.
It means that you will not be able to accsess your files anymore until they´re decrypted.
The private key is stored in our servers and the only way to receive your key to decrypt your files is to pay.

The only one way to decrypt your files is to receive the private key and decryption program.
Dont waste your time. No one will be able to recover tem without our decryption service.
The payment has to be done in Bitcoin to a unique address that we generated for you, Bitcoins are a virtual currency to make online payments.
If you don´t know how to get Bitcoins, you can google: ‘How to Buy Bitcoins’ and follow the instructions.
To recover your files and unlock your computer, you must send 0.3 Bitcoins
We created an easier way to pay, go on this link
hxxps://satoshibox.com/vud52e2qj467i53njq7t34ch
If you dont know how to create a wallet go to http://blockchain.info/wallet and create a bitcoin wallet.
Need more information about Bitcoin?
hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
More information about the AES encryption can be found here:
hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard
If you have any questions, write us: [email protected]
YOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION:
AEE7F48E972BF6CA000C4C33E3C263B6B70CB1397EF9B755DC700C7A63528559

Basically that’s the same instructions, only a little bit more advanced and detailed. If you are wondering how much is 0.3 Bitcoins – it’s around $2200 at the moment. That’s a lot of money and we do not recommend to pay the ransom nor contact cyber criminals at their e-mail address [email protected].

There are some good news and bad news regarding this situation. The bad news is that currently there is no tool that would be able to decrypt files locked by Sad ransomware for free. Thus you only have one option – to restore those files from a backup. Obviously, you have to have one in order to be able to do that. If you do have a valid backup, follow these instructions and restore your system to the previous state.

Good news is that the virus itself can be easily removed from your computer. All you have to do is download a reliable anti-malware application, such as Spyhunter and run a scan. Following processes will be done automatically and file related to Sad ransomware will be gone for good. Pleas notice, that this won’t unlock your files. Nonetheless, you should remove the virus right now.

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Sad 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 Sad ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Sad 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 Sad 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 Sad 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.