Teamo ransomware - How to remove

Teamo ransomware is a recently discovered computer virus that aims to lock files using AES or RSA cryptography algorithms. It was discovered and published by Karsten Hahn, cyber security researcher. This virus features all the most common traits for a ransomware infection and is not really difficult to figure out. However, regardless that fact, it might be complicated or even impossible to decrypt files locked by this virus.

As well as Anoncrack virus or Balbaz virus, Teamo ransomware is a part of Hidden Tear project. That means all those ransomware viruses were built on the same platform and share similar features. To begin with, we should mention that this ransomware is distributed as an attachment to an email. Usually those emails end up on a spam category, thus we advise our readers not to browser that section as well. Malicious files of the virus has a misleading name, such as “invoice” or “tax returns” and users are tricked to take a look at it. Once the attachment is downloaded and opened, the virus will place malicious files on your computer and paralyse the system. Obviously, there are other ways how ransomware like this can be distributed, but this one is most common and used by majority of this type of viruses.

Teamo virus description

If you were unlucky enough and this infection was infiltrated into your system, soon after that you will notice some changes. Teamo will use symmetric or asymmetric encryption method to lock files stored on your computer. It will automatically add an extension .teamo to the end of your personal files.

For instance, if you had a file named ‘my_file.docx’, now it will be named ‘my_file.docx.teamo’. It’s not just about changed name – it also means you won’t be able to open that file anymore because it is encrypted and your operating system can’t open it.

Hackers (developers of Teamo virus) will let you know about that and inform you by placing a file called “Hello Hi Hola como sea jaja.txt” on your desktop. Your desktop wallpaper will be changed automatically as well. Original text of the message inside of the file:

Hola mi estimado usuario de windows
No te preocupes, tus archivos estan bien, bien jodidos jajaja
Esto es dedicado para quien lo merece, si no lo mereces, disculpame.

The message translated to English:

Your files have been encrypted, which means you can not open them any more. I must say there is no way that the recipes 🙁 …
Lie, contact me. Zika
Atte. Your Friend Zika.

It is obvious – this virus was developed in Spain and is targeted to Spanish audience. You can also notice a very unceremonious tone of the hackers, as their message basically won’t provide you with any specific information. All you know that your computer is infected and you need to contact them in order to move forward. The problem is that no email address is mentioned there, so it is not clear what you should contact.

When files are encrypted, automatic unique key is generated and stored on a remote server belonging to cyber criminals. This key is needed to unlock those files. However, if you want to receive that key, you will be asked to pay a ransom that can be anything from $200 to $2000.

Paying the ransom is not a good choice. Unfortunately, the only other method to unlock files is to restore them from a back-up, as there are no free decryptors at the time. If you have a valid copy of your hard drive, follow these instructions.

Also, you should make sure that your computer is clean from the files of this virus – scan it with a reliable anti-malware application, such as Spyhunter. Either one of them should be able to detect and remove the virus in no time. As it can be seen on VirusTotal report, most of the anti-malware programs are able to detect this particular virus.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Teamo 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 Teamo 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 Teamo 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