Truke Ransomware - How to remove

One of the most devastating viruses is file-encrypting ransomware. Truke is a new example of this type of virus, threatening to make all of your files unusable unless a ransom is paid. This behavior is criminal, but so far, Truke’s developers are still out there, developing and spreading their malware.

Symptoms of Truke

Unfortunately, it’s likely that only after Truke has done the greatest damage — encrypted the files — that you will notice it’s presence on your PC. There are a few symptoms:

• Files have the .truke extension appended to their names. The .truke files don’t work as normal, even if the new extension is removed.
• A _readme.txt file is present in your folders. It includes the e-mail addresses of the criminals ([email protected], [email protected], and @datarestore on Telegram) and the ransom size.
• Some websites can’t be accessed from the infected computer, no matter which browser you use.

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Truke is a member of the STOP/DJVU family of ransomware, one of the newest variants. It’s preceded by Roland, Drume, and many, many other versions. Besides that, DJVU is only one of many currently active ransomware families. The file-encrypting virus threat is real, people get infected every day. This happens through hacked Remote Desktop, infected free software downloads, and infected e-mail links and attachments. Securing yourself against ransomware to avoid it is worth the effort.

What sets Truke and DJVU apart is that it often comes together with a dangerous trojan, Azorult. Azorult is spyware and has other abilities that allow it to hijack your computer, so it’s important to remove it and Truke as soon as possible.

Solutions

If you’ve been hit with Truke, there are two big problems to solve:

1. Clear your PC of malware to make it safe to use.
2. Restore the lost files.

While solving the first problem is not too difficult (at worst, you can always reinstall your OS), the second is more complicated.

To remove Truke and avoid having your new files encrypted by it every time you restart the computer, it’s necessary to remove the virus. This can be done using an antivirus program, such as Spyhunter. If the antivirus is not working, you can try scanning your disk through another computer.

To restore the Truke-encrypted files you need to know your situation:

Do you have backups of your files? If so, you just need to remove the virus and then you can safely restore your system to as good a state as the backups allow you to. Provided the backup is up-to-date, you might not feel the impact of Truke at all. If you don’t have backups, or if they were stored on the encrypted computer and corrupted as well as your files, the situation is more complicated.

Without backups, you can try to decrypt the files that Truke locked. You can try @demonslay335’s STOPDecrypter. This application is being developed and maintained by him to help victims of the STOP/DJVU virus. While it cannot decrypt files that were encrypted by Truke normally, there are some situations in which Truke fails to connect to the C&C server, forcing it to use a hardcoded encryption key. If the decryption key is discovered, it fits many victims, though still only the minority.

Free decryptors are occasionally developed by various antimalware groups, companies, and volunteers, but that’s not common and often requires time. If the criminals don’t reveal some necessary information, it’s not likely that free decryption is available. Still, save all the encrypted files (they’re not dangerous) and, if you can’t recover them, visit nomoreransom.org to check for a decryptor.

Besides backups and decryption, there are no other reliable ways to restore your files. You can try using shadow copies or data recovery (an illustrated guide is below), but it’s not guaranteed to work.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Truke 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 Truke 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 Truke 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.