Zipe Ransomware - How to remove

Zipe is a dangerous ransomware infection. It attacks PCs, messes with system settings, and then encrypts user files. The files are, in essence, corrupted and broken. They get marked with the “.zipe” extension being appended to their names. Zipe needs to be deleted. Then, the encrypted data can be restored. Although, whether it’s possible to get your data back is not sure yet.

In short about Zipe:

Type of threat	Ransomware, trojan.
How to delete Zipe ransomware	Use antivirus programs (like Spyhunter) to remove malware, delete malicious files and avoid downloading them again, change passwords.
Infection symptoms	Files are renamed to have “.zipe” at the ends of their names, files don’t open, some sites are blocked, pop-up ads appear on the screen.
How to restore your files	Use a backup to restore your files, run the free decryptor, repair the corrupted files.

How to remove Zipe ransomware

Delete the malware

If Zipe infected your computer, then this ransomware needs to be removed. Deleting the malware won’t fix the files that were broken, that’s a separate process. However, Zipe needs to be deleted to avoid it breaking any more files. And because Zipe likely installs an info stealer called Azorult, it needs to be deleted, as well.

Unblock the cybersecurity sites that Zipe blocked by deleting bad entries in your hosts file. Instructions for that can be found at the bottom.

Then download an antivirus program – any program that you trust, for example, Spyhunter. Zipe tries to break the antivirus program on the infected computer, so you might need to reinstall yours. Then, just scan your computer and have the antivirus program remove the malware that it finds.

Additional notes

Zipe works by encrypting the files on the infected computer. You can tell the encrypted files by their names – they have “.zipe”, a second file type extension, at their ends. There is no need to delete these files because they are not dangerous.

However, there is a need to delete the files that carried Zipe to your computer and to avoid redownloading them. It might have been a free (pirated) installer for a program like Office, Windows, games, other software, etc. That’s how Zipe spreads – in shady software pirating sites. These files would have been downloaded at or shortly before the time that Zipe infected your device. If you run them again, you might accidentally reinfect your computer.

Once you’ve removed all the malware, set new passwords for your online accounts. The info stealer that spreads together with Zipe could have stolen the passwords that were saved in your browser and other online applications, so if you don’t change those passwords, a cybercriminal could make use of them later and hack your accounts.

How Zipe works

Like mentioned earlier, Zipe spreads in pirating sites. It gets uploaded online by cybercriminals, disguised as a desirable program. Or it gets bundled with those programs. On reputable sites, this sort of file would be removed quickly. But not all sites care about the safety of their users. You have to be careful, too, and dutifully scan every installer that you download from the internet.

Once the infected file is run and Zipe starts working, it:

• deletes file backup data,
• deletes antivirus updates,
• blocks many cybersecurity sites,
• installs the data-stealing trojan,
• encrypts/corrupts files on the computer,
• changes the names of the encrypted files by appending “.zipe” (for example, “picture.jpg” becomes “picture.jog.zipe”),
• creates files with ransom notes called “_readme”.

The _readme files start like this:

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.

…

The criminals behind Zipe want money and they’re asking each victim for $490 to $980. They promise to fix the files in exchange for the money. The same process is used by ransomware infections related to Zipe: Pezi, Covm, and other Djvu ransomware.

Zipe breaks a lot of files: pictures, videos, audio files, documents, archives, databases, etc. However, it leaves the operating system alone so that the computer still works. The point of Zipe ransomware is that the encryption that broke the files is reversible, in theory.

How to get your files back

Repair, decrypt, or restore your files

If you had a backup of your most important files, you can just restore those files. If you didn’t have a backup, then things get a bit complicated. Before trying to fix your Zipe-encrypted files, make backups of those files.

Can you decrypt the files? That is unlikely.

Zipe uses cryptography to break your files. Cryptography is the practice of scrambling a text into something that seems random. The only way to reverse this process is to use the correct decryption algorithm and the correct decryption key. Only the criminals have each victim’s decryption keys. Due to technical reasons, some victims may be able to decrypt their files in limited circumstances. Scan your Zipe-locked files with the Emsisoft decryptor for Djvu, a tool created by a specialist who has helped a lot of ransomware victims already. The scan results will tell you if free decryption is even possible.

How about restoring deleted files?

You can use data recovery programs to bring back lost files. This works if you didn’t use your computer much after the infection. Make sure to read up on the data recovery process or ask a professional’s help.

Look into tools for fixing corrupted files.

Zipe uses cryptography to break your files. For speed, Zipe skips a lot of data and only encrypts portions of the files. This opens up the possibility of extracting the unencrypted data. For example, a photograph that was encrypted by Zipe might have a lot of unencrypted data and only a little space cut off . Removing corrupted data and repairing files can be complicated and time-consuming, and you do lose the corrupted portions, but it’s something.

Finally, look for unencrypted files on your computer. Zipe could have malfunctioned or quit before finishing to encrypt all the files.

Avoid scammers

Stay away from people who promise to fix your files completely: this can’t be done without getting the decryption keys from the criminals behind Zipe. Don’t give money to people who don’t prove that they can fix your files.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Zipe 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 Zipe 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 Zipe 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.