Zscreenlocker Ransomware - How to remove

Zscreenlocker is nicknamed as an Anti-Islam ransomware. It deserves such a nickname because of the display of the Ban Islam flag. Interestingly, the hackers uses the gold rhombus and the green field, just like those of the Brazil flag, thus, implying their Brazilian origin. The ransomware was discovered the last week, that is at the end of October – at the beginning of November, 2016. Malware analyst Karsten Hahn is the cyber security warrior, who has detected this threat.

The Particularities of Zscreenlocker Ransomware

Zscreenlocker belongs to the category of ransomware viruses, which are called screen lockers because of their main feature to lock the lock screen. Though, Zscreenlocker is still a mystery for the cyber society, it has been reported that it does not carry out the encryption of the victim’s data, as these scoundrels, who coded Zscreenlocker malicious program, satisfy with the screen locking function. In accordance with the latter, we cannot provide you with the specific encryption algorithm utilized, the certain file types targeted, the particular extension appended, etc., as we are used to in the case of the stereotypical ransomware infection. On the other hand, it is the good news for the aggrieved party, since one will not need to apply any decryption or data recovery software to regain access to the data.

Zscreenlocker is also recognized as an in-development version, since it does not show any ransom message. Consequently, the afflicted user is not supplied with any contact details, such as e-mails for contacting, which are the most popular and the most widely used means for communication by the developers of ransomware threats. Obviously, no ransom payment is set, no BTC (bitcoin) address provided, no nothing.

From the above information about Zscreenlocker it is rather clear that this virus does not belong to the class of the most dangerous ransomware viruses you can possibly encounter on the web. But the possibility for it to develop further cannot be rejected. Regardless the current state of Zscreenlocker virus, you must know how it spreads and how to remove it from your computer’s system.

Where does Zscreenlocker Ransomware Skulk?

The executable file of Zscreenlocker ransomware Zscreenlocker.exe, which is the actual payload of this nasty malware, can lie in wait for the unwarned users in the spam e-mails and their attachments disguised as important links to official websites or as substantial documents attached. There is still a lot of obscurity as regards the specifics of the distribution of Zscreenlocker trojan. Nevertheless, social engineering attacks, involving malicious spam e-mails, infected advertisements and compromised websites is the most probable course of action, taken by the creators of Zscreenlocker virus. Thus, users must be very careful as concerns these three sensitive areas of the cyber space.

How to Remove Zscreenlocker Ransomware from Your PC?

No matter which one of the two methods for the removal of Zscreenlocker ransomware you choose, you will need to restart your computer into the Safe Mode with networking, since this screen locking malware loads on the startup of your computer. When you reboot your machine in the Safe Mode, you are able to remove the virus either automatically, which refers to the application of the special malware removal software, or manually, which imply to the performance of the succession of the concrete steps. The software, which we recommend to utilize, is the applications under the following names: Spyhunter or Malwarebytes. These security programs were tested by security experts to be approved useful for the removal of multiple viruses. They keep being the leading software solution for malware removal. For the manual removal of Zscreenlocker keep reading further to find the instructions developed by our cyber security researchers.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Zscreenlocker 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 Zscreenlocker 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 Zscreenlocker 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.