.Stone File Virus Details
After the ransomware encrypt your files, it leaves a _readme.txt file with instructions to follow:
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What you will definitely learn in the following passages is some essential information and tips regarding a dangerous malware named .Stone. As this malware has the ability to encode its victims’ files through using a sophisticated manner of encryption, specialists have concluded that this piece of harmful software is a part of the horrifying Stop Ransomware family ( .Rezuc.Skymap, .Rectot, .Mogera). The basic idea of the encryption process is that after it is finally completed, the victim user will be unable to access the affected data in any way and will be forced to pay the wanted money to the hackers and as the supposed only option of getting back the access to the unreachable files.
Generally, a ransom alert is shown on the desktop including all the ransom payment details such as preferred currency and deadlines. Normally, some of the warnings say that your data will forever stay inaccessible unless you do exactly what the hackers want you to. Despite that, in case you do decide to pay, the cyber blackmailers promise that they will provide you with the necessary code to decrypt the locked-up data. We understand exactly how unpleasant and stressful it could really be to have your files targeted by Ransomware, thus we can advise the victims of this nasty threat to carefully check the remaining paragraphs and make use of the tips and guidelines we will provide.
Prevention of .Stone File Ransomware attacks
There’s certainly a good number of different precautions that one can make use of so as to keep malware like .Stone further away from their computer system. Naturally, there’s basically no better way to handle a Ransomware program than simply making sure that it won’t attack your machine.
In order to manage to keep your PC safe, you ought to make sure you don’t expose your computer system to possible hazards. In general, you will have to make sure to surf the web in a risk-free manner which doesn’t expose your system to potential risks and hazards. All that it takes is a single visit to a website that has a virus on it to expose your PC to various threats, so be careful while browsing. It is critical that you are always careful with all the spam letters that come to you while you’re browsing the Internet. For example, any obscure-looking email letter (or any of its attachments) could be packed with viruses such as Ransomware. Additionally, many versions of Trojan Horses can be employed for sneaking a Ransomware virus within your computer system. Do not forget that a good anti-malware software is something that can help you against Trojan attacks.
A data file-backup is a really good strategy for keeping the documents safe even in the case of a Ransomware attack, therefore, you should definitely back-up any valuable files which you might have on your HDD and save the copies on in a separate device. This precaution is invaluable and it’s also quite easy to implement – simply copy all files that are important to you onto another device or on a cloud storage and you will have safe copies of those files even if your main computer gets infected.
.Stone SUMMARY:
| Name | .Stone |
| Type | Ransomware |
| Danger Level | High (.Stone Ransomware encrypts all types of files) |
| Symptoms | .Stone Ransomware is hard to detect and aside from increased use of RAM and CPU, there would barely be any other visible red flags. |
| Distribution Method | Most of the time, Trojans get distributed through spam e-mails and social network messages, malicious ads, shady and pirated downloads, questionable torrents and other similar methods. |
Remove .Stone File Virus Ransomware
1: Preparations
Note: Before you go any further, we advise you to bookmark this page or have it open on a separate device such as your smartphone or another PC. Some of the steps might require you to exit your browser on this PC.
2: Task Manager
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to enter the Task Manager. Go to the Tab labeled Processes (Details for Win 8/10). Carefully look through the list of processes that are currently active on you PC.
If any of them seems shady, consumes too much RAM/CPU or has some strange description or no description at all, right-click on it, select Open File Location and delete everything there.
Also, even if you do not delete the files, be sure to stop the process by right-clicking on it and selecting End Process.
3: IP related to .Stone
Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open the hosts file with notepad.
Find where it says Localhost and take a look below that.
If you see any IP addresses there (below Localhost) send them to us here, in the comments since they might be coming from the .Stone.
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4: Disable Startup programs
Re-open the Start Menu and type msconfig.
Click on the first search result. In the next window, go to the Startup tab. If you are on Win 10, it will send you to the Startup part of the task manager instead, as in the picture:
If you see any sketchy/shady looking entries in the list with an unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer name that looks suspicious as there could be a link between them and .Stone , disable those programs and select OK.
5: Registry Editor
Press Windows key + R and in the resulting window type regedit.
Now, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus.
Delete everything that gets found. If you are not sure about whether to delete something, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments. Keep in mind that if you delete the wrong thing, you might cause all sorts of issues to your PC.
6: Deleting potentially malicious data – .Stone
Type each of the following locations in the Windows search box and hit enter to open the locations:
%AppData%
%LocalAppData%
%ProgramData%
%WinDir%
%Temp%
Delete everything you see in Temp linked to .Stone Ransomware. About the other folders, sort their contents by date and delete only the most recent entries. As always, if you are not sure about something, write to us in the comment section.
7: .Stone Decryption
The previous steps were all aimed at removing the .Stone Ransomware from your PC. However, in order to regain access to your files, you will also need to decrypt them or restore them. For that, we have a separate article with detailed instructions on what you have to do in order to unlock your data. Here is a link to that guide.