Details about .Boston Virus Ransomware

The .Boston Virus ransomware is another of the evergrowing family of STOP ransomware, with previous versions like .Heroset and .Pidon acting as close relatives.

The most likely reason why you have come to this page is that you are in search of details regarding the destructive virus known as .Boston. An important thing that you need to know about this malware is that it belongs to the so-called Ransomware type. The primary reason those malicious programs are referred to as Ransomware has to do with the fact that they are typically designed for blackmailing the users into paying a ransom by encrypting their files and holding them blocked until the wanted ransom gets paid. It may appear frustrating but Ransomware is quite possibly the hardest to deal with type of malware you could ever catch. Security experts are still having a hard time keeping up with this threat and often there’s not much that can be done to overcome its effects. Even though the possibilities might not seem to be on your side, we still truly suggest that you keep your calm and keep reading for there might still be a solution for this. We have done our best to develop a detailed Removal Guide for the people who have been infected with .Boston and you can have a look at it down below. If you are lucky enough, the instructions given in the removal guide will not only assist you to remove the nasty virus but may also help you regain your access to the personal documents that it has encoded.

After the completion of the encryption process the .Boston ransomware would post a  _readme.txt file with detailed instrctions how to pay a ransom. The new email used for the extortion is stoneland@firemail.cc

Dealing with .Boston Virus

As a start, we need to inform you that Ransomware acts in a unique way, not typical for most other forms of malicious software. This is what makes fighting such malware even more challenging. Anti-malware software is, in most of the cases, utterly ineffective against Ransomware because of the ability of the noxious file-encrypting virus to remain fully undetected. The true reason for that is in the unique way this type of insidious malware fulfills its purpose. In the event that your PC has been infiltrated by .Boston, no file damage will occur and no data would be initially deleted or modified and that’s why your antivirus program will likely not get alarmed that there is something undesirable taking place at the moment. The data file encryption is, actually, a commonly used file-protection mechanism, that’s normally not supposed to cause any harm. However, if you don’t have the decryption key for the code that has been employed for encrypting the files, you’d still be in trouble in case they have been locked by a Ransomware virus. Yet another really nasty aspect of a Ransomware infection is the fact that it usually does not display any infection signs or symptoms – this further contributes to its high rate of success.

Typically, the main tactics which help the online hackers to succeed in blackmailing their target victims are lack of information, threatening messages, strict deadlines and creating fear among the users. Therefore, it is necessary that you have a good understanding of Ransomware viruses if you want to effectively remove them. Something important that we need to point out is that the usual ransom payment method requested by the online hacker who has encrypted your files via .Boston or another Ransomware would be through BitCoins. The reason why BitCoins are so frequently used is related to the fact that this cryptocurrency can’t be traced, which enables the online hacker to maintain their anonymity. It may sound distressing, but only a small number of online criminals known for terrorizing users via Ransomware have been held responsible for their ransom schemes. On the flip side of the coin, there are many examples of individuals who have agreed to pay the ransom payment and have transferred the required money just so they could find out that their precious files would still remain unavailable because the crooks don’t have any intentions to decrypt them. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you avoid paying the required ransom and seek out alternative solutions instead. To make the task of dealing with this malware easier for our visitors, we have developed and added to this post a Removal Guide manual, which includes all the guidelines that you would probably need as a way to eradicate this nasty infection. Regrettably, we simply cannot offer you a guarantee that the guide manual would be effective in a hundred percent of the cases of Ransomware invasions, but still, it is surely a better alternative than giving your money to some anonymous cyber criminals.

SUMMARY:

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Remove .Boston 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 .Boston

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 .Boston.

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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 .Boston , 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 – .Boston

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 .Boston 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: .Boston Decryption

The previous steps were all aimed at removing the .Boston 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.

The post Remove .Boston Virus Ransomware (File Recovery+Removal Guide) appeared first on Malware Complaints.