The .Peta virus

Knowing how frustrating it is to lose your information, we must first advise you to try to remain as calm as possible. The hackers behind Peta, Seto, Gero may place a ransom-demanding notification on your screen, asking you to transfer to them a certain amount of money immediately. The worst thing you could do, however, is to be impulsive, and let the crooks manipulate you. They may not hesitate to put pressure on you in an attempt to make you pay them as quickly as possible, because this is what their Ransomware infection’s how purpose is. But we should warn you that if you go ahead and pay them the money, there is a good chance of being left with nothing but empty pockets, and permanently locked files, despite having fulfilled their ransom demands. Besides, there is absolutely no chance of getting your money back, or helping the authorities detect the crooks, because the latter typically ask for a payment in BitCoins, which is an untraceable crypto-currency. In addition, once compromised, your system is at a high risk, and the hackers can gain control over your PC, or infect you with other malware, and thus keep harassing you.

The .Peta file encryption

For the reasons stated above, we generally recommend that you clean the infection as quickly as possible, with the help of our removal guide below, and only then focus on how to recover your files.  If you have a file backup somewhere on an external drive or in a cloud storage, the only thing you need to do is remove the infection, so that you can safely restore your files from the backup. Another thing you can do is check for specialized file decryptors online. There are a lot of decryptor instruments available, and you can download most of them for free. You should know, however, that they are designed to unlock specific types of encryption, that corresponds to specific variants of Ransomware. Still, if you want to check for a decryptor for Peta, you can visit our frequently-updated list of decryptors, where you might discover a solution to your issue. However, keep in mind that some of the newest Ransomware threats, like the one we are talking about on this page, may still not have a workable solution as the cyber criminals  are, unfortunately, one step ahead of the security researchers. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the maximum protection of your system by installing in it a trusted security tool. Another thing you could do is update your software and OS frequently, run regular system scans, avoid suspicious files and online shady locations, and prevent data loss by keeping a backup of all your valuable data elsewhere.

Peta SUMMARY:

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Remove Peta 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 Peta

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 Peta.

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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 Peta , 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 – Peta

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 Peta 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: Peta Decryption

The previous steps were all aimed at removing the Peta 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 Peta Virus Removal (+.Peta File Recovery) appeared first on Malware Complaints.

Ransomware is definitely among the worst categories of computer malware and, unfortunately, the number of Ransomware infections has been rapidly increasing throughout the past several years, and especially the past several months. Currently, a new Ransomware representatives get created pretty much every day and dealing with them after an infection has occurred is almost always extremely tricky. Shariz is the specific Ransomware threat we will be telling you about here – a new and very problematic cryptovirus.

With Ransomware cryptoviruses (Seto, Gero), the main problem isn’t the removal of the actual virus – this can actually be done pretty easily. The real problem here is repairing the damage that the infection has done. In the case of the Ransomware cryptoviruses, the said “damage” is the encryption of the user’s files and the inability of the user to open any of those files after the malware’s encryption has been placed on them. The files themselves remain unharmed but the only way to access and use them is the special decryption key that corresponds to the employed encryption. As you probably already know, the attacked users are supposed to pay money for this key. If the requested ransom money isn’t sent to the hackers within the given deadline, the sum may double or the decryption key may get deleted for good.

Should you pay for your encrypted .Shariz files?

Before we delve any further into this topic, let us tell you that no matter what course of action you choose to follow if a threat like Shariz has infected your machine and locked up your files, there is likely not going to be any guarantee if you’d be able to restore your files. That being said, each of those two potential approaches has its pros and cons.

For example, if you pay the money and get the decryption key, you will probably be able to get all of your data back since obtaining the correct decryption key is the most effective way of recovering your files. However, this is where the pros of this option end and the cons begin. First of all, there is absolutely no way you could know if you will be sent this key if you pay. The hackers can easily keep the money you send them and then ask for more or simply not contact you ever again. There is a huge risk here of losing serious amounts of money for absolutely no reason. And, of course, if you do receive key but it doesn’t work as it is supposed to, you will still not be able to get your money back.

The other possible course of action is to get rid of Shariz and try to find some alternative recovery solutions. Here, we can offer you both a removal guide for Shariz and some suggestions on how you may be able to bring some of your data to its accessible state. That being said, our suggestions are also not guaranteed to work. There, however, are two undeniable advantages if you choose to do that instead of paying – first, there would be no risk of money loss, and second, you get to remove Shariz and make your computer safe for future use. In our honest opinion, it is better to first try the alternatives and only if nothing seems to work and you really (really!) need those files, consider the ransom payment as a possible option.

SUMMARY:

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Remove Shariz Virus

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 Shariz

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 Shariz.

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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 Shariz , 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 – Shariz

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 Shariz 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: Shariz Decryption

The previous steps were all aimed at removing the Shariz 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 Shariz Virus Removal (+ .Shariz File Recovery) appeared first on Malware Complaints.