Moth virus - How to remove

Another ransomware with a bizarre name has been discovered by security researchers. Moth virus was decided to be identified with this title because after the encryption, files are appended with a .m0th extension. We can see some connections with this name as the population of ransomware viruses grows every day like constantly proliferating bugs and they are circulating all around. Moth crypto-ransomware has singled out AES-256 algorithm for a powerful encryption. It might seem like the only salvation is to pay the demanded fee for the private decryption key. However, security researchers have proven themselves to be pretty persuasive when they want to be.

About Moth virus

After Moth virus flies into your computer system and starts flapping its little wings, a planned scheme starts to reveal itself. Firstly, all ransomware viruses have adapted the sneaky manner to drop a seemingly harmless executable in one or a couple of your directories. This file can seem like an installer, update or any other file that would not draw any specific attention to it. Let alone, cause suspicion that it might actually be a payload of a Moth virus. Secondly, now it has to modify Windows Registry Keys to be launched every time you load your computer system. Then, Moth ransomware will move on to the corruption of your files. As we already have given away, it chose to proceed with a AES-256 algorithm for encryption. To do this, it has to initiate a scan of your system and find files that can be encrypted. Here is a small glimpse of the types of data, targeted by this Moth virus: .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX. Then, Moth virus leaves behind a ransom note, called READMEPLEASE.TXT. Actually, crooks have designed a whole poem for the infected victims, even though they are not as good with words like Edgar Alan Poe. It even suggest people to contact them via BitMessage facility. Read it below:

Hello.
All your files have been encrypted using our extremely strong private key. There is no way to recover them without our assistance. If you want to get your files back, you must be ready to pay for them. If you are broke and poor, sorry, we cannot help you. If you are ready to pay, then get in touch with us using a secure and anonymous p2p messenger. We have to use a messenger because standard emails get blocked quickly and if our email gets blocked your files will be lost forever.
Go to http://bitmessage.org/, download and run Bitmessage. Click Your Identities tab > then click New > then click OK (this will generate your personal address, you need to do this just once). Then click Send tab.
TO:{Cyber-criminals’ BitCoin address}
Subject: name of your PC or your IP address or both.
Message: Hi, I am ready to pay.
Click Send button.
You are done.
To get the fastest reply from us with all further instructions, please keep your Bitmessage running on the computer at all times, if possible, or as often as you can because Bitmessage is a bit slow and it takes the time to send and get messages. If you cooperate and follow the instructions, you will get all your files back intact and very, very soon. Thank you.

How to Decrypt Files Encrypted by Moth Virus?

Moth ransomware virus is a new version and a specific file-recovery tool has not been released yet. You can attempt to restore at least a part of your files through universal file recovery tools. You can celebrate your decision of making copies of your precious data and storing it in flash drives, storage units. If you did not think of this before, then this alternative can be crossed out from the possible solutions. However, for the future, remember that backup storages, protecting your files, are a very convenient service. The creators of ransomware sometimes encrypt one selected file to convince people that paying the ransom is worth it. If they do, you can use it to find out how to decrypt the remaining data.

How is Moth Virus Distributed?

The payload of a Moth virus can be spread around the Net using a couple of techniques. First one is more of a matter of convincing: crooks construct seemingly very believable email letters that are randomly send around. When people notice such messages in their online mail boxes, they might immediately feel curious enough to open them. This is not recommended as these letters frequently offer to download an attachment or to visit a specific link. By doing both of these things, you can end up with a payload of a ransomware virus in your PC. Furthermore, a drive-by-download of a ransomware payload might occur when you visit any other untrustworthy domain.

To eliminate Moth ransomware virus, you can run a full security scan, find the malicious files and remove them. For this task to be accomplished, your PC’s system has to contain a antivirus application. Spyhunter or Malwarebytes are three epic heroes, prepared to protect your from Moth virus.

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Moth virus

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 Moth ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Moth virus 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 Moth 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 Moth virus 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.