Trump Ransomware - How to remove

As the United States presidential election is gathering momentum, the world of the viruses has welcomed a new member under the name of the Donald Trump ransomware. This new ransomware virus is said to prosecute the supporters of Trump. However, we cannot rely upon the word of cyber criminals. The virus is still in its developmental phase. It was first compiled over a month ago, that is, approximately, at the beginning of September, 2016. The code of Trump ransomware seems to have the functionality of asymmetric encryption (AES). Nevertheless, in its current state it does not encrypt data. As a consequence, we can hardly call it a cryptomalware. Learn more about Trump virus by looking through the following sections.

About Trump Ransomware

Even though, Trump malware does not encrypt data, after it has gotten into your computer’s system, it will scan it for files to be renamed and locked. The particular file types targeted by this ransomware virus are:

.zip, .mp3, .7z, .rar, .wma, .avi, .wmv, .csv, .tax, .sidn, .itl, .mdbackup, .menu, .icarus, .litemod, .sav, .lvl, .raw, .flv, .m3u, .xxx, .pak, .jpg, .png, .docx, .doc, .ppt, .odt, .csv, .jpeg, .psd, .rtf, .cfg, Minecraft, alts.json, .wolfram, .dat, .dat_mcr, .mca, .Ink, .pub, .pptx, .php, .html, .yml, .sk, .txt, .mp4, .vb, .swf, .ico, .xcf, bukkit.jar, .log, .sln, .ini, .dll, .xml, .tex, .assets, .resource, .java, .js, .css, .gif,

The data files of the previous type are appended the .encrypted extension, as an additional filename extension to the authentic one. For instance, Image.jpeg will be replaced with Image.jpeg.encrypted. This developmental version of Trump virus allows you to click the Unlock button and have all of your renamed files restored their authentic names. So, as you can see this new ransomware threat has definitely got flaws. If you looked at the screenshot below, you would not notice any ransom fee written or any contact e-mail provided. It is still unknown, how this ransomware is going to evolve in the future.

How has Trump Ransomware Infected Your Computer?

Trump ransomware travels as a spam e-mail pretending to be a newsletter regarding the current presidential elections. This supposed-to-be newsletter contains malicious attachments, which clicked on, redirect to hacked domains, having the program code of the ransomware. When a user visits such a site, the payload of the virus, that is, CRPT-TRX.exe file, is downloaded on his (her) computer’s system. These kind of electronic political pamphlets can also contain attachments which, when opened, can automatically download the Trump ransom malware on your computer. Thus, we suggest sustaining from any spam e-mails, referring to the current presidential elections in the United States or regarding Donald Trump as a person.

How to Decrypt Files Encrypted by Trump Ransomware?

If Trump infection has affected your computer’s system and you have your files locked, copy the infected data to be able to utilize the upcoming decryption tool. Then, remove the malware with Spyhunter or Malwarebytes automatic tools, which will remove the virus along with any other malware infections present on the system. The free manual removal instructions are to be found just below. When you have eliminated the infection, use your unplugged backup, try checking the feature of system restore. Data recovery tools such as Recuva, R-Studio, PhotoRec, data recovery software by Kasperky Lab, etc. can serve as well.

At this point in time, Trump ransomware virus is still under development. We cannot say what tomorrow will bring us. Thus, educate about these tools of cyber criminals and make sure you have an updated antivirus software, such as Spyhunter, for example, active on your computer. If you have been affected by this virus, post a comment. The facts you can provide about it are very important in the development of the means which will save us from these malicious programs in the future.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Trump 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 Donald Trump 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 Trump 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.