KEYPASS Ransomware - How to remove

KEYPASS Ransomware is an extremely dangerous computer virus that can turn your computer to be completely unusable. It won’t affect system files, so you will be able to continue operating Windows, yet it is likely to lock up all of your personal files.

By the definition, ransomware is a computer virus that employs specific cryptography and encrypts personal files, Then, the ransom is demanded in an exchange for a decryption tool or unique decryption key, which would solve the problem. Most of the time ransom is around $500, so it is a lot of money even if your personal files are very important to you.

We never recommend to pay the ransom – there are an alternative, much cheaper methods to solve this problem without actually paying those crooks. In this article, we are going to introduce you to those options and provide you with detailed, easy to understand instructions on how to completely remove KEYPASS virus once and for all.

Features of KEYPASS Virus

KEYPASS is a typical ransomware, we have seen a ton of those – RansomWarrior, ZOLDON Crypter, KillRabbit and so on. They all have only one intention, i.e. to infect the computer, encrypt files and then demand a ransom to be paid. That’s how they are making a living.

Once it infects a computer, malicious processes start automatically and immediately. All your personal files stored on a hard drive (photos, documents, movies, games, etc.) will be encrypted with asymmetric cryptography. KEYPASS got its name from an extension used on encrypted files – it’s .KEYPASS. So after the encryption, all your locked files will be marked with this ’unique. It also indicated that you can’t open nor use the file in any other way.

After that, a text document called “!!!KEYPASS_DECRYPTION_INFO!!!” will be dropped on all folders that contain encrypted files. This document contains information about the virus and instructions how you should pay the ransom. Original text from the document:

Attention!
All your files, documents, photos, databases and other important files are encrypted and have the extension: .KEYPASS
The only method of recovering files is to purchase an decrypt software and unique private key.
After purchase you will start decrypt software, enter your unique private key and it will decrypt all your data.
Only we can give you this key and only we can recover your files.
You need to contact us by e-mail [email protected] send us your personal ID and wait for further instructions.
For you to be sure, that we can decrypt your files – you can send us a 1-3 any not very big encrypted files and we will send you back it in a original form FREE.
Price for decryption $300.
This price avaliable if you contact us first 72 hours.
E-mail address to contact us:
[email protected]
Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
[email protected]
Your personal id: – *****

They use a common scare technique by limiting your time to pay the ransom – it’s 72 hours. If you fail to do that, the price should grow. Initial ransom price is $300. It’s relatively low, compared to other ransomware infection, yet we do not encourage you to pay it

Also, you are asked to contact them via email address [email protected] and send 1-3 encrypted files that are small in size, so they could decrypt and send them back to you. This serves as a proof that they really have the technology to unlock your files.

How To Get Rid Of KEYPASS Ransomware

Regardless of the fact whether you will succeed to decrypt your files or not, you still need to eliminate KEYPASS Ransomware from your computer as soon as possible. That can be done by scanning your system with Spyhunter.

Those anti-malware programs have proved themselves to be extremely efficient fighting malware like this. Also, feel free to look at the instructions provided below this article.

You should understand that removing this virus won’t unlock your personal files. To do that, you have several other options. You can restore them from a backup up copy that was made before the infection (if you have one) by following this guide. If you don’t have a backup, try to ’use.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore KEYPASS 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 KEYPASS 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 KEYPASS 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.