Cry36 Losers virus - How to remove

Cry36 Losers ransomware virus is an infection which will multitask between different assignments. First of all, it is regarded as a crypto-malware example, appending .losers extension to data, encoded with AES algorithm. It inserts HOWTODECRYPTFILES.html file which launches in victims’ preferred browsers. The infection has been determined to be the most active in Indonesia. This region has also become a target of a few other infections recently: Uc123.com and Playbar.biz viruses.

Cry36 Losers ransomware virus plans to steal users’ information, passwords, and install a backdoor Trojan

The .html note encourages victims to contact the creators of Cry36 Losers ransomware (Ransomware: the Tool of Choice for Cyber Extortion) through a number of different ways. First of all, victims can send emails to [email protected] address. Furthermore, more information is explained to be available in a website, opened via TOR Browser.

The following TOR-supported site belong to authors of Cry36 Losers encoder: Kuysqebjbttaxmq2.onion. The domain will launch a chat window, explaining that 500 US dollars are expected to be sent as a ransom for the tool for decryption. According to the current exchange rates, this would equal 0.08142BTC. One of the payloads which will bring the infection into operating systems is svchhost.exe (Antivirus scan). However, victims are indicating that their files became encrypted after they installed some freeware into their operating systems. One of the victims indicated that Burn4Free software brought crypto-malware.

However, despite being an already frightening ransomware infection, Cry36 Losers ransomware has even more plans in its mind. It contacts an IP address from United States and this connection is traced back to Hromofreah.top. The malware tool is also expected to install a backdoor Trojan called BetaBot. This infection has been called many names: banking information stealing Trojan, a password stealing Trojan, and as a botnet (Betabot Finds Second Life as Ransomware Delivery Vehicle). It has already been noticed to participate in the distribution of ransomware.

Victims of Cry36 Losers crypto-malware have reported their experience with this virus. It was said that they downloaded some sort of suspicious freeware from the Internet (Antivirus scan). Once an operating system started to act bizarre, they attempted to get rid of suspicious or potentially malicious files. Sadly, this did not work and the ransomware infection turned digital data completely blank. As we have mentioned, the virus can be easily recognized from the .losers extension at the end of damaged files.

Another victim indicated that the infection occurred after the Windows 10 Pro Permanent Activator Ultimate 2017 v1.9 was downloaded. This means that more than one fraudulent freeware application is designed to transmit the Cry36 Losers ransomware. As soon as this infection will corrupt your files, it will also insert an information-stealing Trojan and a cryptocurrency stealer.

Is there any way of recovering files?

To our knowledge, there is no way of getting back encoded data without paying the ransom. Of course, free tools for decryption might work, but we would not suggest you to put much hopes into this option. Of course, if you have stored your valuable digital files in backup storages: you can easily get rid of this ransomware. Simply remove all traces of Cry36 Losers virus and retrieve data from an alternative storage.

To get rid of all malware infections, we suggest you to get a strong anti-malware tool. Spyhunter will definitely help you keep your operating system safe and sound.

How is this ransomware infection distributed?

We have already stressed out the main method of Cry36 Losers virus transmission. It is installed together with various types of freeware applications. If you do not want to become infected, avoid installing software that are found in suspicious file-sharing domains. In addition to this, ransomware might spread via email spam campaigns or exploit improperly protected RDPs. Another victim has indicated that operating system became infected after he downloaded a crack for a game which did not even fully launch. Please read more about the removal and free decryption methods. Whatever you do, do not pay the ransom! Ransomware creators might not even be planning to help you out with decryption.

How to recover Cry36 Losers 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 Cry36 Losers virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Cry36 Losers 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 Cry36 Losers virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Cry36 Losers 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 Cry36 Losers virus 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 Cry36 Losers 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.