Karma Lockscreen Ransomware - How to remove

Karma Lockscreen virus is a newer, updated version of infamous Karma ransomware that was first discovered back in 2017. So what’s the difference between those two? Well, they might be distributed using different methods, they also require a different amount of money to be paid as a ransom and their technical details are a little bit different. However, the main point is the same – Karma Lockscreen will take over your system, encrypt your personal files so you can’t use them until the ransom is paid, the same as the original Karma ransomware. The name of this virus might be suggesting that this version of Karma will lock up your screen, but that turns out not to be true as it only displays a ransom note on a full-screen window that can be easily closed.

We do not know whether those two viruses were developed by the same crook/company, but we surely know that Karma Lockscreen is not less dangerous. It can completely paralyze the computer system and detain you from performing your normal, daily activities. Obviously, it would be the best to prevent this infection and save a lot of time and money this way, so we highly recommend to protect your machine with a trustworthy anti-malware software all the time. However, if you are reading this, chances are that it’s too late for prevention and your computer is already infected, so we are going to give you what you came here for – a full, step-by-step Karma Lockscreen virus removal guide and a few tips on how to restore your personal files.

Karma Lockscreen Features

Karma Lockscreen can only hit computers running Windows operating system, so if you are using a Mac or a computer with Linux, you shouldn’t worry about it. Luckily, this virus won’t touch your system files, so Windows users infected with Karma Lockscreen will be able to continue using the system. However, access to your personal files will be locked. Unfortunately, they can lock most of the commonly used file types, such as:

.1cd, .3dm, .3ds, .3fr, .3g2, .3gp, .3gp2, .3gpp, .3pr, .7z, .7zip, .aac, .ab4, .abd, .acc, .accda, .accdb, .accdc, .accde, .accdr, .accdt, .accdu, .accdw, .ace, .ach, .acr, .act, .adb, .ade, .adn, .adp, .ads, .agdl, .ai, .aiff, .ait, .al, .amr, .aoi, .apj, .apk, .arj, .arw, .asax, .ascx, .asf, .ashx, .asm, .asmx, .asp, .aspx, .asset, .asx, .atb, .au, .avi, .awg, .back, .backup, .backupdb, .bak, .bank, .bay, .bdb, .bgt, .bik, .bin, .bkp, .blend, .bmp, .bpw, .bsa, .bz, .bz2, .c, .caf, .cash, .cdb, .cdf, .cdr, .cdr3, .cdr4, .cdr5, .cdr6, .cdrw, .cdx, .ce1, .ce2, .cer, .cfg, .cfn, .cgm, .cib, .class, .cls, .cmt, .config, .contact, .cpi, .cpp, .cr2, .craw, .crt, .crw, .cry, .cs, .csh, .cshtml, .csl, .csproj, .css, .csv, .d3dbsp, .dac, .das, .dat, .db, .db_journal, .db3, .dbf, .dbx, .dc2, .dcr, .dcs, .ddd, .ddoc, .ddrw, .dds, .def, .der, .des, .design, .dgc, .dgn, .dit, .djvu, .dng, .doc, .dochtml, .docm, .docx, .docxml, .dot, .dothtml, .dotm, .dotx, .drf, .drw, .dsw, .dtd, .dwg, .dxb, .dxf, .dxg, .edb, .eml, .eps, .erbsql, .erf, .exf, .fdb, .fdf, .ffd, .fff, .fh, .fhd, .fla, .flac, .flb, .flf, .flv, .flvv, .forge, .fpx, .fs, .fsi, .fsproj, .fsscript, .fsx, .fxg, .gbr, .gho, .gif, .gray, .grey, .groups, .gry, .gz, .h, .hbk, .hdd, .hpp, .htaccess, .html, .htpasswd, .ibank, .ibd, .ibz, .idx, .iff, .iif, .iiq, .incpas, .indd, .info, .info_, .ini, .ipsw, .iqy, .iwi, .jar, .java, .jnt, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg, .js, .json, .k2p, .kc2, .kdbx, .kdc, .key, .kpdx, .kwm, .laccdb, .lbf, .lck, .ldf, .lha, .lit, .litemod, .litesql, .lock, .log, .ltx, .lua, .lzh, .m, .m2ts, .m3u, .m4a, .m4p, .m4v, .ma, .mab, .mapimail, .master, .max, .mbx, .md, .mda, .mdb, .mdc, .mdf, .mdp, .mdt, .mef, .mfw, .mid, .mkv, .mlb, .mmw, .mny, .money, .moneywell, .mos, .mov, .mp2, .mp2v, .mp3, .mp4, .mp4v, .mpa, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpg, .mpga, .mpv, .mpv2, .mrw, .msf, .msg, .myd, .nd, .ndd, .ndf, .nef, .nk2, .nop, .nrw, .ns2, .ns3, .ns4, .nsd, .nsf, .nsg, .nsh, .nvram, .nwb, .nx2, .nxl, .nyf, .oab, .obj, .odb, .odc, .odf, .odg, .odm, .odp, .ods, .odt, .ogg, .oil, .omg, .one, .onepkg, .onetoc, .onetoc2, .orf, .ost, .otg, .oth, .otp, .ots, .ott, .p12, .p7b, .p7c, .pab, .pages, .pas, .pat, .pbf, .pcd, .pct, .pdb, .pdd, .pdf, .pdfxml, .pef, .pem, .pfx, .php, .pif, .pl, .plc, .plus_muhd, .pm, .pm!, .pmi, .pmj, .pml, .pmm, .pmo, .pmr, .pnc, .pnd, .png, .pnx, .pot, .pothtml, .potm, .potm, .potx, .ppam, .pps, .ppsm, .ppsm, .ppsx, .ppt, .ppthtml, .pptm, .pptm, .pptx, .pptxml, .prf, .private, .ps, .psafe3, .psd, .pspimage, .pst, .ptx, .pub, .pwm, .pwz, .py, .qba, .qbb, .qbm, .qbr, .qbw, .qbx, .qby, .qcow, .qcow2, .qed, .qtb, .r00, .r01, .r3d, .raf, .ram, .rar, .rat, .raw, .rax, .rdb, .re4, .resx, .rm, .rmm, .rmvb, .rp, .rpt, .rt, .rtf, .rvt, .rw2, .rwl, .rwz, .s3db, .safe, .sas7bdat, .sav, .save, .say, .sd0, .sda, .sdb, .sdf, .settings, .sh, .sldm, .sldx, .slk, .slm, .sln, .sql, .sqlite, .sqlite3, .sqlitedb, .sqlite-shm, .sqlite-wal, .sr2, .srb, .srf, .srs, .srt, .srw, .st4, .st5, .st6, .st7, .st8, .stc, .std, .sti, .stl, .stm, .stw, .stx, .svg, .swf, .sxc, .sxd, .sxg, .sxi, .sxm, .sxw, .tar, .tax, .tbb, .tbk, .tbn, .tex, .tga, .tgz, .thm, .tif, .tiff, .tlg, .tlx, .txt, .upk, .usr, .utorrent, .vb, .vbe, .vbhtml, .vbox, .vbproj, .vbs, .vcf, .vcproj, .vcs, .vcxproj, .vdi, .vdx, .vhd, .vhdx, .vmdk, .vmsd, .vmx, .vmxf, .vob, .vpd, .vsd, .vsix, .vss, .vst, .vsx, .vtx, .wab, .wad, .wallet, .war, .wav, .wb2, .wbk, .web, .wiz, .wm, .wma, .wmf, .wmv, .wmx, .wpd, .wps, .wsf, .wvx, .x11, .x3f, .xdp, .xis, .xla, .xla, .xlam, .xlk, .xlk, .xll, .xlm, .xlr, .xls, .xlsb, .xlsb, .xlshtml, .xlsm, .xlsm, .xlsx, .xlt, .xltm, .xltm, .xltx, .xlw, .xlw, .xml, .xps, .xslt, .xxx, .ycbcra, .yuv, .zip

This is achieved by encrypting files. It’s not so complicated as it might sound at first – cryptography is usually used to protect files, conversations, etc., by changing the structure of the file and making it into a secret code that can be accessed only when decoded, by someone who can reverse the process.

In this case, cyber criminals behind Karma Lockscreen will assign a unique decryption key, that should reverse the process and allow you to use those locked files once again. That sounds great, but there is one bad thing – the key is held by those crooks on some remote server and the only way to access it is to pay a ransom. This is what they say about it:

All your files have been encrypted with Karma ransomware
Your unique GUID for decrypt
Sen 0.119 bitcoin on address
After confirming the payment all your files can be decrypted.
If you do not make payment in 1 days, you will lose the ability to decrypt them AND ALL YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN DELETED

After receiving the payment, we will contact and give you decryption tools and far how to decrpt your files

As you can see, you are asked to pay 0.119 Bitcoins and that converts into $550 at a current exchange rate. Even though it might look like a reasonable amount to pay for your files, we encourage not to do that. You can never be sure that those crooks will keep their word and provide you with decryption key even after paying the ransom. Instead of that, scroll down below and see alternative solutions for this problem.

Karma Lockscreen Removal

First things first, you need to remove the virus itself and only then move to restoring your lost files. To do so, you should download and scan your computer with Spyhunter. Either one of those tools should have no problem with detecting and removing the infection from your system.

Next, you should perform a system restore – this might solve all the problems and return your files into the previous state. If you are not able to do that, please follow a guide provided below.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Karma Lockscreen 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 Karma Lockscreen 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 Karma Lockscreen 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.