Kraken Cryptor Ransomware - How to remove

Kraken Cryptor Ransomware – a new crypto virus that can cause a lot of problems regarding your cyber security. Various cyber security experts already confirmed that it is a new variant of notorious amnesia virus, even though the name of this virus suggests that it might be somehow related to Kraken ransomware. Unfortunately, Kraken Cryptor is even more advanced – it can lock files using very complicated techniques, thus it makes it even more difficult to decrypt files that have been affected by Kraken Cryptor.

If you are wondering what’s going to happen when Kraken Cryptor ransomware infects your computer, the scenario is quite scary. Most of your personal files will be locked using strong cryptography and you will be asked to pay the ransom in an exchange of decryption tool, which should allow you to unlock your files.

Before you get to any actions regarding this infection, we would like to say that there are other methods to solve this problem without paying the ransom. Even if those locked files are really important to you, please do not rush to pay the ransom right away. Kraken Cryptor can be removed and your files can be restored using other techniques and tools, so please keep reading this article and we will provide you with instructions on how to do that.

Kraken Cryptor Virus Description

It is obvious that Kraken Cryptor is targeting users from post-soviet states. This might suggest that developers of Kraken Cryptor are also from Russia or nearby area, yet it is not confirmed. Also, if you do not like in one of those post-soviet countries, it is not guaranteed that you won’t get infected. Targeting users from this region and asking them to pay a ransom is not a very clever thing to do, because average income in those countries is not the highest, to say the least.

Kraken Cryptor infection is advanced enough to attempt stopping various processes that are running on the computer once it is inside. It is known that Kraken Cryptor targets processes associated with Microsoft Office, Mozilla Firefox, Notepad, Thunderbird and various anti-malware or anti-virus programs. Also, it can try to delete all backups and shadow volume copies that are stored on the system.

Most of the features of Kraken Cryptor are really ordinary and similar to other ransomware infections, such as SARansom, NinjaLoc, Ryuk ransomware, but that does not make it easier to deal with this virus.

We always recommend our users to protect their computers with free anti-malware software that features real-time protection and can stop infections like this on the go. Try Plumbytes or IObit Malware Fighter.

How Kraken Cryptor Encrypts Files

We have already mentioned that this virus employs very complicated techniques to encrypt files stored on the infected system. They use RSA, AES, RC4, and Salsa20 ’cryptographies’ to do that. Immediately after kraken.exe file is dropped on the system, it will scan the hard drive for files that can be encrypted and will do that. Every encrypted file will have “.lock.onion” extension added at the end. So if you had a file named as “file.txt.”, after the encryption, it will look like “file.txt.lock.onion”.

When that is done, a ransom note will be automatically opened and displayed to you. It goes like this:

What happened to my computer?

All of your files such as documents. images. videos and other files with the different names and extensions are encrypted by “KRAKEN CRYPTOR”!
The speed, power and complexity of this encryption have been high and if you are now viewing this guide.

It means that “KRAKEN CRYPTOR” immediately removed form your system!

No way to recovery your files without “KRAKEN DECRYPTOR” software and your computer “UNIQUE KEY”!

You need to buy it rom us because only we can help you!

what the mean is encryption?

In cryptography. encryption is the process of encoding a message or information in such a way that only authorized parties can access it.
And t ose who are not authorized cannot.

How can recover my files?

we guarantee that you can recover all your files soon safely.

You can decrypt one of your encrypted smaller file for free in the first contact wfith us.

For the decryption serv ce, we a so need your “KRAKEN ENCRYPTED UNIQUE KEY” you can see this in the top!

Are you want to decrypt all of your encrypted files? if yes! You need to pay for decryption service to us!

After your payment made. all of your encrypted files has been decrypted.

How much is need to pay?

You need to pay (0.125 BTC), payment only can made as Bitcoins.

This links help you to understand whats s a Bitcoins and how it work:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sitcoins

How to obtain Bitcoins?

The easiest way to buy Bitcoins is LocalBitcoins website.

You must register on this site and click “BUY Bitcoins” then choose your country to find sellers and their prices.
https://localsitcoins.com/buy_aitcoins

Other places to buy Bitcoins in exchange for other currencies:

https://Bitcoins.org/en/exchanges

Cyber criminals are encouraging you to send them one encrypted file so they can decrypt it and prove that they have the technology to do that. However, we do not recommend to get in touch with them under any circumstances.

They are asking for 0.125 BTC for the decryptor and that translates into $800. That’s a lot of money even if you really do need your files back.

How To Eliminate Kraken Cryptor

We have advised you not to pay the ransom, because we can suggest other alternatives to it. First of all, you should get rid of this infection. It can be easily done by scanning your computer with Spyhunter. It will detect and remove the virus instantly, but your files will still remain locked, so you have to take care of that as well.

To restore your files that are locked by Kraken Cryptor, you can perform a system restore. However, to be able to do that, you need to have a backup copy of your files that was made before the infection. Also, you can try to use some of the free file recovery tools that are available online.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Kraken Cryptor 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 Kraken Cryptor 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 Kraken Cryptor 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.