Lokas Ransomware - How to remove

Lokas is a virus that infects Windows computers and encrypts files to make them inaccessible to the user. The people responsible for this virus ultimately seek to make money off of their victims by convincing them that their files will be fixed for payment. Luckily, there are a few other options for restoring the files.

Lokas is a member of the STOP ransomware family, together with Djvu, Kiratos, and Kroput, among others. For as long as the criminals behind these infections aren’t caught, they don’t seem to be slowing down. They upload their viruses online, disguised as familiar applications, hidden in piracy tools like software cracks. When the victim downloads and runs the virus, Lokas in this case, it doesn’t take much time at all for their files to be corrupted, the heavy resource usage disguised by a fake Windows Update pop-up.

What is Lokas?

This is a cyber-extortion scheme that uses file encryption to pry money out of the victims. This virus is severe and can result in all of your locked files being lost forever. We will talk about the potential ways to restore your files, but first, how do you know that it’s the Lokas virus that’s infected your computer?

A common symptom of a file-locking ransomware infection is that some files become unopenable and non-functional. If you check your files and have the type extensions visible, or are viewing the files in a detailed view, files encrypted by Lokas will be of the LOKAS type, with “.lokas” appended to their names.

picture.jpg.lokas

You might also be redirected from some websites and be unable to access them (that can be fixed by editing your hosts file).

Can the files be restored?

Although there is no guaranteed way to restore all the encrypted files, there are a few options that can help restore some of the files. These are listed below this article, in the guide. Of course, they aren’t needed for those who had backups of their files which did not get infected.

The alternative file recovery options rely on copies of the encrypted files made before the infection. This is because the encryption used by Lokas is nearly unbreakable. It uses public-key encryption to lock the data needed for decrypting the files. Public-key cryptography is very secure and can’t be cracked — it’s not a realistic option.

However, a researcher known as @demonslay335 has been working hard on a partial solution that probably relies on an imperfect implementation of the encryption. Criminals often cut corners to make their ransomware faster and more universal. If a free decryption solution ever pans out, you might want to keep your Lokas-locked files in a backup. Store them somewhere where they won’t be deleted or edited and check the news on Lokas or STOP/DJVU ransomware periodically. At the moment, though, there is no free decryption.

Finally, there is the option to pay the criminals, but you should be very, very careful with it. People often report that they did not receive their decryption keys even after having paid — this makes sense, as the payments are done in such a way that refunding is not an option. On top of that, many of the Lokas-infected computers have a banking trojan installed and thus, their private data like passwords can be leaked to the extortionists. Don’t access your bank account from the infected computer.

How to remove Lokas ransomware

It’s likely that Lokas has infected your computer through some infected program — a software crack, a key generator, or something similar. Removing that program certainly won’t restore the files and likely will not remove the infection. Unless you have a lot of technical skills, a scan with a powerful antivirus program (like Spyhunter) is your best bet. Additionally, it’s important to update your antivirus program — Lokas might have messed with its settings to keep it from catching the infection.

Lokas’ sibling viruses are known for distributing a banking trojan, Azorult. This trojan makes it very risky for you to perform any financial or other sensitive operations by stealing data from the infected computer. After you remove it with an antivirus program, it might be a good idea to change your passwords, especially if any were stored in text on your PC.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Lokas 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 Lokas 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 Lokas 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.