MegaCortex Virus - How to remove

MegaCortex is a cryptovirus that affects computers running a Windows operating system. The virus locks the files on the infected machine, then demands money for restoring them. Computer viruses that take away access to files and then demand money are called ransomware, and ransomware has been a persistent and growing threat to computer security for the last few years.

Files encrypted by MegaCortex can be recognised by the .aes128ctr extension. The most popular files types are affected: documents and spreadsheets, archives, media files. Once encrypted by MegaCortex, the files are not openable anymore, not just because their extension is new, but because cryptography has been used to lock them. You can encrypt your own files on Windows to restrict access to sensitive information, but criminals have weaponised the encryption technology to extort money from people.

After MegaCortex is done locking the files, it leaves you a ransom note named !!!_READ_ME_!!!.txt.

Your companies cyber defense systems have been weighed, measured and have been found wanting.
The breach is a result of grave neglect of security protocols.
All of your computers have been corrupted with MegaCortex malware that has encrypted your files.

We ensure that the only way to retrieve your data swiftly and securely is with our software.
Restoration of your data requires a private key which only we possess.
Don’t waste your time and money purchasing third party software, without the private key they are useless.

It is critical that you don’t restart or shutdown your computer.
This may lead to irreversible damage to your data and you may not be able to turn your computer back on.

To confirm that our software works email to us 2 files from random computers and C:\fracxidg.tsv file(‘s) and you will get them decrypted.
C:\fracxidg.tsv contain encrypted session keys we need in order to be able to decrypt your files.

The softwares price will include a guarantee that your company will never be inconvenienced by us.
You will also receive a consultation on how to improve your companies cyber security .
If you want to purchase our software to restore your data contact us at:

[email protected]
[email protected]

We can only show you the door. You’re the one who has to walk through it.

Email addresses for contacting the developers of MegaCortex are provided: [email protected] and [email protected]. They expect people to write to them to negotiate the price and get the payment information.

Ransomware targets small businesses

Ransomware costs a lot of money and is a growing threat, especially to small businesses. A lot of people who pay the ransom don’t successfully restore the files, so the MegaCortex extortionists offer to prove that they can fix the files by decrypting 2 sample files. Just because they can decrypt the files does not mean that they will, though.

As can be seen in the MegaCortex ransom note, the criminals see themselves as providing a service of finding security holes and feel that they deserve a thanks in the form of money. These particular extortionists even offer a promise to never attack the victim again and to consult them on the matters of cybersecurity. Of course, the MegaCortex developers have no power over any of the other online criminals, so they can’t guarantee that no more ransomware attacks will happen again, and there are already resources out there about how to protect yourself against computer viruses.

Like businesses, individuals are also vulnerable to ransomware attacks, and often suffer from them, but their ransom price is usually only a few hundreds of dollars instead of a few thousands. Individual people have even less power to do anything about criminals like MegaCortex developers. Occasionally, ransomware developers are arrested, but it is rare and new cryptoviruses emerge all the time.

How does ransomware infect computers?

Remote Desktop Protocol is a commonly exploited vulnerability. Secure your connection with strong passwords, and don’t keep it available when you don’t need it. If a criminal gets access to a computer with RD, they might do worse than ransomware: they could install spyware and get private data like banking information and passwords.

Emails with infected attachments are another problem. People who distribute ransomware like MegaCortex usually use spam emails with malicious attachments to spread their ransomware. Social engineering is employed to manipulate people to open the malicious files. So don’t open email attachments that you are not certain about. Scan every single file before opening it, or use an environment that cannot be infected. Macro viruses are a problem that Microsoft is aware of and has been trying to solve.

How to be safe against ransomware attacks

Have up-to-date backups of your files and experiment with restoring to see how quickly you can get back to normal work after an attack. Even if you pay the ransom and the MegaCortex developers do help you restore the files, it will take time — not necessarily any less than getting back to work would if you have a plan and are prepared. Additionally, MegaCortex infection is not the only situation where backups would be helpful. Theft and the disk breaking are both situations where it’s useful to have your files saved separately from your computer.

Use complicated passwords and two-factor authentication to make sure that your accounts are safe. Be careful of phishing, don’t give away your passwords this way, but if you have fallen for a scam, remember to change your passwords. Do it periodically and do not use the same login information for multiple important accounts.

Be aware of social engineering and don’t trust mysterious important files, especially if they ask you to run a macro. No normal documents need to be able to run macros to display correctly, so it’s a sign that the file is malicious. And opening one malicious file could result in MegaCortex or another cryptovirus breaking all of your files — you can never be too careful.

How to remove Megacortex ransomware and restore the files

First, you should remove the infection from your computer. Use a professional antivirus programs, like Spyhunter. Scan your machine and remove MegaCortex and any other threats.

If you don’t have a backup of your files, try following the guide below to use Windows built-in features to restore your lost files — it might work. If you do have your files saved, simply copy them to your computer.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore MegaCortex 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 MegaCortex 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 MegaCortex 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.