Mpal ransomware - How to remove

Mpal ransomware is a new edition of the Djvu malware. Mpal comes with pirated and fake files downloaded from shady websites. It then installs adware and encrypts your files. Encryption breaks the files and then Mpal asks for money to fix them. Mpal also brings a trojan, as detected by many antivirus programs (VirusTotal link).

Details on Mpal ransomware:

Type of threat	Ransomware, trojan.
How Mpal infects computers	Downloaded with malicious files, installs a trojan, breaks the antivirus program, blocks cybersecurity websites.
How to restore your files	Restore from a backup, use data recovery software, repair files manually, scan with the free decryptor.
How to delete Mpal	Unblock security sites and fix the task manager, use anti-malware programs (like Spyhunter to find and remove malware.

How Mpal infects computers

Downloaded from shady sites

Mpal ransomware is very similar to other Djvu ransomware: Mpaj, Repp, Redl, and others. Mpal is the newest, but soon, it’ll be replaced with another ransomware. It’s been going on for months. And how these infections spread is the same all the time, too.

Mpal hides in pirated “free” files on shady websites.

It’s not necessarily a pirating problem. Normally, pirating sites try to weed out the infected files. And the experienced pirates know how to protect themselves (check the reputation of each file, make regular file backups). The links that lead to Mpal infections get promoted by shady accounts in social media and by deceptive Youtube videos. People who just want to get a free game, Office suite, or another program, might not even realize that they’re trying to do something illegal. As such, they may not realize how many malicious actors, such as the distributors of Mpal, are out there, trying to take advantage.

Don’t download cracked games and free programs and don’t follow shady links from social media sites. Use trusted websites or just stick to using legal means of acquiring software. Also, use a good antivirus program to scan every file.

Broken settings and files

Once you download the infected file and open it, Mpal infects your computer and makes a few very unwelcome changes:

• It uses a cryptographic algorithm to encrypt many of the files on your computer. The same technology used to hide private information is used by Mpal to break your files.
• Mpal also deletes file backups made by Windows just in case of your files being broken.
• It also deletes antivirus files, breaks the Task Manager (the program that allows you to manage other running programs), and blocks many websites that deal with cybersecurity.
• Finally, Mpal may install the trojan Azorult. This trojan can download adware that shows pop-up ads, as well as steal data from your computer, such as passwords that were saved in your browser.

Mpal encrypts only portions of your bigger files, but it’s still enough to break most files. Plus, this allows Mpal to do a lot of harm very quickly.

You can tell which of your files were broken by Mpal by which have the new “.mpal” extension. This is just a label added by the ransomware. Removing it does not change the files and doesn’t fix them.

How to remove Mpal and restore the files

Fix the files

First of all, the files that Mpal broke – your files that this ransomware encrypted – are not dangerous and not need to be removed. They don’t contain malware and they won’t infect your other devices. In fact, you should make copies of the files before touching them. Always have backups of the original files, as they were encrypted by Mpal. A small edit can render them undecryptable.

There’s no single way to fix your .mpal files but there are a few options:

• Restore your files from a backup. If you kept your important files on an external storage device, uploaded them somewhere, or sent them out in email attachments, you can get those files back.
• Check the bottom of this post for how to get your files’ copies back by using data recovery tools. This is hard to do, though, and requires some technical knowledge, as well as luck.
• Some of the files that Mpal encrypted can be partially repaired. For example, remove the “.mpal” from the name of an archive (such as a Zip file) and open it – you should find some of the files still functional. Check out this post on repairing JPEG files. Doesn’t work for small files, like text files.
• Finally, you can scan the Mpal-encrypted files with the Emsisoft decryptor. It will tell you if any of your files can, in theory, be recovered in the future without paying the ransom.

Delete Mpal

But before that, Mpal needs to be removed.

If your antivirus program was broken by Mpal and now doesn’t detect anything, you should reinstall it. Fix the settings that allow Task Manager to work, unblock security sites by following the instructions below, and download your antivirus program. Then scan your computer.

Scan your computer with an anti-malware program and remove all the suspicious files and programs found. This includes the Mpal ransomware, the file that infected your computer, and the trojan that might have been installed alongside Mpal.

Important -- edit the hosts file to unblock security websites

TL DR : The hosts file is edited to block security sites Before the virus can be removed, it's necessary to fix the hosts file (the file which controls which addresses connect to which IPs). That is the reason the majority of security websites is inaccessible when infected with this particular parasite. This infection edits this file to stop certain websites, including anti-malware download sites, from being accessed from the infected computer, making browsers return the "This site can't be reached" error. Luckily, it's trivial to fix the file and remove the edits that were made to it.

Find and edit the hosts file

The hosts file can be found on C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts. If you don't see it, change the settings to see hidden files.

1. In the Start Menu, search for Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, find Appearance and Personalization.
3. Select Folder Options.
4. Open the View tab.
5. Open Advanced settings.
6. Select "Show hidden files...".
7. Select OK.

Open this file with administrator privileges.

1. Open the Start Menu and enter "notepad".
2. When Notepad shows up in the result, right-click on it.
3. In the menu, choose "Run as administrator"
4. File->Open and browse for the hosts file.

The hosts file should look like this: Delete additional lines that they connect various domain names to the wrong IP address. Save the file.

Download and run the antivirus program

After that, download antivirus programs and use them to remove the ransomware, the trojan, and other malware. Spyhunter (https://www.2-viruses.com/reviews/spyhunter/dwnld/).

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Mpal 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 Mpal ransowmare 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 Mpal 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.