Retis ransomware - How to remove

Retis ransomware virus is a typical variant of crypto-malware. It uses and AES cipher to encrypt users’ digital files and marks damaged data with a familiar extension: .crypted. Ransomware samples like Fatboy, Kangaroo and Nemucod all use the same extension.

Retis crypto-virus was first noticed on 19th of December and the sample investigated was called RANSOMWARE.exe. The payload does not encrypt many types of files. It focuses on the following: .txt, .doc, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .jpg, .png, .one, .pdf. Its ransom note is called RANSOM.png which will be set as the wallpaper image.

Retis crypto-virus encodes files and demands ransoms to be sent in 24hours

The detected sample of Retis malware is labeled like this: Gen:Heur.Ransom.MSIL.1, a variant of MSIL/Filecoder.LH, Ransom.FileCryptor and etc (VirusTotal scan). This clear shows that the executable is malicious and will cause severe damage to your digital data and computer.

The background image will be set to display the ransom note and you will be required to pay the ransom in 24 hours. However, there is no information about the amount of the ransom and the bitcoin wallet it should be sent to.

This means that Retis Ransomware could still be in-development like variants called ViiperWare and Popcorn Time infections. However, its payload does create guarded memory regions, reads the active computer name, tries to sleep for a long time and reads information about the supported languages.

In addition to this, it can cause very evident malfunctions and inconveniences in your operating system. For instance, programs will take longer to launch you and you will not be able to use your device as you have been used to.

What is best method to protect yourself from ransomware infections like Retis virus?

Retis malware does not appear to be extremely sophisticated or actively-distributed. However, people might still become infected with it. File decryption is not currently possible, but an original tool for this threat might be released in the future (if the malware becomes relevant and active enough). For the time being, you can use universal file-recovery applications and hope that they will help you recover your files.

Of course, the best option is to have your digital files stored in backup storages. These utilities will guarantee that your data is going to be protected from harm that ransomware infection can inflict. The original files are going to get encrypted, but it does not really matter: you will have an alternative source to retrieve them.

Before doing this, we advise you to remove the Retis ransomware infection from your device. If you won’t, then the file-recovery is redundant. Some crypto-malware variants can re-encrypt data. However, if you have not stored your digital files in backup storages, the situation is a little more complicated. The last resort is to check whether the infection eliminated all Shadow Volume copies. If not, then it is possible to recover them without paying the ransom.

How to recognize that you are targeted by vicious malware like Retis crypto-virus?

One of the presumed ways to transmit infection of Retis ransomware is to send around malicious email letters. If your inbox features a suspicious message from an unknown source, be extremely careful with its content. Most of the malspam includes attachments or URLs that lead users into deceptive/malware transmitting websites. For this purpose, we hope that you will be extremely when it comes to downloading files from email letters.

It is important that you would appropriately protect your operating system from harm. One of the best ways to do this is to install an anti-malware tool. Spyhunter is a highly-respected application which will provide you with the necessary protection. It is regularly updated to find new infections and will not overload your computer during scanning. This is the best option to choose. However, you can also take a look at the guidelines for manual removal of Retis crypto-virus.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Retis 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 Retis 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 Retis 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.