Wal ransomware - How to remove

Wal ransomware is a relatively new file-locking virus. It sweeps through the victim’s disk, runs an encrypting algorithm on the files, and hides the key that could unlock them. Now the files can no longer be opened, viewed, or edited.

The files that have been encrypted by Wal are renamed by adding a suffix with the criminals’ email address and the unfamiliar file extension “wal”.

[old file name].[old file type].[id-random].[[email protected]].wal

After Wal has finished encrypting the files, it leaves a text file with a short note from the extortionists named “FILES ENCRYPTED.txt” in which the criminals provide their email addresses — [email protected] and [email protected]. A popup window is opened, too, displaying a message from Wal where you’re asked to pay a ransom to get your files back. The popup window is very similar to the Dharma-Btc Virus one.

all your data has been locked us
You want to return?

It’s best to avoid paying this ransom because it is likely that the cybercriminals will leave you hanging. There is no mechanism that would guarantee that the files are restored when the money is sent to Wal developers. On top of that, the criminals are right about one thing: if you pay a third party for decryption, they might just go to Wal developers to buy it, and take from you even more money than you would have paid the extortionists. There are other ways to try to restore the files and remove the Wal virus.

What is the damage done by Wal?

What Wal does when it encrypts the files is more than just change their extension, or use a symmetric algorithm that would allow the encryption to be reversed easily; Wal takes the fundamental contents of the files — the ones and nulls in the memory — and scrambles them into something unrecognisable using public-key encryption. And unless the decryption key is found, these files are broken.

The decryption key for each victim can be found with the criminals who developed Wal, but is accessible to the victims of this virus — unless the ransom is paid, in which case the key is supposed to be provided together with the decryption tool. How much money is being asked for is not specified, but, in most cases of ransomware, the price of decryption for an individual computer is at least a few hundred dollars, no more than a thousand.

The way that ransomware like Wal is distributed might indicate that more malware is infecting your computer. Cryptoviruses are sometimes installed together with spyware and other dangerous programs. If you were to use the infected computer to do your banking operations and a virus was taking your passwords and sending them to online criminals, this would put your future online security in danger.

wal ransomware

How to fix the damage done by Wal

Currently, there is no way to freely decrypt the files that were locked by Wal. Antivirus programs like Spyhunter can find and remove malware that could have been installed together with the cryptovirus, though. And, if you want to wait for a free way to decrypt your files to be developed, you can keep the encrypted files until then. So far decryption for Wal is not yet available, but a tool for a few other Dharma cryptoviruses has been developed, with the help of someone leaking the decryption keys back in 2016.

For now, after you have scanned your computer and removed malware — if any was found — restore the files from a backup. If you don’t have a backup, below there is a guide on how to do a System Restore.

The cryptovirus infections of the Dharma family often come through Remote Desktop Protocol, so make sure that RD login is complex, and connection only available when you need it to be.


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How to recover Wal 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 RestartOK.
  • Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
  • Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Windows 7 enter safe mode

for Windows 8 / 10
  • Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart. Windows 8-10 restart to safe mode
  • Choose TroubleshootAdvanced OptionsStartup Settings and click Restart.
  • When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings. Windows 8-10 enter safe mode
 

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.CMD commands
  • Click “Next” in the windows that appeared. Restore point img1
  • Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Wal ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”. Restore point img2
  • To start System restore click “Yes”. Restore point img3
 

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

Step 3. Restore Wal 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 Wal 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 PropertiesPrevious 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.
Previous version
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.
Shadow explorer

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Wal 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. Data Recovery Pro
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.
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