KRIPTOR Virus 🔐 (.KRIPTOR Files) — How to Remove?

Kriptor virus: what is known so far?

Kriptor will append its specific .Kriptor extension to every file’s name. For instance, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.Kriptor”. Just like the Excel table with the name “table.xlsx” will be renamed to “table.xlsx.Kriptor”, and so on.

In each directory containing the encrypted files, a read_it.txt text document will be found. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. That is it.

Name	Kriptor Virus
Ransomware family1	Chaos ransomware
Extension	.Kriptor
Ransomware note	read_it.txt
Detection2	MSIL/Slithermon.A, MSIL/Filecoder.SLAM.A, OScope.Trojan.MSIL.Basic.8
Symptoms	Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .Kriptor extension and you can’t open them.
Fix Tool	GridinSoft Anti-MalwareSee If Your System Has Been Affected by Kriptor virus

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Kriptor looks like. Each filename has the “.Kriptor” extension added to it.

That is how encrypted “.Kriptor” files look.

How did Kriptor ransomware end up on my PC?

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for malefactors to have ransomware planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer networks.

If you access your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file model³. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your PC pretending to be something legal. For instance, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some service. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. Since the update file can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Kriptor virus?

Often criminals would unblock several of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. Since Kriptor virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software designers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the criminals succeed in encrypting victim’s essential data, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. However, paying to racketeers gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about criminals simply disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external drive. Of course, that might be not enough. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also wise to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Kriptor, that work similarly. Examples of those are Eewt, Adww, Oflg, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Kriptor are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: files become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encoded files.

Some fortunate users were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How сan I avert ransomware infection?

You can protect your PC from ransomware infiltration in several easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailers with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious email with caution. A hoax letter will always have a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.
• And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect defense for your personal computer.

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft">⁵.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your computer.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your system for Kriptor infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has finished, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.Kriptor” files?Can I somehow access “.Kriptor” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.Kriptor” files you will not be able to access them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.Kriptor” files ASAP. How can I do that?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Kriptor virus?

Absolutely not! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with active viruses. The virus that has infected your device is probably still functional and launching checks periodically to encrypt any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has already been said, the Kriptor ransomware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your PC after some time.

🤔 What to do if the Kriptor ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

In such an unfortunate situation, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encodes any new files created or brought into your computer. To suppress this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to give those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, cellphone, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ file recovery programs⁶ to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.

Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

• In the United States: On Guard Online;
• In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
• In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
• In Australia: SCAMwatch;
• In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
• In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
• In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
• In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

References

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Encyclopedia of threats.
3. You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
4. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site:
5. More information about GridinSoft products:
6. Here’s the list of the best 10 file recovery tools of 2021.