Remove Pandemic ransomware And Restore Encrypted Files

Simple Steps To Delete Pandemic ransomware

Pandemic ransomware is a destructive file-locking virus that has been designed by potent cyber criminals to encrypt users’ crucial files and extort ransom money from them. The sole motive of the hackers behind developing this hazardous crypto-malware is to create panic among the users and force them to make the demanded payment. Like any other ransomware program, it also often gets silent penetration into the Windows computers without users’ approval and then makes critical changes in system’s settings to get automatically activated every time the PC is started.

Depth Analysis of Pandemic ransomware:

Pandemic ransomware can compromise almost all types of data including videos, audios, documents, presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs etc. and make them totally useless. It uses a very powerful encryption algorithm to encode the targeted files and also renames them by adding its own extension with each of them as suffix. Due to this weird extension, you can easily identify the locked data. After completing the encryption process, this notorious threat displays a ransom note and asks victims to contact the attackers via the provided email address.

Pandemic ransomware authors demand a huge sum of ransom to get the decryption software and open the locked files. At the end, you might have to pay them $200 to $1500 in BitCoins which is not a small amount. You are also offered to decrypt few files for free to test the decryption that have to be sent with the email. Hackers promise that they will deliver the functional decryptor once the payment is made.

Should You Pay The Ransom?

This is possibly one of the hardest decisions that the affected people could make. Everyone should remember that if you pay the demanded fee to the criminals, it will only encourage them to drop more viruses in the machine for further profits. Monetary benefits gained from the infections act as a very strong motivator for the criminals. Therefore, paying the ransom starts a never-ending circle of ransomware attacks for all types of businesses and even individual PC users.

What Should The Victims Do?

If you are a victimized person, the first thing you need to here is to perform Pandemic ransomware removal from the computer as early as possible. For data-recovery, you can use a backup that you would have made on any external drive. However, in the absence of a proper backup, you can try a reliable and powerful file-recovery application. In addition, experts strongly suggest keep making frequent backups that can be very useful in restoring the compromised data if such precarious situation takes place whenever.

Threat Summary

Name: Pandemic ransomware

Type: Ransomware, Crypto-virus

Short Description: Deadly virus that encrypts users’ important files and then asks them to pay the attackers a sum of ransom to get the decryption software.

Symptoms: Victims cannot open files stored on their computers, earlier functional files now have different extension, A ransom demanding message is displayed on the desktop screen. Users are asked to pay an amount of ransom to unlock their encoded data and files.

Distribution methods: Spam emails, Torrent websites, peer to peer network sharing, unofficial activation and updating tools.

Damage: All files are encrypted and cannot be accessed without paying ransom, Additional password stealing Trojans and malware infections can be installed along with ransomware infections and other malware.

Removal: To remove this virus from the system, we advise you to use a reliable anti-malware tool. Once malware gets removed, you can recover your files by using existing backup or data-recovery software.

How Does This Crypto-Malware Intrude Your PC?

It is almost impossible to identify vicious files inserted into emails, fake download, software and similar medium. It is only possible by using professional anti-virus suite. And hence, the main precautionary measure that users can take is the strongest possible security system. Full-featured security package and frequently updated software should ensure the maximum, still not hundred-percent, protection from cyber threats.

Keep in mind that the most common crypto-virus distribution method is spam. Injected with spiteful links and attachments, spam emails can be spread in masses or targeting specific users. Anyway, it’s possible to discern the danger of the email by careful analysis of its sender, main body text, type, grammar, and similar traits. Besides, you can always use the email scan feature that most of the professional AV tools offer. But at the moment, you are highly recommended to remove Pandemic ransomware from the PC without wasting any time.

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows

Click Here For Mac

Step 1: Remove Pandemic ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Delete Pandemic ransomware using “System Restore”

Step 1: Remove Pandemic ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

For Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Boot the PC in “Safe Mode”. Click on “Start” option and continuously press on F8 during the start process until the “Windows Advanced Option” menu appears on the screen. Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” from the list.

Now, a windows homescreen appears on the desktop and work-station is now working on “Safe mode with networking”.

For Windows 8 Users: Go to the “Start Screen”. In the search results select settings, type “Advanced”. In the “General PC Settings” option, choose “Advanced startup” option. Again, click on the “Restart Now” option. The work-station boots to “Advanced Startup Option Menu”. Press on “Troubleshoot” and then “Advanced options” button.  In the “Advanced Option Screen”, press on “Startup Settings”. Again, click on “Restart” button. The work-station will now restart in to the “Startup Setting” screen. Next is to press F5 to boot in Safe Mode in Networking.

For Windows 10 Users: Press on Windows logo and on the “Power” icon. In the newly opened menu, choose “Restart” while continuously holding “Shift” button on the keyboard. In the new open “Choose an option” window, click on “Troubleshoot” and then on the “Advanced Options”. Select “Startup Settings” and press on “Restart”. In the next window, click on “F5” button on the key-board.

Step 2: Delete Pandemic ransomware using “System Restore”

Log-in to the account infected with Pandemic ransomware. Open the browser and download a legitimate anti-malware tool. Do a full System scanning. Remove all the malicious detected entries.

In case if you cannot start the PC in “Safe Mode with Networking”, Try using “System Restore”

• During the “Startup”, continuously press on F8 key until the “Advanced Option” menu appears. From the list, choose “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” and then press “Enter”

• In the new opened command prompt, enter “cd restore” and then press “Enter”.

• Type: rstrui.exe and Press “ENTER”

• Click “Next” on the new windows

• Choose any of the “Restore Points” and click on “Next”. (This step will restore the work-station to its earlier time and date prior to Pandemic ransomware infiltration in the PC.

• In the newly opened windows, press on “Yes”.

Once your PC gets restored to its previous date and time, download the recommended anti-malware tool and perform a deep scanning in order to remove Pandemic ransomware files if they left in the work-station.

In order to restore the each (separate) file by this ransomware, use “Windows Previous Version” feature. This method is effective when “System Restore Function” is enabled in the work-station.

Important Note: Some variants of Pandemic ransomware delete the “Shadow Volume Copies” as well hence this feature may not work all the time and is applicable for selective computers only.

How to Restore Individual Encrypted File:

In order to restore a single file, right click on it and go to “Properties”. Select “Previous Version” tab. Select a “Restore Point” and click on “Restore” option.

In order to access the files encrypted by Pandemic ransomware, you can also try using “Shadow Explorer”. In order to get more information on this application, press here.

Important: Data Encryption Ransomware are highly dangerous and it is always better that you take precautions to avoid its attack on your work-station. It is advised to use a powerful anti-malware tool in order to get protection in real-time. With this help of “SpyHunter”, “group policy objects” are implanted in the registries in order to block harmful infections like Pandemic ransomware.

Also, In Windows 10, you get a very unique feature called “Fall Creators Update” that offer “Controlled Folder Access” feature in order to block any kind of encryption to the files. With the help of this feature, any files stored in the locations such as “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, “Videos”, “Favorites” and “Desktop” folders are safe by default.

It is very important that you install this “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update” in your PC to protect your important files and data from ransomware encryption. The more information on how to get this update and add an additional protection form rnasomware attack has been discussed here.

How to Recover the Files Encrypted by Pandemic ransomware?

Till now, you would have understood that what had happed to your personal files that got encrypted and how you can remove the scripts and payloads associated with Pandemic ransomware in order to protect your personal files that has not been damaged or encrypted until now. In order to retrieve the locked files, the depth information related to “System Restore” and “Shadow Volume Copies” has already been discussed earlier. However, in case if you are still unable to access the encrypted files then you can try using a data recovery tool.

Use of Data Recovery Tool

This step is for all those victims who have already tries all the above mentioned process but didn’t find any solution. Also it is important that you are able to access the PC and can install any software. The data recovery tool works on the basis of System scanning and recovery algorithm. It searches the System partitions in order to locate the original files which were deleted, corrupted or damaged by the malware. Remember that you must not re-install the Windows OS otherwise the “previous” copies will get deleted permanently. You have to clean the work-station at first and remove Pandemic ransomware infection. Leave the locked files as it is and follow the steps mentioned below.

Step1: Download the software in the work-station by clicking on the “Download” button below.

Step2: Execute the installer by clicking on downloaded files.

Step3: A license agreement page appears on the screen. Click on “Accept” to agree with its terms and use. Follow the on-screen instruction as mentioned and click on “Finish” button.

Step4: Once the installation gets completed, the program gets executed automatically. In the newly opened interface, select the file types that you want to recover and click on “Next”.

Step5: You can select the “Drives” on which you want the software to run and execute the recovery process. Next is to click on the “Scan” button.

Step6: Based on drive you select for scanning, the restore process begins. The whole process may take time depending on the volume of the selected drive and number of files. Once the process gets completed, a data explorer appears on the screen with preview of that data that is to be recovered. Select the files that you want to restore.

Step7. Next is to locate the location where you want to saver the recovered files.