Remove Gray Hat Ransomware: Decrypt Locked Data

Gray Hat Ransomware: Simple Uninstall Guide

Gray Hat Ransomware is a precarious file-encrypting malware that locks files and documents stored inside the Windows computers and then asks victims to pay the attackers a hefty sum of ransom for their decryption. Also known as Clay Ransomware, it marks the compromised data with “.clay” extension, and hence, they can easily be identified. The Gray Hat virus can infect almost all kinds of files including images, audios, videos, documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, etc. and make them totally useless. Initially upon getting into the machine, this precarious crypto-threat changes the settings of registry editors to create persistence and get automatically activated with each PC startup.

Gray Hat Ransomware Shows Ransom Notes After Encryption:

Once the encryption process is complete, Gray Hat Ransomware displays couple of ransom notes in a pop-up window and “___RECOVER__FILES__.clay.txt” text file and informs the victimized users regarding the attack. They are also instructed to pay the attackers a ransom amount of 0.01 BTC (Bitcoin cryptocurrency) to regain access to the compromised data. The amount is worth approximately 500 USD at the current exchange rate (rate keeps fluctuating). Once the transaction is made to the provided cryptowallet, victims have to send the proof of the transaction to the offenders.

Paying Ransom Is Not Recommended:

Quite often, data encrypted by Gray Hat Ransomware or other crypto-viruses cannot be opened without the interference of the criminals. No matter what the circumstance is, you are expressly advised against making any sort of payment to the attackers or even contacting them. This is because victims usually don’t obtain the required tools despite meeting the ransom demands. Moreover, paying ransom to such people will only enforce the idea that ransomware is a business model that works and is highly beneficial. So, never do that and focus on Gray Hat Ransomware removal from the computer immediately.

Restore Data From Backup:

Fulfilling criminals’ demands is not a clever thing to do under any circumstance as it will not result positive. Instead, try to recover the contaminated files by using backup created before the attack and stored on any external drive. Creating and maintaining backups is strongly recommended as it can be very helpful in retrieving the compromised data in such perilous situation. However, if you don’t have an appropriate backup, then the only option left for you is to try a powerful file-recovery application which you can download at this very place using the link provided under this article.

Distribution Of Gray Hat Ransomware:

Gray Hat Ransomware or other crypto-viruses are mostly spread with the help of phishing emails. These deceptive mails are disguised as “important”, “urgent”, or “Priority”, or pretend to be from some well-known companies or other entities. Nonetheless, they are specially designed to trick recipients into downloading and opening the virulent file attached to them which trigger the installation of the malware. The virulent file could be in multiple formats e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), Microsoft Office and PDF documents, archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

To prevent such lethal attacks, files attached to suspicious or irrelevant emails should not be opened. Moreover, avoid using unreliable download channels, e.g., Peer-to-Peer sharing networks (eMule, Torrent clients, Gnutella, etc.), unofficial and free file-hosting (freeware) websites, and other third-party downloaders, and rely only on official providers, trustworthy sources, and direct download links for your software and products. If your PC is already contaminated with this parasite, you must remove Gray Hat Ransomware from the machine as soon as possible.

Text Presented In The Pop-up Window:

HACKED BY CLAY

GRAY HAT

!Your files (count: -) have been encrypted

In order to recover your data…

Please send 0.01 Bitcoin(s) to the following BTC address:

bc1q6dkqnmj3ynetnk3asypm5malwd3se0ylcld5gh

Next, E-mail your transaction ID to the following address:

[email protected]

Text Presented In The “___RECOVER__FILES__.clay.txt” File:

All of your files have been encrypted.

To unlock them, please send 0.01 bitcoin(s) to BTC address: bc1q6dkqnmj3ynetnk3asypm5malwd3se0ylcld5gh

Afterwards, please email your transaction ID to: [email protected]

Thank you and have a nice day!

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows

Click Here For Mac

Step 1: Remove Gray Hat Ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Delete Gray Hat Ransomware using “System Restore”

Step 1: Remove Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat Ransomware using “System Restore”

Log-in to the account infected with Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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 Gray Hat 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.