.Kimchenyn Ransomware – Decrypt Files Encrypted for Free + Remove

This article has a goal to help you by showing you how to remove the .kimchenyn GlobeImposter ransomware variant and how to restore files that have been encrypted with the added .kimchenyn file extension to them.

GlobeImposter ransomware family of viruses keeps resurfacing with many new variants. One of them is the virus, using the .kimchenyn file extension which it adds to your files after the malware encrypts them. The ransomware also adds a ransom note, named how_to_back_files.html which not only notifies the users that their files are encoded, but also aims to get them to make a ransom payment to the cyber-crooks who are behind this virus in order to decrypt the files. If your computer has been infected by the .kimchenyn ransomware variant, we strongly recommend that you read this article and learn how to remove the .kimchenyn ransomware and how to decrypt your files for free without paying the ransom.

Threat Summary

Name	.kimchenyn Ransomware
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	New GlobeImposter ransomware variant, one of hundreds detected so far. Encrypts files and demands a ransom payment.
Symptoms	This GlobeImposter virus, adds the .kimchenyn file extension to the files encrypted by it after which drops a ransom note, named how_to_back_files.html.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by .kimchenyn Ransomware Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss .kimchenyn Ransomware.

.kimchenyn Ransomware – How Does It Infect

The infection process of this ransomware virus is conducted via an infection file. This file may be spread via a multitude of methods, the main one of which is reported to be e-mail spam. Such spammed messages may be sent to victims in various forms. Most often the malicious file is masked as a fake:

• Invoice.
• Receipt.
• Banking statement.
• Company document.

Such fraudulent files are often accompanied with messages that seem like they are coming from legitimate companies from the likes of PayPal, FedEx, DHL and others. Most of the messages are very professionally written, for example:

One of the malicious samples of .kimchenyn ransomware virus infection has been detected to be conducted via a chess.exe.old infection file, suggesting that the virus may be uploaded as a fake chess game on torrent sites or suspicious software providing sites as well.

.kimchenyn Files Virus – More Information on It’s Activity

When an infection takes place, the chess.exe.old file runs in an obfuscated manner on the computer of the victim. As soon as the malware does this, it immediately begins to perform other activities on the victim’s computer, like:

• Obtain system information about your computer.
• Obtain network information.
• Steal data, such as saved passwords and user names.
• Drop it’s malicious files.

In order to situate the malicious files on your computer, the malware may begin to download the virus files of .kimchenyn file ransomware. They may be under different names and located in the commonly targeted Windows folders which generally are:

After having dropped the malicious files, the .kimchenyn ransomware may delete the backups and shadow volume copies on your computer, by using the vssadmin command. This happens by running the command as an administrator in Windows:

→ vssadmin delete shadows /for={DrivePartition} /oldest | /all | /shadow={Identification of the shadow copies}] /quiet

After having done this, the .kimchenyn GlobeImposter ransomware variant may also modify the following Windows Registry sub-keys with the one and only purpose to add registry value strings in them:

→ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

These strings have the one and only purpose of making it possible fr the malicious files of .kimchenyn ransomware to run automatically on Windows boot and and encrypt the files afterwards. If you locate the value string in the Run and RunOnce sub-keys, there is a good chance that In them you will find the data leading to the actual location and the name of the file encryption executable, which is often randomly named or may have the same chess.exe.old name as the infection file.

.kimchenyn File Ransomware – Encryption Process

For this ransomware to encrypt the files on the computers that are infected by it, it uses a scanning and matching sequence. The .kimchenyn ransomware firstly has a pre-set list of the most commonly used file extensions most of which are the following:

“PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG ..CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG”

The malware also has a white list of folders which are excluded from the scanning process, like the %Windows% and other system folders, so that it does not damage your OS. If the files it scans for match with the files on it’s pre-configured list, the .kimchenyn virus encrypts them and generates a unique decryption key. The malware also ads it’s distinctive file extension and this results in your important files to begin appearing like the image below and no longer to be usable:

Fortunately, the virus may just be decryptable. In order to learn how to remove it and decrypt it’s files, we advise you to read the paragraph below and follow the instructions carefully.

Remove .kimchenyn Ransomware and Restore Your Files

In order to remove this ransomware infection from your computer, it is important to isolate it first, just like you would do with any cyber-threat. To do this, we advise you to follow either the manual or automatic removal instructions below. It is preffered to download an advanced anti-malware software to help you with the full and automatic removal of .kimchenyn ransomware instead of having to do it manually with no guarantee.

Furthermore, the previous variants of this virus were decryption, which suggests that this variant may also be of this type. This is why you should try and use the decrypter we have linked below for GlobeImposter in order to attempt and decrypt .kimchenyn encoded files without having to pay ransom.

Manually delete .kimchenyn Ransomware from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the .kimchenyn Ransomware threat: Manual removal of .kimchenyn Ransomware requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove .kimchenyn Ransomware files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by .kimchenyn Ransomware on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista, 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

2.Find malicious files created by .kimchenyn Ransomware on your PC

Find malicious files created by .kimchenyn Ransomware

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Automatically remove .kimchenyn Ransomware by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove .kimchenyn Ransomware with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

Remove .kimchenyn Ransomware with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove .kimchenyn Ransomware.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove .kimchenyn Ransomware. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by .kimchenyn Ransomware in the future.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any .kimchenyn Ransomware files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

As soon as you have removed this ransomware virus from your computer, you should download the Emsisoft Decrypter for GlobeImposter from this highlighted text:

Emsisoft Decrypter for GlobeImposter

After having downloaded the decrypter, simply open it after which select your preferred files you wish to decrypt and then click on the decrypt button.

Vencislav Krustev

A network administrator and malware researcher at SensorsTechForum with passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cyber security. Strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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