Horsuke Ransomware – Remove It and Restore .HORSE Files

This is an article that provides specific details on Horsuke ransomware infection as well as a step-by-step removal followed by alternative data recovery approaches.

Horsuke is a new strain of Scarab ransomware that is now being actively distributed via different attack vectors. The threat is still intended for file encryption as afterward, it can blackmail victims into paying a ransom for a specific decryption solution. At this point Horsuke ransomware is known to change the desktop background with a specially crafted picture and append the extension .HORSE to all encrypted files. Another trait of this new strain is the ransom note file HOW TO RECOVER ENCRYPTED FILES.txt that appears on infected hosts.

Threat Summary

Name	Horsuke
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	Encrypts valuable files stored on the compromised computer and then blackmails victims to pay a ransom in order to get them back.
Symptoms	Encrypted files have the extension .HORSE appended to them. A ransom note file named HOW TO RECOVER ENCRYPTED FILES.TXT appears on the screen. Desktop background is changed.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Horsuke Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Horsuke.
Data Recovery Tool	Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive.

Horsuke Ransomware – Distribution

Necurs botnet may be used to spread spam emails that infect user systems with Horsuke ransomware. The same technique was detected to be utilized for the initial Scarab ransomware version back in November 2017. This botnet is responsible for the biggest malware spam campaigns that provide either malicious attachments with malware downloaders or links to compromised websites that host the payloads of Horsuke.

The emails that deliver Horsuke could impersonate representatives of well-known organizations and institutions in order to make you more prone to infect your PC with the ransomware. The malicious payload may be disguised as an archive file that according to the message presented in the text message is of great importance and should be reviewed as soon as possible.

For the distribution of Horsuke may be also used various freeware available across the Web. You may find them helpful but along with them you might have unnoticeably installed the malicious script that plagues the system with this nasty cryptovirus. Such unwanted effects could be prevented with a scan of all newly downloaded files with a security tool. After the scan you could decide whether it is a good idea to open them or not at all. At our forum, you could find more safety tips that will help you to prevent infections with severe ransomware threats like Horsuke.

Horsuke Ransomware – Attack Overview

Horsuke ransomware is a type of threat that could compromise some essential system settings in order to establish its persistent presence, remain undetected during the attack, and run its encryption module. To achieve persistence Horsuke is likely to drop some files that are able to access the Registry Editor. There the ransomware could add malicious values under specific registry sub-keys that manage the execution process of all important system files. Such keys are Run and RunOnce. Once Horsuke set its malicious values there, it becomes able to run automatically on each system start. The functionalities of the same keys are possibly used at the moment when the crypto virus replaces your preferred desktop wallpaper with the one associated with it. You can see how it looks like in the picture below:

The image depicts a short message that reads:

Congratulations!
All your files have been encrypted!
If you want to restore them, write us to [email protected]

Sure enough is the fact that Horsuke ransomware primarily aims to generate revenue to hackers that stand behind the release of its attack campaigns. For the purpose it drops a ransom note message that instructs victims how to act further in case that they want to restore .HORSE files. According to the text contained in a file with name HOW TO RECOVER ENCRYPTED FILES.txt, the first step that hackers expect you as a victim to take is to contact them at the email address [email protected] so they can provide you further details on the ransom payment. The only sure thing is that they demand the ransom to be in Bitcoin. And below you can read the complete ransom message text:

=======================================
Your files are now encrypted!
Your personal identifier:
6A020********000***C4BFD00
All your files have been encrypted due to a security problem with your PC.
Now you should send us email with your personal identifier.
This email will be as confirmation you are ready to pay for decryption key.
You have to pay for decryption in Bitcoins. The price depends on how fast you write to us.
After payment we will send you the decryption tool that will decrypt all your files.
Contact us using this email address: [email protected]
If you don’t get a reply or if the email dies, then contact us to [email protected]
Free decryption as guarantee!
Before paying you can send us up to 3 files for free decryption.
The total size of files must be less than 10Mb (non archived), and files should not contain valuable information (databases, backups, large excel sheets, etc.).
How to obtain Bitcoins?
* The easiest way to buy bitcoins is LocalBitcoins site. You have to register, click ‘Buy bitcoins’, and select the seller by payment method and price:
http
s://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins
* Also you can find other places to buy Bitcoins and beginners guide here:
http://www.coindesk.com/information/how-can-i-buy-bitcoins
Attention!
* Do not rename encrypted files.
* Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
* Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam.
=======================================

Apparently, they are attempting to provoke a sense of urgency in you in order to trick you into paying the ransom immediately after infection. By stating that the ransom amount depends on the contact time frame they mislead you that you will pay less for the decryption key in case that you transfer the amount right after the attack. Beware that no matter when you contact them, which we strongly advise you to avoid, there is no guarantee that the code of their nasty ransomware is working correctly and eventually they may only trick you into paying for an ineffective decryption key that won’t restore your .HORSE files.

An evidence that we noticed is that one of the previous Scarab ransomware iterations Horsia provides the same contact email address as Horsuke – [email protected], so the guesses are that either the same hackers stand behind the distribution of this new version or they work in partnership with other malicious intenders who use their ransomware code as a service. It is possible that in future we could expect new strains of the Scarab family to appear in the wild.

Horsuke Ransomware – Encryption Process

As a part of the Scarab family, Horsuke ransomware is likely to use the strong AES cipher algorithm for file encryption purposes. The encryption is triggered by its in-built module that first scans all system drives for predefined types of files among which are believed to be:

→ “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”Source:fileinfo.com

After the Advanced Encryption Standard is applied to the original code of all target files they remain out of order and only a solution that is able to revert back their code could decrypt them. One of the characteristics of all corrupted files is the specific extension .HORSE that stands at the end of their names.

Don’t get scammed to pay the ransom as there is no guarantee that you will obtain a working decryption key. Instead, try all you can do by yourself in order to overcome the problem. You can start with the guide that follows. It will help you to remove all malicious files and objects from the infected computer so you can use it in a secure manner again. As regards the restore of .HORSE data navigate to the second part of the guide where you will find some alternative data recovery methods. Good luck! And don’t forget that we are here to help. Write us in case that you have any further questions.

Remove Horsuke Ransomware and Restore .HORSE Files

The removal of Horsuke ransomware demands a bit of technical experience and ability to recognize malware files. Since there is no doubt that you should remove this nasty threat from the infected PC as quickly as possible we put down for you a step-by-step removal guide with both manual and automatic steps. Beware that Horsuke is a severe threat that plagues the whole system. And that’s why security researchers recommend the help of advanced anti-malware tool for maximum efficiency.

Once you remove Horsuke ransomware make sure to check the step “Restore Files” listed in the guide below. But before any further steps, back up all encrypted files to an external drive in order to prevent their irreversible loss.

Manually delete Horsuke from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the Horsuke threat: Manual removal of Horsuke 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 Horsuke 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 Horsuke 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 Horsuke on your PC

Find malicious files created by Horsuke

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 Horsuke by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

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

Remove Horsuke with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

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

2. Restore files encrypted by Horsuke

Restore Files Encrypted by Horsuke

Ransomware infections like Horsuke aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to directly decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that they may not be 100% effective but they may help you little or a lot in some situations.

Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software.
Another method of restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some suggestions for preferred data recovery software solutions:

• Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Technicians License(Pro version with more features)
• Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
• Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery

Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors.
If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:

• Kaspersky Decryptors
• Emsisoft Decryptors

Urgent! It is strongly advisable to first remove the Horsuke threat before attempting any decryption, since it may interfere with system files and registries. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using an advanced malware removal tool.

Method 3: Using Shadow Explorer

To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for shadow copies in Windows using this software if ransomware has not deleted them:

• Shadow Explorer

Method 4: Finding Horsuke decryption key while it communicates it via a network sniffing software.

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:

Instructions on How to Find Decryption Key for Files Encrypted By Ransowmare

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove Horsuke Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove Horsuke.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all Horsuke associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Gergana Ivanova

Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.

More Posts

Follow Me: