This article explains the issues that occur in case of infection with .KICK files virus and provides a complete .KICK virus removal guide. Follow the steps below and find also how to potentially recover .KICK files.
A crypto virus dubbed .KICK files virus has been detected in active attack campaigns. It is designed to plague computer systems in order to encrypt personal files and extort a ransom fee for their decryption. The presence of this threat could be recognized by an extension of the same name appended to corrupted files’ names. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to open these files until you apply a method that could recover their original code.
Threat Summary
| Name | .KICK Files Virus |
| Type | Ransomware, Cryptovirus |
| Short Description | Encrypts target files stored on infected computers, marks them with several extensions the last of which is .KICK |
| Symptoms | Important files are encoded. You cannot open them. Hackers demand a ransom payment. |
| Distribution Method | Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Infected Installers |
| Detection Tool |
See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware
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Malware Removal Tool
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss .KICK Files Virus. |
| 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. |
.KICK Files Virus (Dharma) – Distribution and Impact
.KICK files virus is the name of a ransomware that plagues computer systems with the goal to reach personal files and encode them with cipher algorithm. Currently, it is not clear which are the exact mechanisms used for the spread of this ransomware. However, the guesses are hackers bet on some of the most popular ones. These techniques include – malspam, corrupted websites, freeware installers and malvertising.
The most preferred one is malspam. It is realized with the help of massive email spam campaigns that attempt to deliver the ransomware payload file on target computers. They usually present the malicious code in the form of an attached file or clickable URL address. The attached files are often presented as:
- Invoices coming from reputable sites, like PayPal, eBay, etc.
- Documents from that appear to be sent from your bank.
- An online order confirmation note.
- Receipt for a purchase.
- Others.
Malware authors may be also using compromised software installers and infected websites to spread this nasty ransomware infection. These methods enable them to add the ransomware payload to an app installer or inject it into a web page. Both cases could result in automatic and unnoticed execution of this payload directly on your computer.
The moment .KICK cryptovirus loads its payload file on a target system, it becomes able to pass through several infection stages. By doing this the ransomware performs a variety of malicious operations that affect some major system components’settings.
For the encryption process .KICK ransomware uses a highly sophisticated encryption algorithm so it can prevent you from opening corrupted files. The threat is likely to encode all of the following types of files:
- Audio files
- Video files
- Document files
- Image files
- Backup files
- Banking credentials, etc
Following encryption, your corrupted personal files have several extensions appended to their names. Since .KICK files virus is known to be a strain of Dharma ransomware, it follows the pattern below:
Similar to some recently detected Dharma ransomware strains like [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/beets-files-virus-dharma-remove/”] .beets files virus, [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/good-files-virus-dharma-remove/”] .good files virus and [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/tor13-dharma-remove/”] .ТОР13 files virus the .KICK variant is likely to present the following ransom message:
All FILES ENCRYPTED “RSA1024”
All YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN ENCRYPTED!!! IF YOU WANT TO RESTORE THEM, WRITE US TO THE E-MAIL mstr.hack@protonmail.com
IN THE LETTER WRITE YOUR ID, YOUR ID ********
IF YOU ARE NOT ANSWERED, WRITE TO EMAIL: mstr.hack@protonmail.com
YOUR SECRET KEY WILL BE STORED ON A SERVER 7 DAYS, AFTER 7 DAYS IT MAY BE OVERWRITTEN BY OTHER KEYS, DON’T PULL TIME, WAITING YOUR EMAIL
FREE DECRYPTION FOR PROOF
You can send us up to 1 file for free decryption. The total size of files must be less than 1Mb (non archived), and files should not contain valuable information. (databases,backups, large excel sheets, etc.)
DECRYPTION PROCESS:
When you make sure of decryption possibility transfer the money to our bitcoin wallet. As soon as we receive the money we will send you:
1. Decryption program.
2. Detailed instruction for decryption.
3. And individual keys for decrypting your files.
!WARNING!
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, this message aims to persuade you to contact hackers at mstr.hack@protonmail.com so that they could send you back more details on the ransom payment process. Beware that many users affected by ransomware like Dharma .KICK never receive a decryption tool even when they transfer the ransom. Furthermore, oftentimes hackers provide completely broken decryptors. So our advice is to consider the help of alternative data recovery methods once you remove this ransomware from your infected PC.
Remove .KICK Files Virus (Dharma) and Restore Data
The so-called .KICK files virus is a threat with highly complex code that plagues the whole system in order to encrypt personal files. Hence the infected system could be used in a secure manner again only after the complete removal of all malicious files and objects created by .KICK ransomware. That’s why we recommend that all steps presented in the .KICK removal guide below should be completed for the sake of your system and data security. Beware that the manual ransomware removal is suitable for more experienced computer users. If you don’t feel comfortable with the manual steps navigate to the automatic part of the guide.
Gergana Ivanova
Gergana has a bachelor's degree in Marketing. She has been with the STF team for five years, researching malware, reporting on the latest computer infections, and following digital marketing trends.
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Attention! SensorsTechForum strongly recommends that all malware victims should look for assistance only by reputable sources. Many guides out there claim to offer free recovery and decryption for files encrypted by ransomware viruses. Be advised that some of them may only be after your money.
As a site that has been dedicated to providing free removal instructions for ransomware and malware since 2014, SensorsTechForum’s recommendation is to only pay attention to trustworthy sources.
How to recognize trustworthy sources:
- Always check "About Us" web page.
- Profile of the content creator.
- Make sure that real people are behind the site and not fake names and profiles.
- Verify Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter personal profiles.
- Guide 1: How to Remove .KICK Files Virus from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of .KICK Files Virus from Mac OS X.
How to Remove .KICK Files Virus from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove .KICK Files Virus
Step 2: Uninstall .KICK Files Virus and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by .KICK Files Virus on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- 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
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by .KICK Files Virus there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Step 4: Scan for .KICK Files Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Step 5 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by .KICK Files Virus.
Ransomware infections and .KICK Files Virus aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
Get rid of .KICK Files Virus from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall .KICK Files Virus and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove .KICK Files Virus via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 3 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by .KICK Files Virus.
Ransomware infections and .KICK Files Virus aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
.KICK Files Virus FAQ
What is .KICK Files Virus ransomware and how does it work?
.KICK Files Virus is a ransomware infection - the malicious software that enters your computer silently and blocks either access to the computer itself or encrypt your files.
Many ransomware viruses use sophisticated encryption algorithm how to make your files inaccessible. The goal of ransomware infections is to demand that you pay a ransom payment to get access to your files back.
How does .KICK Files Virus ransomware infect my computer?
Via several ways..KICK Files Virus Ransomware infects computers by being sent via phishing e-mails, containing virus attachment.
This attachment is usually masked as an important document, like an invoice, bank document or even a plane ticket and it looks very convincing to users.
After you download and execute this attachment, a drive-by download occurs and your computer is infected with the ransomware virus.
Another way, you may become a victim of .KICK Files Virus is if you download a fake installer, crack or patch from a low reputation website or if you click on a virus link. Many users report getting a ransomware infection by downloading torrents.
How to open ..KICK Files Virus files?
You can't. At this point the ..KICK Files Virus files are encrypted. You can only open them once they are decrypted.
Decryptor did not decrypt my data. What now?
Do not panic and backup the files. If a decryptor did not decrypt your ..KICK Files Virus files successfully, then do not despair, because this virus is still new.
One way to restore files, encrypted by .KICK Files Virus ransomware is to use a decryptor for it. But since it's a new virus, advised that the decryption keys for it may not be out yet and available to the public. We will update this article and keep you posted as soon as this decryptor is released.
How Do I restore "..KICK Files Virus" files (Other Methods)?
Yes, sometimes files can be restored. We have suggested several file recovery methods that could work if you want to restore ..KICK Files Virus files.
These methods are in no way 100% guarantee that you will be able to get your files back. But if you have a backup, your chances of success are much greater.
How do I get rid of .KICK Files Virus ransomware virus?
The safest way and the most efficient one for the removal of this ransomware infection is the use a professional anti malware software. It will scan for and locate .KICK Files Virus ransomware and then remove it without causing any additional harm to your important ..KICK Files Virus files.
Also, keep in mind that viruses like .KICK Files Virus ransomware also install Trojans and keyloggers that can steal your passwords and accounts. Scanning your computer with an anti-malware software will make sure that all of these virus components are removed and your computer is protected in the future.
What to Do If nothing works?
There is still a lot you can do. If none of the above methods seem to work for you, then try these methods:
- Try to find a safe computer from where you can can login on your own line accounts like One Drive, iDrive, Google Drive and so on.
- Try to contact your friends, relatives and other people so that they can check if they have some of your important photos or documents just in case you sent them.
- Also, check if some of the files that were encrypted it can be re-downloaded from the web.
- Another clever way to get back some of your files is to find another old computer, a flash drive or even a CD or a DVD where you may have saved your older documents. You might be surprised what will turn up.
- You can also go to your email account to check if you can send any attachments to other people. Usually what is sent the email is saved on your account and you can re-download it. But most importantly, make sure that this is done from a safe computer and make sure to remove the virus first.
More tips you can find on our forums, where you can also asks any questions about your ransomware problem.
