Remove $ucyLocker Ransomware and Restore .WINDOWS Files

This article aims to help you remove $ucyLocker ransomware and them try to recover the files encrypted with .WINDOWS file extension.

A ransomware virus, using a lockscreen message and the .WINDOWS file extension which it adds to the files it encrypts, called $ucyLocker has been detected at the beginning of June 2017. The virus has been reported to demand a ransom payoff in BTC in order to get back your files. It also drops a READ_IT.txt ransom note file in which there are requests to read the lockscreen program’s instructions on how to pay. If your computer has been infected by $ucyLocker, we advise you to read this article carefully.

Threat Summary

Name	$ucyLocker
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	Encrypts the files on the computers it infects in order to get victims to pay a ransom in BTC to get them back.
Symptoms	Files cannot be opened and are appended the .WINDOWS file extension after their original one. The virus also adds a READ_IT.txt ransom note.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by $ucyLocker Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss $ucyLocker.
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.

.WINDOWS File Virus – How Does It Infect

The infection process of this ransomware virus is conducted primarily via malicious e-mail spam messages. These are usually sent with the pretext that they are legitimate notifications, usually for invoices, purchase requests, receipts and other types of important documents. The e-mails usually carry either a web link that leads to the infection one way or another or a malicious file extension. If the file extension uploaded is malicious it may be either an executable file, pretending to be document or a Microsoft Office file with malicious macros. The files are often in an archive. The e-mails may appear like the image below displays:

Other methods by which your computer can become infected with the $ucyLocker ransomware virus include uploading the file online. It may exist in torrent websites or other suspicious software sites as a fake setup of a program, crack, patch or other executable file.

$ucyLocker Virus – Analysis

Whether via a file or a malicious URL script, once you are infected with $ucyLocker, the processes that happen on your computer are almost simultaneous and it is very difficult to detect it or stop the infection process.

The initial activity of the virus is to drop it’s malicious payload files on your computer, each of which may be responsible for different types of activities. These files are the following:

• $ucyLocker.exe
• VapeHacksLoader.exe
• {random 0-9 A-Z name}.exe

These files may be responsible for a variety of malicious activities on the victim’s computer. These activities include:

• Erasing backups, system restore points and shadow copies from your computer, so you cannot get the files back via Windows.
• Interfering with the Windows Registry Editor by adding registry entries which allow the virus to be automatically executed on system boot.

In addition to this activity, the $ucyLocker ransomware virus also drops it’s “read me” file, called READ_IT.txt. It has the following message to the victim:

Your files have been encrypted.
Read the Program for more information.

And the program is not very friendly in it’s messages as well. It features a threatening ransom note with instructions that the victim has to pay various amounts of BitCoin, usually around 0.2 to a BTC address, which the virus provides:

$ucyLocker – The Encryption Process

For the encryption process to succeed, $ucyLocker ransomware targets only specific files that are important for the victim, such as:

• Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents.
• PDF Files.
• Audio files.
• Video files.
• Archives.
• Database file types.
• Photos.
• System image files.

When these files are detected $ucyLocker applies an encryption algorithm which makes the files no longer readable by your operating system. The virus finally appends the .WINDOWS file extension to the encrypted files:

Remove $ucyLocker and Try to Recover Your Files

For the removal of $ucyLocker ransomware it is strongly advisable that you focus on backing up the .WINDOWS encrypted files, just in case.

Then you should proceed with removing $ucyLocker, preferably by following the removal instructions below. They are specifically created to help you delete the malicious files of this virus either Manually or Automatically. In addition to this, the ransomware virus should be removed via an advanced anti-malware software, if you lack the experience to do it manually, experts recommend.

Furthermore, if you are looking for methods to recover your data, we advise you to try the alternative tools for file recovery we have suggested in step “2. Restore Files Encrypted by $ucyLocker” below.

Manually delete $ucyLocker from your computer

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

Find malicious files created by $ucyLocker

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 $ucyLocker by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

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

Remove $ucyLocker with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

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

Restore Files Encrypted by $ucyLocker

Ransomware infections like $ucyLocker 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 $ucyLocker 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 $ucyLocker 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 $ucyLocker Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove $ucyLocker.
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 $ucyLocker 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.

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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