Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Note! Your computer might be affected by Santa Encryptor and other threats.
Threats such as Santa Encryptor may be persistent on your system. They tend to re-appear if not fully deleted. A malware removal tool like SpyHunter will help you to remove malicious programs, saving you the time and the struggle of tracking down numerous malicious files. SpyHunter’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
This article aims to help you by showing you how to remove the Santa Encryptor ransomware virus and how to attempt and restore files that have been encrypted by it on your computer without having to pay the ransom.
As the Winter holidays approach, new Christmas-themed ransomware viruses have begin appearing. One of them is a ransomware variant, which displays a lock screen message, called Santa Decryptor. The malware aims to encrypt the files on the computers compromised by it and then set a demand of $150 in BTC for the victim to pay in order to retrieve his encrypted files. The virus also aims to perform various different malicious activities on the computers infected by it and if you encounter it, it’s removal is strongly advisable, preferably by using the information in this article.
Threat Summary
Name
Santa Encryptor
Type
Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description
Encrypts files and then demands $150 to get them decrypted once again.
Symptoms
Files are encrypted and a lock screen, named “Santa Encryptor” is displayed which extorts victims to pay the sum of $150. It also gives a deadline to transfer the funds in the form of BitCoin.
Distribution Method
Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by Santa Encryptor
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.
How Does Santa Encryptor Infect
The infection methods used by Santa Encryptor may be more than one and they consist of multiple different tools, for example:
Obfuscator which conceals the malicious file from protection software.
Intermediary infection file which causes the initial infection and drops the payload.
Various spamming bots and spam software.
All of these tools may be used in order to spread the malicious files of Santa Encryptor via more than one ways. The main one may be sending malicious spam e-mails to the victims in the form of legitimate e-mails. The e-mails often contain either a malicious e-mail attachment or a malicious file that is linked via a third-party site. The body often contains deceitful messages, that present the malicious attachment as:
Invoice.
Receipt.
Banking statement.
Order confirmation letter.
Santa Encryptor Ransomware – More Information
When infeciton takes place with Santa Encryptor ransomware, the virus aims to drop it’s payload on the victim’s computer. This results in the malicious files being dropped in the following Windows folders:
%AppData%
%Local%
%LocalLow%
%Roaming%
%Temp%
In addition to this, the Santa Encryptor also drops it’s ransom note file which appears like the following:
Text from image: Oop’s Your File’s Have Been Encrypted! What Happened To Your PC? Your Important File’s Have Been Encrypted Many Of Your Documents, Photos, Databases And Other File’s Are No Longer Accessible. Because They Have Been Encrypted Using AES-256 How Can I Decrypt My File’s? Your Lucky Santa Is Here To Help You To Decrypt Your File’s With the Power Of Christmas Spirit! Santa Needs You To Send $150 Worth Of Bitcoin To The Given Bitcoin Address Below How Do I Pay? Their Are A Few Links For You To Buy The Bitcoin, Send $150 Worth Of Bitcoin To The Given Address To Decrypt Your File’s — Send $150 Worth Of Bitcoin To This Address:
Among the malicious activities of Santa Encryptor ransomware may also be to delete the shadow volume copies of the infected computer, even though at the time of writing this, the malware is still in development stage. The command used to perform this may be activated via a batch script (.bat) as an administrator and use Windows Command Prompt to enter the following parameters, depending on what the virus aims to do:
In addition to deleting the shadow volume copies, the Santa Encryptor ransomware may also disable the system recovery service via the following commands:
7 The malware may begin to perform encryption procedure on the files via the XOR encryption algorithm which is a bit outdated and more simplistic as well as easier to crack, but still it renders the files no longer openable. The targeted files by Santa Encryptor are reported to be the following types:
Videos.
Archives.
Documents.
Audio files.
Virtual Drives.
The way the virus scans for and locates the files on your computer is that it is pre-configured to look for their file extensions, for example it may scan for and detect the following files:
In addition to this, the ransomware may also whitelist some of the files on the infected computer, which are crucial to the proper operation of your Windows OS.
Remove Santa Encryptor Ransomware and Restore Encrypted Files
In the event that your computer becomes infected with Santa Encryptor ransomware, we strongly suggest that you begin to isolate this malware prior to removing it. One suggestible method to do this is if you follow the removal instructions in the article below. They are divided in manual or automatic removal instructions. In case you lack the experience to remove Santa Encryptor manually, security experts recommend to perform the removal process automatically prefferably by downloading an advanced anti-malware software which will help make sure that the Santa Encryptor virus is removed from your PC completely and you remain protected against future intrusions of such type.
If you want to try and restore files that have been encrypted by this ransomware virus, you can attempt to use the alternative methods for malware removal in step “2.Restore files, encrypted by Santa Encryptor” below. They are specifically designed to help you to restore as many files as possible without having to pay the ransom to the cyber-criminals even though they are not with 100% guarantee success rate.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by Santa Encryptor and other threats. Scan Your PC with SpyHunter SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as Santa Encryptor. Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
To remove Santa Encryptor follow these steps:
1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Santa Encryptor files and objects
OFFER
Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!
We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria
Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
For Windows XP, Vista and 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 up the Start Menu.
Step 2: Click on the Power button (for Windows 8 it is the little arrow next to the “Shut Down” button) and whilst holding down “Shift” click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, a blue menu with options will appear. From them you should choose Troubleshoot.
Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu choose Advanced Options.
Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.
Step 6: From the Startup Settings menu, click on Restart.
Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You can choose any of the three Safe Mode options by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.
Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.
2. Find files created by Santa Encryptor on your PC
Find files created by Santa Encryptor
1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
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.
IMPORTANT! Before starting the Automatic Removal below, 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.
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Scan your PC and Remove Santa Encryptor with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Santa Encryptor and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Santa Encryptor. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.
It is 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. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.
Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.
Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.
Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.
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 with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup.
4. Try to Restore files encrypted by Santa Encryptor
Try to Restore Files Encrypted by Santa Encryptor
Ransomware infections and Santa Encryptor aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to 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 these methods may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software. Another method for 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:
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:
To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for Volume Shadow Copies, if ransomware has not deleted them, in Windows using the below software:
Method 4: Finding the decryption key while the cryptovirus sends it over a network via a sniffing tool.
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:
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.
This article aims to help you by showing you how to remove the Santa Encryptor ransomware virus and how to attempt and restore files that have been encrypted by it on your computer without having to pay the ransom.
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7.
2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Santa Encryptor and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
