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 .skeleton Virus and other threats.
Threats such as .skeleton Virus 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 has been created in order to help you by showing you how to remove the new version of Blind ransomware and how to restore .skeleton files, encrypted by it without paying the actual ransom.
New version of Blind ransomware, reported to encrypt the files on the infected computers by it after which leave them with the .skeleton file extension and add a ransom note, named How_Decrypt_Files.txt. It’s purpose is to get the victims whose files have been encoded to pay a hefty ransom fee in order to get the crooks to decrypt the files. If your computer has been infected by the .skeleton files virus, we advise you to read this article and learn how to remove the .skeleton file ransomware and how to restore files, encrypted by it on your PC.
Threat Summary
Name
.skeleton Virus
Type
Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description
Encrypts the files on the computers infected by it after which aims to extort the victim to make a payoff.
Symptoms
Leaves behind the .skeleton file extension. Drops a ransom note, called How_Decrypt_Files.txt, containing ransom payoff instructions in it.
Distribution Method
Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by .skeleton Virus
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.
.skeleton Files Virus – How Does It Spread
For it to be widespread, the .skeleton files virus may come in many different forms. The main method by which your computer could become infected by this virus is if you open a malicious spam e-mail attachment that is embedded on a spammed e-mail. Such attachments often pose as legitimate files, like:
Invoices.
Fake receipts.
Fake order confirmations.
Banking statements.
In addition to this, the e-mails themselves are carefully written to seem legitimate, for example:
In addition to the malicious e-mails, the files spread by this virus may also pose as legitimate setups, key generators, software license activators and other types of fake files.
.skeleton Files Virus – Activity
When the .skeleton files virus has infected your computer, you will most certainly notice it, since this ransomware aims to make sure it’s presence is known. The .skeleton files virus drops it’s payload data upon infection in the following Windows folders:
%AppData%
%Local%
%Roaming%
%Temp%
%LocalLow%
After the malicious files of this ransomware infection have already been dropped on the victim’s computer, the malware may modify the Windows Registry Editor of your computer by adding registry values in the following Windows Registry sub-keys:
After having done this, the .skeleton ransomware may also perform other malicious activities on the computers of victims, like delete the shadow volume copies by executing a script that runs the bcedit and vssadmin commands as an administrator in the background:
Among the activities off the .skeleton files virus is to also drop it’s ransom note, which is named How_Decrypt_Files.txt and has the following message:
Hello ! All your files have been encrypted ! If you want restore your files write on email – [email protected] In the subject write
Once the malware has dropped it’s ransom note, it may also touch system files of Windows and may create mutexes as well.
.skeleton Ransomware – Encryption Process
Since it’s a variation of the Blind ransomware infection, the .skeleton files virus scans for the following documents, audio files, videos and other data on the computers infected by it:
After encrypting the victims files, the virus adds behind the .skeleton file extension to them, making them look like the following:
Remove .skeleton Files Virus and Restore Data
In order to remove this ransomware infection we recommend that you follow the removal instructions down below. They are divided in manual or automatic so that they help you isolate the .skeleton files virus and then remove it. If manual removal does not work for you or you feel unsure how to do it, security experts strongly recommend that you download and advanced anti-malware software which will help you to automatically remove all the malicious files of this virus and protect your computer against future infections as well.
Be advised, that if you want to restore files, encrypted by the .skeleton ransomware, you can try and use the alternative methods for file recovery below in step “2. Restore files, encrypted by .skeleton Virus”. They are specifically created in order to best assist you into recovering as many files as possible without having to pay the ransom, but they are no guarantee of 100% success, so make a backup beforehand.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus. 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 .skeleton Virus follow these steps:
1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus on your PC
Find files created by .skeleton Virus
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 .skeleton Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for .skeleton Virus and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove .skeleton Virus. 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 .skeleton Virus
Try to Restore Files Encrypted by .skeleton Virus
Ransomware infections and .skeleton Virus 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 has been created in order to help you by showing you how to remove the new version of Blind ransomware and how to restore .skeleton files, encrypted by it without paying the actual 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 .skeleton Virus and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
