.skeleton Files Virus – How to Remove and Restore Files

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 Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss .skeleton 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.

.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:

• 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

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:

→ process call create “cmd.exe /c vssadmin.exe delete shadows /all /quiet & bcdedit.exe /set {default} recoveryenabled no & bcdedit.exe /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures”

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:

→ .1c, .3fr, .accdb, .ai, .arw, .bac, .bay, .bmp, .cdr, .cer, .cfg, .config, .cr2, .crt, .crw, .css, .csv, .db, .dbf, .dcr, .der, .dng, .doc, .docm, .docx, .dwg, .dxf, .dxg, .eps, .erf, .gif, .htm, .html, .indd, .iso, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg, .kdc, .lnk, .mdb, .mdf, .mef, .mk, .mp3, .mp4, .mrw, .nef, .nrw, .odb, .ode, .odm, .odp, .ods, .odt, .orf, .p12, .p7b, .p7c, .pdd, .pdf, .pef, .pem, .pfx, .php, .png, .ppt, .pptm, .pptx, .psd, .pst, .ptx, .r3d, .rar, .raw, .rtf, .rw2, .rwl, .sql, .sr2, .srf, .srw, .tif, .wb2, .wma, .wpd, .wps, .x3f, .xlk, .xls, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .zip

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.

Manually delete .skeleton Virus from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the .skeleton Virus threat: Manual removal of .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus on your PC

Find malicious files created by .skeleton Virus

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 .skeleton Virus by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

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

Remove .skeleton Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

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

Restore Files Encrypted by .skeleton Virus

Ransomware infections like .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus 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 .skeleton Virus Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove .skeleton Virus.
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 .skeleton Virus 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.

More Posts - Website