Infected with Pico Ransomware? Need to decrypt your files?
What is Pico Ransomware
Pico is another cryptovirus, extorting money from users. it encrypts most of the user files of various formats, such as office documents, PDF files, archives, photos and video files and much more. In addition, the cryptovirus changes file extensions, adding .pico and then, of course, these files become unusable. Pico creates a text note that contains information about the conditions for the purchase and decryption of files. The note is called README.txt and this is how it looks:
text content:
[———————————————————————————]
Pico Ransomware v1.0
Your files was encrypted. To decrypt your files,
follow next steps:
1. Send $100 to one of these wallets:
BTC: 3QK9umWMV1nrn8nadZ9eGnJ76Bg4jiJLem
ETH: 0xBb171CC7113dbdc532C42D22928f6b6c56fBE242
2. Send your TXID and your MachineID to mail
E-Mail: de.picocode@gmail.com
MactineID:
[———————————————————————————]
Do not waste your time, files can only be
decrypted by our decode tool.
The note contains the addresses on which the user needs to contact the attackers, as well as the cost of repurchase, which is equal to $ 100, and the ransom must be paid in cryptocurrency, in particular, bitcoins. Why? This was done in order to avoid punishment b the law, because operations related to cryptocurrency are almost impossible to track. Keep in mind that attackers will not restore your files, even if you fulfill their requirements, so you do not need to pay them. It’s better to use our recommendations and instructions to remove Pico right now and decrypt your files.
Update: Use following service to identify the version and type of ransomware you were attacked by: ID Ransomware. If you want to decrypt your files, please follow our instruction below or, if you have any difficulties, please contact us: submit@securitystronghold.com. We really can help to decrypt your files.
How Pico infected your PC
Pico is distributed as an LLL extension for the Microsoft Edge browser. Penetration occurs because of the lack of an effective anti-virus program in the user’s system. There are also cases when Pico comes as an attachment to spam mailing or as a fake update for a program. Be that as it may, you must understand that it is easier to prevent the penetration of the virus than getting rid of the infection after its arrival. You can use our guides to remove Pico right now.
First of all, don’t panic. Follow these easy steps below.
1. Start your computer in Safe Mode with networking. To do that, restart your computer before your system starts hit F8 several times. This will stop system from loading and will show Advanced boot options screen. Choose Safe mode with networking option from the options list using up and down arrows on your keyboard and hit Enter.
2. Log in to the system infected with the Pico virus. Launch your Internet browser and download a reliable anti-malware program and start a full system scan. Once the scan is complete, review scan results and remove all entries detected.
Recommended Solution:
Norton is a powerful removal tool. It can remove all instances of newest viruses, similar to Pico – files, folders, registry keys.
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You may find more detailed information about antivirus products in our article – Top 5 Antivirus Software for Windows
Restore your files using shadow copies
- Download and run Stellar Data Recovery.
- Select type of files you want to restore and click Next.
- Select the drive and folder where your files are located and date that you want to restore them from and press Scan.
- Once the scanning process is done, click Recover to restore your files.
Step 2: Remove following files and folders of Pico:
Related connections or other entries:
No information
Related files:
No information
How to decrypt files infected by Pico?
You can try to use manual methods to restore and decrypt your files.
Decrypt files manually
Restore the system using System Restore
Although latest versions of Pico remove system restore files, this method may help you partially restore your files. Give it a try and use standard System Restore to revive your data.
- Initiate the search for ‘system restore‘
- Click on the result
- Choose the date before the infection appearance
- Follow the on-screen instructions
Roll the files back to the previous version
Previous versions can be copies of files and folders created by Windows Backup (if it is active) or copies of files and folders created by System Restore. You can use this feature to restore files and folders that you accidentally modified or deleted, or that were damaged. This feature is available in Windows 7 and later versions.
- Right-click the file and choose Properties
- Open the Previous Version tab
- Select the latest version and click Copy
- Click Restore
Protect your computer from ransomware
Most modern antiviruses can protect your PC from ransomware and crypto-trojans, but thousands of people still get infected. There are several programs that use different approach t protect from ransomware and lockers. One of the best is HitmanPro.Alert with CryptoGuard. You may already know HitmanPro as famous cloud-based anti-malware scanner. Check out ultimate active protection software from SurfRight.
Written by Rami Douafi