Infected with PayDay ransomware? Need to decrypt your files?
What is PayDay ransomware
Payday is a ransomware based on HiddenTear source code and developed by Portuguese hackers. Payday derives its name from popular game of the same name. The purpose of the infection is to deny access to the personal data so it encrypts them using complex AES cipher. At the time of encryption, Payday appends the names of encrypted files with the .sexy extension. Although, the data encryption is a time-consuming process, the users usually don’t notice nothing suspicious. The whole procedure runs in stealth mode. Once encrypted, virus creates HTML file saving it on the desktop. This file contains a ransom note in Portuguese which inform victims of the encryption. The ransom-demand message (“!!!!!ATENÇÃO!!!!!.html“)states that files are encrypted and now the user has to pay up within 5 days to restore files. Despite the fact that currently no tools capable of restoring data infected by PayDay ransomware, you shouldn’t do any payment because victims are often ignored once payments are submitted. The only way is to restore your data from a backup.
Update: Use following service to identify the version and type of ransomware you were attacked by: ID Ransomware. Also check following website for possible decryptor: Emsisoft Decryptors.
How PayDay ransomware infected your PC
Mostly, PayDay ransomware is spread through the spam emails. Cybercriminals persuade unsuspecting users to open attachments from such emails using some official information like taxes, fines, purchases and e.t.c. Email design might slightly differ from your previous official emails. So, if you have doubts about the authenticity of the letter, you should first contact the institution. Also the infection can proliferate secretly as some freeware program or it can pretend to be the update. While you think that you are updating some program, you are actually installing ransomware. Therefore, you should never download programs from the suspicious sources and use a third party update tool. The only way to protect your computer from such threats is use antiviruses with crypto-protection like HitmanPro.Alert with CryptoGuard.
What to do if you are infected with PayDay ransomware virus?
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 PayDay ransomware 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 PayDay ransomware – files, folders, registry keys.
*Trial version of Norton provides detection of computer viruses for FREE. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Norton.
Step 2: Remove following files and folders of PayDay ransomware:
Remove following registry entries:
no information
Remove following files:
How to restore files.hta
How to decrypt files infected by PayDay ransomware (.sexy files)?
Use automated decryption tools
1. .sexy decryption tool from Kaspersky
There is ransomware decryptor from Kaspersky that can decrypt .sexy files. It is free and may help you restore .sexy files encrypted by Vegclass Ransomware virus. Download it here:
Decrypt .sexy files manually
Restore the system using System Restore
Although, latest versions of PayDay ransomware 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 (in our case – encrypted by PayDay ransomware). 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
Restore .sexy files using shadow copies
- Download and run Shadow Explorer.
- Select the drive and folder where your files are located and date that you want to restore them from.
- Right-click on folder you want to restore and select Export.
- Once the scanning process is done, click Recover to restore your files.
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.
Information provided by: Alexey Abalmasov