How to remove MADA ransomware

MADA ransomware – a dangerous crypto-virus which belongs to Jigsaw family

MADA is a dangerous ransomware that can block your computer files and start demanding a ransom in exchange for their decryption. This crypto-virus hails from a notorious Jigsaw family and can be considered one of its variants. As soon as it encrypts the target files and marks them with .LOCKED_BY_pablukl0cker extension, MADA ransomware drops the ransom note that starts counting down the time. It promises to damage these files when the time is finished.

According to PC experts,^[1] MADA ransomware is based on the open source platform and uses Command and Control servers to contact with its developers. Virus uses AES encryption algorithm to encrypt target files, so it leaves almost no way for the victim to recover them without making a payment to its owners. 

As soon as the data is locked, MADA virus adds “.LOCKED_BY_pablukl0cker” file extension to every encrypted file. Beware that this ransomware can encrypt various files, including .jpg, .doc, .java, .mkv, .mpeg, .rar and similar. For example, if you have a “picture.jpg” on your computer, it will rename it to “picture.jpg.LOCKED_BY_pablukl0cker”. From this point, all the encrypted data becomes unusable.

In addition to the encrypted data, the victim receives a ransom note which gives only 72 hours to pay the ransom. Typically, MADA asks $100 in bitcoin which should be paid before all locked files are deleted permanently. Hackers also point out that they will remove one file every hour and provide rakolo23@gmail.com email address to contact them. Here is what exactly the ransom note of the virus reads:

OOPS! YOUR FILES ARE CRYPTED BY MADA RANSOMWARE!!!
Your documents, photos, videos etc .
And after 72 hours, all your files will be removed premanently !!!
But there is nothing to worry about 🙂 it will only happen when you fly in a fxxk
Every hour I delete one randomly selected file and delete it premanently!!!
I can not recover such a file anymore, even after making the payment!!!
You will lose only a few files for the first 24 hours.
but the next day a few hundred, the third day, a few thousand, etc …
If you turn off your computer or try to shut me down, I will fire again.
I automatically remove 1000 files permanently for trying to recommend me in a fuck!!!
Remember that even the best anti-virus is unable to recover encrypted files!
If you have any questions, please contact us via e-mail rakolo23@gmail.com!!!
Payment for decrypting files is only possible in BITCOIN!!!
If you do not know how to buy bitcoins, visit www[.]4coin[.]pl!!!’

No matter threatening the loss of your files seems, you should not engage with these cybercriminals because there is no guarantee that your files will ever get decrypted.^[2] The best thing you can do is to remove MADA ransomware from your computer and ignore hackers' commands.

Unfortunately, none of the anti-malware programs are incapable of restoring encrypted data. Thus, the only way to recover your files is to recover them from a remote server (such as Cloud) or an external hard drive. Besides, you should also check alternative recovery methods that we provided in the end of this post.

However, before you begin this procedure, make sure you get rid of malicious files that belong to ransomware. Otherwise, it can initiate another encryption procedure on your computer. To proceed with MADA removal, use one of the following programs: FortectIntego, SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or FortectIntego. They will assist you in malware elimination process efficiently.

To prevent ransomware, users should beware of spam emails

Typically, hackers working behind this malware and similar viruses use social engineering^[3] as the primary method used to distribute ransomware on the Internet. For that, cybercrooks send a large number of phishing emails with a malicious file or link attached to the message. Usually, the email seems like it was sent from a well-known company (like Twitter, iTunes, Amazon or similar) addressing the issue connected to victims’ account, or claiming that the unauthorized payment was made. Therefore, it asks the user to click on a link or open the attached file.

At this point, the ransomware payload gets into the system and infects it. Therefore, make sure you carefully check every email before downloading its content to your computer. Additionally, stay away from suspicious emails that are often tagged as dangerous and make sure you read through the message carefully to find suspicious signs (for example, typo mistakes, odd sentences, mistakes in email address, etc.).

MADA ransomware should be removed immediately

We do not recommend manual MADA ransomware removal as ransomware and similar threats are severe computer infections which should be taken care of properly. If you happen to remove such virus manually, it might lead you to additional damage on your computer and you might lose more files. Thus, you might corrupt your machine even more.

Therefore, you should remove MADA virus automatically. We encourage using FortectIntego, SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes as these tools were designed to deal with even the most persistent malware. All you have to do is run a full scan and delete all the infected files permanently. Beware that some of ransomware threats tend to block legitimate security tools. In this case, try rebooting your computer to Safe Mode or try System Restore. More detailed steps are provided below: