How to remove Payt ransomware

Payt ransomware was developed by cyber criminals to make money from innocent users

Payt is a newly detected version of ransomware that has been spreading. It can infiltrate users' machines and lock their personal files, like photos, videos, and documents using complicated encryption algorithms.^[1] Ransomware infections can result in permanent data loss if users do not have backups.

The affected files are appended with the .payt extension, unique ID, and the cyber criminals' email address. For example, if a file was previously named picture.jpg, after encryption, it would look like this – picture.jpg.[unique-ID](wesleypeyt@tutanota.com).payt. The icons are also changed to white pages so thumbnails are unavailable. Shortly after, a ransom demanding message is generated on the machine. 

The ransom note

The full ReadthisforDecode.txt ransom note reads as follows:

Your Files Are Has Been Locked

Your Files Has Been Encrypted with cryptography Algorithm

If You Need Your Files And They are Important to You, Dont be shy Send Me an Email

Send Test File + The Key File on Your System (File Exist in C:/ProgramData example : RSAKEY-SE-24r6t523 pr RSAKEY.KEY) to Make Sure Your Files Can be Restored

Get Decryption Tool + RSA Key AND Instruction For Decryption Process

Attention:

1- Do Not Rename or Modify The Files (You May loose That file)

2- Do Not Try To Use 3rd Party Apps or Recovery Tools ( if You want to do that make an copy from Files and try on them and Waste Your time )

3-Do not Reinstall Operation System(Windows) You may loose the key File and Loose Your Files

Your Case ID :-

OUR Email    :wesleypeyt@tutanota.com

in Case of no answer: wesleypeyt@gmail.com

A ransom note provides instructions on what cybercriminals want victims to do. In this message, they do not specify the amount they want to be paid for a decryption key nor how it should be paid. Most often, threat actors want to be paid in Bitcoin. The amounts can vary from $20 to thousands of dollars.

We strongly advise against contacting cybercriminals or paying them because they cannot be trusted. Many previous ransomware attack victims have come forward and said that they never received the promised decryption tools after sending the payment. It is not worth it to risk losing your money as well.

Even though the files can be decrypted with a key that only the ransomware developers have, it is best to just take the loss and backup your new data. There are also third-party recovery tools that help in some cases. You can give it a try following the instructions below. 

Distribution methods

Ransomware is often spread through email with encouraging messages to open malicious attachments. The file can be delivered in a variety of formats, including a ZIP file, PDF, Word document, Excel spreadsheet, and more. When users open the attachment, malware can be deployed immediately.

Pirated software is also a very easy way for ransomware to enter the system. We urge you not to use peer-to-peer file-sharing platforms^[2] or Torrent websites as they are full of malicious programs. You might think that you are lucky you found software for free that normally costs money but you can never know if that program is safe to install.

Finally, it is extremely important to keep your operating system and software updated. Hackers can use software vulnerabilities to deliver their malicious programs. Software developers regularly release security patches for newly found vulnerabilities, so they should be installed as soon as they come out.

Start the removal process

The important thing to do is to disconnect the affected machine from the local network as we talked about the dangers of that previously. For home users, disconnecting the ethernet cable should do the job. If this happened at your workplace, doing that might be complicated, so we have instructions for corporate environments at the bottom of this post.

If you try to recover your data first, it can result in permanent loss. It can also encrypt your files the second time. It will not stop until you remove the malicious files causing it first. You should not attempt removing the malicious program yourself unless you have experience. Manual removal of ransomware is extremely complicated and is suitable for people with advanced IT skills.

Use anti-malware tools like SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes to scan your system. This security software should find all the related files and entries and remove them automatically for you. In some cases, malware does not let you use antivirus in normal mode, so you need to access Safe Mode and perform a full system scan from there:

Windows 7 / Vista / XP

1. Click Start > Shutdown > Restart > OK.
2. When your computer becomes active, start pressing F8 button (if that does not work, try F2, F12, Del, etc. – it all depends on your motherboard model) multiple times until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
3. Select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.

Windows 10 / Windows 8

1. Right-click on Start button and select Settings.
   
2. Scroll down to pick Update & Security.
3. On the left side of the window, pick Recovery.
4. Now scroll down to find Advanced Startup section.
5. Click Restart now.
6. Select Troubleshoot.
7. Go to Advanced options.
8. Select Startup Settings.
9. Click Restart.
10. Press 5 or click 5) Enable Safe Mode with Networking.

Repair corrupted system files

Performance, stability, and usability issues, to the point where a full Windows reinstall is required, are nothing unusual after malware infection. These types of viruses can alter the Windows registry database, damage vital bootup, and other sections, delete or corrupt DLL files, etc. Once a system file is damaged by malware, antivirus software cannot fix it.

Manual troubleshooting of such damage is also very complicated and can take a long time. This is why FortectIntego was developed. It can fix a lot of the damage caused by an infection like this. Blue Screen errors,^[3] freezes, registry errors, damaged DLLs, etc., can make your computer completely unusable. By using this maintenance tool, you could prevent yourself from having to reinstall WIndows completely.

• Download the application by clicking on the link above
• Click on the ReimageRepair.exe
  
• If User Account Control (UAC) shows up, select Yes
• Press Install and wait till the program finishes the installation process
• The analysis of your machine will begin immediately
• Once complete, check the results – they will be listed in the Summary
• You can now click on each of the issues and fix them manually
• If you see many problems that you find difficult to fix, we recommend you purchase the license and fix them automatically.

Try recovering data with third-party software

Only hackers hold the decryption key, which can unlock your files, so if you did not back them up previously, there is a good chance that you will never get them back. You can try using data recovery software, but keep in mind that third-party programs cannot always decrypt the files. Whatever the situation may be, we suggest at least trying this method. Before you proceed, copy the corrupted files and place them in a USB flash drive or another external storage device. And remember – only do this if you have already removed the Payt ransomware.

Before you begin, several pointers are important while dealing with this situation:

• Since the encrypted data on your computer might permanently be damaged by security or data recovery software, you should first make backups of it – use a USB flash drive or another storage.
• Only attempt to recover your files using this method after you perform a scan with anti-malware software.

Install data recovery software

1. Download Data Recovery Pro.
2. Double-click the installer to launch it.
3. Follow on-screen instructions to install the software.
4. As soon as you press Finish, you can use the app.
5. Select Everything or pick individual folders where you want the files to be recovered from.
6. Press Next.
7. At the bottom, enable Deep scan and pick which Disks you want to be scanned.
8. Press Scan and wait till it is complete.
9. You can now pick which folders/files to recover – don't forget you also have the option to search by the file name!
10. Press Recover to retrieve your files.