How to remove Princess Evolution ransomware

Princess Evolution ransomware – a cryptovirus that might be the third version of PrincessLocker 

Princess Evolution ransomware is a dangerous cryptovirus that displays an animated princess as a start page of the ransom note. When you open this professional-looking HTML screen and click on the princess under water icon, you enter the login page for paying the ransom. It has been reported that the virus is the third version of PrincessLocker ransomware that started in 2016 and came out with the new version PrincessLocker 2.0 in September 2017. The same ransomware was spotted this year. However, Princess Evolution ransomware is a fully new version which emerged in August with the new file extension .G8xB. Princess Evolution ransomware mostly acts as a RaaS (ransomware as a service)^[1] and has been actively looking for affiliates, according to the information in underground forums. 

Despite the professional-looking appearance, this virus is dangerous and you should immediately think about ways to remove Princess Evolution ransomware. This virus belongs to a category of crypto-extortionists and this means that the main goal of developers is to get your money. 

This not-so-typical virus displays ransom notes “^_READ_TO_RE5T0RE_G8xB.txt” and “^_READ_TO_RE5T0RE_G8xB.html” after victims' files get locked. Princess Evolution ransomware has the ransom note highly similar to previous versions and generates a random file extension after the data encryption^[2] process. After this original file appendix is changed, the file becomes useless. This process can affect anything from photos, videos to documents and archives. The ransom note contains instructions on where to create an account to pay and the fact that the ransom amount is 0.12 Bitcoin that equals to about $770.

As mentioned above virus developers of this ransomware placed an advertisement in the underground forums earlier this summer with the message that they are looking for affiliates for their new creation. In this program, affiliates should get 60% of the ransom payment. The rest goes to developers. It seems that cybercriminals took some time to create this malware. 

Advertisement translated from the Russian language: 

Good summer day, friends! Few months ago we had to suspend our activities to review our stance/situation on many aspects and to start a journey to perfection. It was a period of observations, developments, experiments, long waits and arguments. The loom of perfection always slips away in an ecstasy of chasing it. This is a gist of progress, with which we are happy to return and greet you with the new version of our product. ** Princess Evolution **

This virus uses XOR and AES encryption algorithms to change the first batch of your data before demanding a payment. After that, ransomware continues to lock the rest of your files using AES method. This works when ransomware generates random keys and sends them to a remote server along with the information about your device, location, unique victim ID and other software characteristics. 

Princess Evolution ransomware removal is especially important because this information is the small part that virus developers can access in time. They can also make more significant changes on your device if they want and need to. Best way to remove malware like that is using anti-malware tools like FortectIntego. These programs can detect and remove existing infections or even block potential threats later on. 

Researchers^[3] all over the world analyzes malware like Princess Evolution ransomware and always advise people not to pay the ransom. This could never lead to positive results because people behind this program wants your money and may not have the decryption tool they allegedly developed. Especially when there might be randomly affiliated people behind the ransomware, there is no possibility that your files may be decrypted. You need to focus on virus elimination and then worry about file recovery. We have a few solutions for that below. 

Spam email attachments used to spread dangerous malware

In most cases, ransomware victims receive malicious email messages with the payload of the virus and this is how they get their system infected. The spam email campaigns are the most common method of ransomware spreading. If people are not careful when using their computer and checking random emails they keep this risk of getting malware high. 

Hackers tend to disguise as well-known services or companies to lure victims into opening those emails with malicious content. The minute victim opens that email attachment, the malicious script starts to work and spread malware further on the system. This is a silent background process, so you cannot notice anything until you receive the ransom message.

We always suggest to pay attention and keep away from emails with typos or grammar mistakes. DO NOT open the email that you are not expecting. Try to contact the company that sends you this message before opening any attachments. Often the company or service doesn't reply, or you even cannot send the email. If so, the email is fake and unsafe. Delete it without opening. 

Princess Evolution ransomware elimination requires reputable anti-malware 

If you want to remove Princess Evolution ransomware for good, you need to use tools that are trustworthy. FortectIntego and MalwarebytesMalwarebytes are legitimate and known programs. We can recommend you these two but feel free to choose other tools that you can rely on. It is important to get your software, antivirus, and other cybersecurity tools from known providers. This step ensures that you are getting secure tools and no additional programs.

Princess Evolution ransomware removal is not that difficult if you choose wisely and pay attention to the process. You only need to install the downloaded program and follow the steps. Perform a full system scan and prepare to remove possible threats. We understand your concerns about the encrypted data, but you can only recover your files after the system is clean. Use the external drive with file backup or try file recovery solutions below. But only do that after you removed the ransomware and double-checked for other possible infections.