How to remove RensenWare ransomware virus

Instead of asking for money, Rensenware virus wants you to play a little game

RensenWare virus can be called a high quality troll, or a program that actually makes fun of a victim without any evil intentions. Unlike other viruses, it doesn’t demand money. It turns out, the author of it did not mean to infect computers in order to extort people^[1]. RensenWare ransomware asks the victim to complete one task in order to recover all encrypted files – to play Undefined Fantastic Object game^[2] and score at least 0.2 billion in LUNATIC level. The program is set to detect the target score and decrypt victim’s files automatically. Once installed and run, the ransomware launches a program window called Rensenware WARNING!. At the same time, the virus scans the system for target files and locks them using AES-256 encryption. Each encrypted file gets a .RENSENWARE extension, which signalizes that the file has been affected. The initial virus version targets files that have one of the following file extensions:

.png, .pdf, .hwp, .frm, .psd, .cs, .c, .cpp, .vb, .bas, .mp3, .wav, .flac, .gif, .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .js, .avi, .mp4, .zip, .rar, .mkv, .alz, .egg, .7z, .raw, .xls, .xlsx, .jpg, .txt.

Luckily, the virus doesn’t delete Volume Shadow Copies, in other words, it doesn’t try to block alternative data recovery methods. According to the message displayed by the virus, the victim should do himself a favor and not try to cheat; otherwise, the encryption key will be “blown up.” Researchers reported that it is entirely safe to cheat so that users can edit their score in memory. Besides, it seems that the developer of this ransomware didn’t mean to distribute the ransomware on a global scale, and he has already released a rensenWare_forcer program^[3], which helps the victim “fake” the score in the game and consequently restores encrypted files. On top of that, the developer of the virus added an apology, in which he says that the program was made “for a joke.” A fun fact is, the developer of RensenWare accidentally infected his own computer with the virus^[4], but, of course, data recovery wasn’t an issue for him.

It turns out that Rensenware’s source code was published on GitHub and became available to everyone until malware researchers detected it. After some time, the developer took down the code and apologized, however, it is a well-known fact that open-source ransomware is a bad thing^[5] and criminals are quick to exploit it. Therefore, if you accidentally infected your computer with a Rensenware variant that asks you to pay a ransom, it means that you were attacked by a Rensenware spin-off. In such case, we highly recommend you to remove the malware from the system. For Rensenware removal, we suggest using FortectIntego or another reliable software.

How can I get infected with ransomware viruses?

Ransomware viruses can be distributed in a variety of ways, but the most popular ones so far are spam and malvertising. Considering that the discussed virus was created for fun and not for malevolent purposes, we doubt that you will get infected with it. However, open-source ransomware can turn into an extortion tool very easily. If you want to prevent such viruses from infecting your PC, protect it with the anti-malware program and create a data backup. Ideally, update your programs regularly and stay away from suspicious content online. Refrain yourself from opening shady-looking emails and do not install any pieces of software from websites that you can’t trust.

How to remove Rensenware ransomware from the system?

The program we suggested earlier should remove RensenWare virus with ease. Speaking of ransomware, we want to remind you that these viruses typically are extremely dangerous and removing them is a hard thing to do. While Rensenware removal shouldn’t cause a lot of trouble to you, other viruses are far more sophisticated and deleting them takes a lot of time and patience. Below, you can find a tutorial that explains how to remove a ransomware virus. We added data recovery methods in case you were infected by a malicious version of Rensenware program that demands money.