What is Eking ransomware
Eking Ransomware is a dangerous computer infection belonging to Phobos Ransomware family that is known to change Windows registry entries as soon as it successfully intrudes the targeted device. Once installed, this perilous file-encoding virus encrypts crucial data stored on the infected machine by adding victim’s ID, attacker’s email address and appending “.eking” extension to each name name to rename the data. By adding this weird extension to your important data, it makes you completely inaccessible to those files. To make data unusable, this precarious virus uses strong encryption algorithm and targets popular files like images, text, audio, video, documents, spreadsheets, presentations etc. After that, you will not be able to open those files unless you use a private decryption key/tool.
More information on Eking ransomware:
After successfully completing the encryption process, Eking ransomware displays a pop-up window "info.hta" and a ransom note named "info.txt" when you try to open the infected data. In this instruction, attackers demand you to pay certain amount of ransom to decrypt your files. The note also mentions how you will pay the amount. Hackers actually provide an email address in order to be contacted to pay the ransom. You will have to pay the requested amount in Bitcoin currency. Criminals give you a deadline to pay. While initially installed, this perilous threat alters the default registry settings by making malicious entries in it which allows the virus to get automatically activated with each Windows restart. After that it scans all the folders in search of data in its target list and once detected
Should you pay the ransom?
It is quite clear here that if you agree to pay ransom to Eking ransomware, you will be scammed by them. Hence, you are highly advised not to make any kind of payments to criminals. In many cases, crooks disappeared shortly after taking the money, causing victims to lose documents and money. You will not get any decryption tool from them even after payment. In any case, it is not wise to pay the attackers a ransom as it will only convince them to put more such viruses in it for more profit. Try recovering the infected files using a data recovery application which you can download here from the link provided below this article. But first, you must remove Eking ransomware from the computer immediately
Other vicious characteristics of this parasite:
This nasty crypto-virus drags down the overall computer performance severely by consuming huge amount of memory resources and increasing the CPU usage. It causes the machine to respond slower than ever and take more time than usual to complete any task. It is able to deactivate all running security services and Windows Firewall and open back doors for more Online threats. This notorious virus can easily bring other Online threats such as spyware, adware, rootkits, worms, Trojan horses etc. into your work-station and turn the device into a malware-hub. It corrupts important system files that ensure efficient computer functioning and prevents many installed applications and drivers from working in a proper manner.
How to remove Eking ransomware
Step 1: Remove Eking ransomware via "Safe Mode with Networking"
If you can't start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking, try System Restore
- During Startup, press the F8 key continuously until the Advanced Options menu appears. Select "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" from the list and press "Enter"
- In the newly opened command prompt, type " cd restore" and press "Enter".
- Type: rstrui.exe and press "ENTER"
- Click Next in the new window
- Select any Restore Point and click Next. (This step will restore the work-station to an earlier time and date before the Eking Ransomware infiltrated the PC.
- In the newly opened window, press "Yes".
Once your PC is restored to the previous date and time, download the recommended anti-malware tool and perform a deep scan to remove Eking Ransomware files left in the work-station.
In order to restore each (individual) file by this ransomware, use “Windows Previous Version” feature. This method works when the "System Restore Feature" is enabled on the workstation.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some variants of the Eking Ransomware also remove "Shadow Volume Copies", so this feature may not always work and only work on specific computers.
How to recover individual encrypted files:
In order to restore a single file, right click on it and go to "Properties". Select the Previous Versions tab. Select a Restore Point and click the Restore option.
In order to access files encrypted by Eking Ransomware, you can also try using “ Shadow Explorer ”.
Important: Data-encrypting ransomware is very dangerous and you'd better take precautions to prevent it from attacking your work-station. It is recommended to use a powerful anti-malware tool for real-time protection. With the help of “SpyHunter”, “Group Policy Objects” are implanted in the registries to block harmful infections like Eking Ransomware.
Also, in Windows 10, you get a very unique feature called "Fall Creators Update" which provides "Controlled Folder Access" to prevent any kind of encryption of files. With this feature, any files stored in Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Favorites, and Desktop folders are safe by default.
It is very important to have this “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update” installed in your PC to protect your important files and data from ransomware encryption.
How to recover files encrypted by Eking Ransomware?
By now, you should have understood what happens to encrypted personal files and how to remove scripts and payloads related to Eking Ransomware to protect your personal files from being corrupted or encrypted until now. To get back locked files, the in-depth information related to "System Restore" and "Volume Shadow Copies" has been discussed earlier. However, if you still cannot access encrypted files, you can try data recovery tools.
Use of data recovery tools
This step is for all the victims who have already tried all the above procedures but did not find any solution. Just as importantly, you have access to a PC and can install any software. Data recovery tool works based on system scanning and recovery algorithms. It searches the system partition to find original files that were deleted, corrupted or corrupted by malware. Remember, you must not reinstall the Windows operating system, or the "previous" copy will be permanently deleted. You have to clean the work-station first and remove Eking Ransomware infection. Leave the locked file intact and follow the steps mentioned below.
To prevent your server from being attacked by ransomware, you can take the following measures:
1. Install anti-virus software: Installing anti-virus software can effectively prevent the spread of viruses and malware, thereby effectively preventing the server from being attacked by ransomware.
2. Regular backup: Regularly back up the data on the server. If the server is attacked by ransomware, you can use the backup data to restore.
3. Strengthen system security: update the operating system and software in a timely manner, and regularly check system security to ensure that system security vulnerabilities are not exploited.
4. Use complex passwords: Using complex passwords can effectively prevent attackers from cracking the system and ensure system security.