Do you know what Greystars Ransomware is?
Opening spam emails, random links, and misleading ads, or interacting with unfamiliar installers has never been this dangerous before. Greystars Ransomware is one of the many infections that can be spread using any of these security backdoors, and it usually takes one or two seemingly harmless clicks, and the malware is in. Needless to say, if you are not careful, you could bring real trouble upon yourself. The worst part is that the most dangerous kind of malware is usually the most clandestine, which means that you do not notice when it slithers in. Most victims of the threat we are discussing in this report will learn about it only after it creates a ransom note file and adds a unique extension to the personal files that are corrupted and become unreadable. Interested in learning more? Keep reading, and you will find out what you need to do to delete Greystars Ransomware.
When Greystars Ransomware slithers in, the first thing on the agenda is to scan the web for personal files, and then they are encrypted. The infection uses both RSA and AES encryption keys to encrypt data (your personal files and the keys themselves), and you are unlikely to resolve the issue on your own. If you decide to install and run a free malware scanner, you have to make sure that it is not hiding malware. The demand for free file decryptors is high with all of the malicious ransomware infections being spread, and cyber criminals are likely to exploit this demand to disperse malware further. Our research team is not aware of any tools that could decrypt files corrupted by Greystars Ransomware at this point. Unfortunately, they are created or released on very rare occasions only. What if you remove the ransomware? Will that free your files? While deleting this threat is crucial, that will not free the files.
The only file that Greystars Ransomware drops is called “HOW-TO-RECOVER-YOUR-FILES.HTML,” and you should find it on the Desktop. The message is not unique – at least, in comparison to all other ransom notes that our research team has seen – and it simply informs about the situation and offers a solution. It says that your files are encrypted and that you can have them decrypted if you pay the ransom of 0.08 Bitcoin to a special Bitcoin Wallet (1JnRP8UsTDLRjzCTaJXYPr5oYkKc7bLY2Q) and then email a unique code given to you to greystars@protonmail.com. This email address is also displayed as the extension (“.greystars@protonmail.com”) that is appended to all encrypted files. You can delete it, but that will not fix the file or remove Greystars Ransomware. 0.08 Bitcoin is around 650 US Dollars, and so if you choose to pay the ransom, you will be putting a lot of money at risk. Most likely, you will not get a decryptor in return of this ransom, and so paying it is not advisable.
It is important to have your operating system completely clean. As long as Greystars Ransomware exists, you will not be safe, and that is why we advise getting rid of this malware as quickly as possible. Before you do anything, there are two things you need to do. First, use a clean system to check your backups. If your files are not backed up, you have lost them. Should you take the risk and pay the ransom? That is up to you, but we cannot promise anything. In fact, our experience indicates that you would be wasting money. The second thing you must do is scan the system. If other threats are found, consider using an anti-malware tool to have all of them deleted at once, automatically. If you wish to remove Greystars Ransomware yourself, check out the instructions below.
Delete Greystars Ransomware
- Find the {unknown name}.exe file that is the ransomware. It could be located on the Desktop, the %TEMP% and %USERPROFILE%\Downloads directories, or anywhere else on the system.
- Once you find the file, right-click and Delete it.
- Right-click and Delete the HOW-TO-RECOVER-YOUR-FILES.HTML file on the Desktop. If copies exist, erase them too.
- Empty Recycle Bin to permanently erase the launcher and the ransom note.
- Use a legitimate malware scanner to check if your operating system is malware-free.
In non-techie terms:
When Greystars Ransomware invades the system, it encrypts files, and recovering them might be impossible. The creator of the infection wants you to believe that you can recover data by paying a ransom, but it is more likely that you would be wasting your money by doing that. If your system was invaded, you need to focus on the removal of Greystars Ransomware, as well as virtual protection. First, install reliable anti-malware software to keep all infections away, as well as automatically remove the ones that already exist. Next, choose the desired file backup option to ensure that you do not lose any more files in the future. Finally, be more cautious online so as not to let in any other infections by accident.