Do you know what Null Ransomware is?
The unexpected appearance of Null Ransomware on your system can turn into your biggest nightmare since this vicious threat can take all your important files hostage. Unfortunately, our researchers have not found any way to unlock your encrypted files after this attack. Of course, malware hunters might come up with a free tool if they manage to hack this ransomware program. But this can take some time and there is no guarantee that it will actually happen. Just like there is no guarantee at all that if you transfer the demanded amount to these criminals, your files will be decrypted. We highly doubt that since our experience in this field shows otherwise, not to mention the fact that paying money to criminals is like supporting cybercrime. We believe that the safest way is to keep a backup copy on a removable drive or in cloud storage, which can be used after such a horrible attack to restore your files. Of course, it is also a good reason to protect your computer with a reliable anti-malware program that can weed out any malicious try to infect your system before it can actually happen. If you want to restore the security of your PC, it is essential that you remove Null Ransomware right away.
While many users may believe that cyber criminals use all kinds of mysterious techniques to magically smuggle such a dangerous threat onto their system, most of the time it practically happens because of the victims themselves. Yes, you read it right. Unfortunately, there is a great likelihood that you yourself let this beast loose on your computer. How? Well, you may have received a spam e-mail lately that you opened and even saved its attachment to view its content. Little did you know that you actually activated this severe attack. This spam mail can be rather misleading and even more experienced computer users may believe that it is important for them to see what the attached file has to show. This mail could claim that it contains details about a wrongly made flight booking, issues with your credit card details, problems with a parcel that was not delivered to you, and so on. We hope that you can see now how easy it is to make you want to open this mail and how you may have infected your system with this ransomware. Keep in mind that prevention is the most important when it comes to such malicious attacks because by the time you delete Null Ransomware, your files will be rendered useless.
Null Ransomware screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
This malicious program applies the AES-256 encryption algorithm to lock your photos, videos, documents, and more. Before the execution, it copies itself to your "%Appdata%" folder under a totally random name, which probably makes it easier for you to identify once you are ready to act and delete Null Ransomware. This infection appends a ".null" extension to all your encoded files and they will thus look something like "image.jpg.null." This makes it even simpler to identify your attacker. Once the damage is done, your screen is occupied by the application window of this ransomware, which is on all black background with white letters. This GUI has a couple of tabs, such as "What happened to my PC?," "Encrypted files:," and "How do I recover my files?" You can also find information about how you can Bitcoins and what AES-256 really is.
You are instructed to buy and transfer a certain amount of Bitcoins to the given Bitcoin wallet address. We have found though that this amount might be different for users and could be dependent on your location as well as how many of your files have been encoded. The range is insane to say the least as you can be charged from 10 up to 10,000 US dollars in Bitcoins for your files to be decrypted. Of course, this is your call to make, but we definitely recommend that you remove Null Ransomware ASAP from your computer. Let us tell you know how you can do that.
The first step is to exit the malicious program by opening your Task Manager and ending this malicious process. After that you can easily delete all files that could be related to this attack. Please follow our guide below this article if you are ready to take action. Of course, apart from eliminating this dangerous threat it is just as important to make sure that there are no other malicious programs on your system and that it is protected from future attacks. If you do not feel skilled enough to be able to safeguard your PC, we advise you to invest in a professional anti-malware program (e.g., SpyHunter) that can automatically take care of all known infections.
Remove Null Ransomware from Windows
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc simultaneously to launch the Task Manager.
- Locate the random-name process and identify it by clicking on it with the right mouse button, and choosing Properties.
- If the Description field reads "Strix", you have found the malicious process.
- Click OK or press Esc to close the Properties pop-up.
- Remember the random name so that you can identify it later.
- Press End task to kill the malicious process.
- Exit the Task Manager.
- Press Win+E.
- Open your "%APPDATA%" folder.
- Locate and delete the random-name malicious .exe file.
- Locate the suspicious file you have downloaded recently and delete it.
- Empty your Recycle Bin.
- Reboot your PC.
In non-techie terms:
Null Ransomware is a new malware infection that can severely damage your files by encrypting them. This attack is all about extorting money from you in exchange for the decryption of your precious files. Since there is little chance that these criminals will actually decrypt your files, we do not think it is a good idea to transfer the demanded fee that can be as high as 10 thousand dollars worth of Bitcoins. If you are "lucky," this amount might be as low as 10 dollars. Still, supporting cybercrime should be off your table if you are a security-minded person. The best way to protect your files is to have a backup somewhere safe. Right now all you can do is remove Null Ransomware from your system and transfer the clean copy of your files back. If you would like to defend your PC from further attacks, you need to install a trustworthy anti-malware program as soon as possible.