Do you know what Creeper Ransomware is?
Creeper Ransomware is a malicious computer infection that can cripple your system and hold your personal data hostage. This program was created to steal your money from you by making you think that it can issue a decryption key to restore your files. In reality, the chances of getting a decryption key from this program are slim, and you should focus on removing Creeper Ransomware from your system, and then restore your files in other ways. Please do not panic as there are always means to get at least part of your files back.
Perhaps we should cover the potential methods to restore your files, first. Of course, the best way to get your files back is to transfer healthy copies into your system from an external backup drive. This is actually one of the main reasons computer security experts always advocate saving copies of your files in an external storage regularly. You can also keep backup storage on a cloud drive, but it would be ideal to keep copies of your files in a drive that is not plugged to your computer because this way you would definitely avoid the destruction of your backup data.
Also, Creeper Ransomware may not have deleted your Shadow Volume copies. Most of the ransomware infections make sure that they delete the Shadow Volume copies so that users have no other choice but to pay the “ransom” to receive the decryption key from the criminals. To see whether your Shadow Volume copies are still intact, you should definitely refer to a professional technician. Our research team says that restoring data from Shadow Volume requires good skills, so unless you are an expert in the field, you should not try that on your own.
It is also possible to retrieve some of your files from your email inbox and your mobile devices. The chances are that you have most of your recent files on your phone or your tablet, too. The good part of about using a lot of devices these days is that you have most of your data scattered around, and it also makes it virtually impossible for cyber criminals to encrypt everything.
As far as Creeper Ransomware is concerned, believe that this program must spread via spam email messages. Spam email is the most common ransomware distribution medium as it is cheap and massive. It may have a rather low infection rate, but the sheer amount of the spam emails sent ensure that ransomware creators get their share of the crop. So, to avoid a ransomware infection, you should be really careful about the messages you open and the files you download. It is very likely that the most recently opened file on your computer initiated the infection.
When Creeper Ransomware is launch, this ransomware scan your system looking for the files it can encrypt. Once, the encryption is complete, all the affected files will have the .creeper extension added to their filenames. Needless to say, it will be impossible to open the encrypted files because the system will no longer be able to read them. Creeper Ransomware will also drop a ransom note in the DECRIPT_MY_FILES.txt that says this:
Decrypting your files is easy. Take a deep breath and follow the steps below.
1) Make the proper payment.
Payments are made in Monero. This is a crypto-currency, like bitcoin.
You can buy Monero, and send it, from the same places you can any other
cryto-currency. If you’re still unsure, google ‘monero exchange’.
The criminals say that you have to pay 3 Monero units (almost 800 USD) within the first two days of the encryption, and if you hesitate, the price goes up to 5 Monero units (which is over 1300 USD). Needless to say, you should never throw such sums away for something that probably does not even work.
As mentioned, you need to remove Creeper Ransomware from your computer right now, then delete the encrypted files, and transfer healthy files back into your system. However, before you transfer healthy data back, you should scan your PC with the SpyHunter free scanner, to see whether your system is really clean. If not, be sure to remove all the potential threats immediately.
How to Remove Creeper Ransomware
- Open your Downloads folder.
- Delete recently downloaded files.
- Remove the DECRIPT_MY_FILES.txt ransom note.
- Run a full PC scan.
In non-techie terms:
Creeper Ransomware is a frustrating infection that may not leave much behind. Ransomware programs seldom issue the decryption keys that should help you unlock your files. The only thing they want is money, and you should never pay them. Please remove Creeper Ransomware right now, and then look for ways to restore your data. Should you have more questions, please do not hesitate to leave us a comment. Also, you should seek assistance in this quest to terminate the ransomware program, if you feel you need it.