Infected with STOP Ransomware? Need to decrypt .STOP, .STOPDATA, .WAITING, .PAUSA or .SUSPENDED files?
What is STOP Ransomware
STOP Ransomware is a relatively new file encryptor, which distributed since the end of 2017. STOP shares many features DataKeeper and ANNABELLE Ransomware, for example, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or RSA-1024 encryption algorithm. The main problem for victims after infiltration by this virus is an impossibility to use, edit and save documents, photos, databases, archives and other files because all these files on PC become encrypted. Depending on the version of the virus, all encoded files get new suffixes: .STOP, .STOPDATA, .SUSPENDED, .PAUSA or newest .WAITING extension. Also, STOP Ransomware creates ransom notes in different folders, especially on the desktop. Usually, all these notes may be called:!!!YourDataRestore!!!.txt, !!!RestoreProcess!!!.txt, !!!INFO_RESTORE!!!.txt. Their contents mostly a similar: cybercriminals demands a ransom in dollars or cryptocurrencies (Bitcoins, Dash, e.t.c.) for partially or full decryption or repairing. Of course without any warranties. Example of one of the ransom notes, created by STOP Ransomware:
Example 1
All your important files were encrypted on this PC.
All files with .WAITING extension are encrypted.
Encryption was produced using unique private key RSA-1024 generated for this computer.
To decrypt your files, you need to obtain private key + decrypt software.
To retrieve the private key and decrypt software, you need to contact us by email waiting@bitmessage.ch send us an email your !!!INFO_RESTORE!!!.txt file and wait for further instructions.
For you to be sure, that we can decrypt your files - you can send us a 1-3 any not very big encrypted files and we will send you back it in a original form FREE.
Price for decryption $600 if you contact us first 72 hours.
Your personal id:
8AphcBpFgAZhoeW8ApBpBptxAW8FgAeWFgHxxxxx
E-mail address to contact us:
waiting@bitmessage.ch
Reserve email address to contact us:
waiting@india.com
Example 2
All your important files were encrypted on this PC.
All files with .SUSPENDED extension are encrypted.
Encryption was produced using unique private key RSA-1024 generated for this computer.
To decrypt your files, you need to obtain private key + decrypt software.
To retrieve the private key and decrypt software, you need to contact us by email suspendedfiles@bitmessage.ch send us an email your !!!RestoreProcess!!!.txt file and wait for further instructions.
For you to be sure, that we can decrypt your files - you can send us a 1-3 any not very big encrypted files and we will send you back it in a original form FREE.
Price for decryption $600 if you contact us first 72 hours.
Your personal id:
***************************
E-mail address to contact us:
suspendedfiles@bitmessage.ch
Reserve email address to contact us:
suspendedfiles@india.com
Example 3
All your important files were encrypted on this PC.
All files with .PAUSA extension are encrypted.
Encryption was produced using unique private key RSA-1024 generated for this computer.
To decrypt your files, you need to obtain private key + decrypt software.
To retrieve the private key and decrypt software, you need to contact us by email pausa@bitmessage.ch send us an email your !!!RESTORE!!!.txt file and wait for further instructions.
For you to be sure, that we can decrypt your files - you can send us a 1-3 any not very big encrypted files and we will send you back it in a original form FREE.
Price for decryption $600 if you contact us first 72 hours.
Your personal id:
*** [40 chars]
E-mail address to contact us:
pausa@bitmessage.ch
Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
pausa@india.com
Example 4
All your important files were encrypted on this PC.
All files with .STOPDATA extension are encrypted.
Encryption was produced using unique private key RSA-1024 generated for this computer.
To decrypt your files, you need to obtain private key + decrypt software.
To retrieve the private key and decrypt software, you need to contact us by email datadecryption@bitmessage.ch send us an email your !!!RESTORE_DATA!!!.txt file and wait for further instructions.
For you to be sure, that we can decrypt your files - you can send us a 1-3 any not very big encrypted files and we will send you back it in a original form FREE.
Price for decryption $200 if you contact us first 72 hours
Cybercriminals demand ransom from victims and offer to send 1-3 test files on email for trial decryption. STOP can’t remove all shadow copies of files, so you can try to restore that copies by sufficient software. If you find files with .STOPDATA(.STOP, .WAITING or .SUSPENDED) extension on your PC you should firstly turn off your Internet connection. If you want to found and remove STOP Ransomware and decrypt .STOPDATA(.STOP, .WAITING or .SUSPENDED) files, please read our step-by-step manual.
How STOP Ransomware infected your PC
STOP Locker can spread by hacking through an unprotected network configuration, using email spam and malicious attachments, fraudulent downloads, web injections, fake updates, repackaged and infected installers. Encryption inserts .STOPDATA(.STOP, .WAITING or .SUSPENDED) suffix to every coded file. Way to protect your computer from such threats is to use antiviruses with crypto-protection like HitmanPro.Alert with CryptoGuard.
First of all, don’t panic. Follow these easy steps below.
1. Start your computer in Safe Mode with networking. To do that, restart your computer before your system starts hit F8 several times. This will stop system from loading and will show Advanced boot options screen. Choose Safe mode with networking option from the options list using up and down arrows on your keyboard and hit Enter.
2. Log in to the system infected with the STOP Ransomware virus. Launch your Internet browser and download a reliable anti-malware program and start a full system scan. Once the scan is complete, review scan results and remove all entries detected.
Recommended Solution:
Norton is a powerful removal tool. It can remove all instances of newest viruses, similar to STOP Ransomware – files, folders, registry keys.
*Trial version of Norton provides detection of computer viruses for FREE. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Norton.
Step 2: Remove following files and folders of STOP Ransomware:
Remove following files:
no information
Check following folders:
%SystemDrive%\ (C:\)
%SystemRoot%\ (C:\Windows, %WinDir%\)
%UserProfile%\
%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\
%AppData%\
%LocalAppData%\
%ProgramData%\ / %AllUserProfile%\
%Temp%\ / %AppData%\Local\Temp\
How to decrypt files infected by STOP Ransomware (.STOPDATA, .STOP, .PAUSA, .WAITING or .SUSPENDED files)?
Decrypt .STOP(.STOPDATA, .WAITING, .PAUSA or .SUSPENDED) files manually
Restore the system using System Restore
Although latest versions of ransomware can remove system restore files, this method may help you to partially restore .STOP(.STOPDATA, .WAITING or .SUSPENDED) files. Give it a try and use standard System Restore to revive your data.
- Initiate the search for ‘system restore‘
- Click on the result
- Choose the date before the infection appearance
- Follow the on-screen instructions
Roll the files back to the previous version
Previous versions can be copies of files and folders created by Windows Backup (if it is active) or copies of files and folders created by System Restore. You can use this feature to restore files and folders that you accidentally modified or deleted, or that were damaged. This feature is available in Windows 7 and later versions.
- Right-click the file and choose Properties
- Open the Previous Version tab
- Select the latest version and click Copy
- Click Restore
You may find more detailed information about antivirus products in our article – Top 5 Antivirus Software for Windows
Restore your files using shadow copies
- Download and run Stellar Data Recovery.
- Select type of files you want to restore and click Next.
- Select the drive and folder where your files are located and date that you want to restore them from and press Scan.
- Once the scanning process is done, click Recover to restore your files.
Protect your computer from ransomware
Most modern antiviruses can protect your PC from ransomware and crypto-trojans, but thousands of people still get infected. There are several programs that use different approach t protect from ransomware and lockers. One of the best is HitmanPro.Alert with CryptoGuard. You may already know HitmanPro as famous cloud-based anti-malware scanner. Check out ultimate active protection software from SurfRight.
Information provided by Tim Kas