I wrote this article to help you remove Goldeneye Ransomware. This Goldeneye Ransomware removal guide works for all Windows versions.
As the old saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. This statement was confirmed by the developer of the feminine win-lockers Petya and Mischa. It would appear that the cyber criminal did not take too kindly to the actions of security experts. After his best laid plans were foiled, the hacker went back to the drawing board and sketched his next masterpiece. Goldeneye ransomware delivered with a bang. This rendition of the win-locker, dedicated to Tina Turner in a way, has the theme of the James Bond movies. Like a professional secret agent, the win-locker infiltrated the premises of users’ computers and completes its mission. In Germany alone, Goldeneye ransomware infected about 160 devices in a single day.
The owner of Goldeneye ransomware has reached out to spam email campaigns. The win-locker gets transferred through emails which talk about an application form. The bogus letters contain the word “Bewerbung” which is German for application. The sender devises the message to resemble official business correspondence. The insidious program is inserted into the picture through an attached file. The attachment is a text document, sometimes placed inside an archive. The sender uses a .js script to automatize the transfer of the virus. Opening the infected attachment is enough to unleash Goldeneye ransomware into your device.
You need to be careful with your emails. Before following instructions from a letter or opening a file from it, proof the sender’s identity. Spammers often write on behalf of legitimate companies and institutions to lead users astray. They can misrepresent the national post, a courier firm, a bank, a social network, a shopping outlet, a government branch and the district police department. To confirm that the sender is who he claims to be, check the email account he has used.
The clandestine program has a unique approach to executing the encryption. Goldeneye ransomware targets the MBR (Master Boot Record) and the MFT (Master File Table). The win-locker proceeds to encrypt different file types. The vulnerable formats include text documents, graphics, videos, audios, compressed archives, zipped folders, databases and certain system components. Upon completing the process, Goldeneye ransomware sets the conventional lock screen with the “press any key” function. This step is exhibited by both Petya and Mischa. The victim is prompted to press a random button on his keyboard. Doing so would reveal the full message of the nefarious program.
The point of Goldeneye ransomware is to collect payments from victims. The win-locker displays a ransom note to explain the situation to the users and instruct them on the actions they are required to take. The message is titled YOUR_FILES_ARE_ENCRYPTED.txt. It is opened on system boot. The cyber criminal has set the ransom at 1.36772282 bitcoins. This converts to $1049.41 USD or €971.86 EUR, per the current exchange rate. The amount is to be paid in bitcoins because this cryptocurrency protects the identity of the recipients. The transaction cannot be tracked down. The hacker has taken measures to protect his location, as well. The payment website is linked via a Tor browser page. This browsing client blocks third parties from tracing the user’s geographic location.
Goldeneye ransomware utilizes a combination of AES-256 and RSA-4096 algorithms to conduct the encryption. The win-locker appends a custom file extension to the names of the targeted objects. The suffix consists of 8 characters, of which four are alphabets and four are numbers. It is unique for each instance of infection. The encryption technology Goldeneye ransomware puts into practice is strong. Security experts have still found a way to break the coding scheme. Since the win-locker targets hard drive components, you will need to disassemble the infected machine when executing the decryption. In the guide below, we have provided the full instructions on how to decrypt Goldeneye ransomware.
Remove Goldeneye Ransomware
1. Unplug your machine from the power outlet. For laptops, remove the battery from the device.
2. Unscrew the case where the hard drive is located.
3. Remove the hard drive. This also requires using a screwdriver.
4. Plug the hard drive into a secure device which has an Internet connection and runs Windows. When a hardware component is connected to a device, it is recognized as a separate partition.
5. Download a custom decryption tool called Petya Sector Extractor.
6. Open the archive of the program and extract it into a designated folder of your choice.
7. Log into an administrator account and launch the executable of the program.
8. When Petya Sector Extractor detects a hard drive, click the Copy Sector button.
9. Go to the website Petya-pay-no-ransom.
10. Paste the sector you copied earlier into the designated field. It is marked with a red frame and lists the following sign: “Base64 encoded 512 bytes verification data”.
11. Repeat the process, this time selecting the Copy Nonce button from Petya Sector Extractor.
12. Hit the Submit button in the website and wait for the domain to generate a password.
13. Copy the key (password).
14. Place the infected hard drive back into the original device and boot the system.
15. Follow the instructions to have the lock screen appear. Paste the password you obtained from the website into the field titled “Key:”. The decryption process should start automatically.
