I wrote this article to help you remove Karmen Ransomware. This Karmen Ransomware removal guide works for all Windows versions.
The Karmen virus belongs to the most dangerous cyber infection family – the family of ransomware. Unfortunately, these parasites are becoming more and more popular and newer and newer pieces are being developed every single day. The point is, if you are infected by Karma, you are in trouble. There is a reason why ransomware is considered the most dreaded malware. It has only one goal – to get your money – and it relies on a very clever technique to achieve it. Unlike other infections that try to steal your financial credentials, ransomware practically makes you give it money yourself. How? Simple. It takes something valuable of your and then demands money for its release. What it takes is your data.
Your pictures, videos, music, documents, MS Office files, presentations, etc. They all get encrypted with a strong encryption cipher and hence become inaccessible to you. You cannot use them in any way. You cannot open them, or edit them, or anything. All you are left with are their empty icons. In addition, to solidify its hold over your data, Karmen appends a “.grt” extension at the end of each locked file. For instance, if you had a music file named “Song.mp3”, after being encrypted it becomes “Song.mp3.grt”. Seeing this nasty add-on means that the encryption process is over and you no longer have access to your documents. Nothing you do can change that. Even trying to rename or move the files leads to nothing.
This is the moment when Karma makes its final move. The ransomware drops its ransom note in each folder, containing locked data as well as on your Desktop. The note is basically a message from the crooks explaining your unpleasant situation and, ironically, offering you a way out. Isn`t it strange that the same people who encrypted your files are now trying to help you? Actually, no. It is not strange as it is not you, they are trying to help. They are helping themselves and they use you in the process. These hacker blackmail you for money. The ransom note states that the only way of freeing your files is by obtaining a special decryption key. The key, of course, doesn’t come for free. Do you see the scheme here? You are supposed to pay a hefty amount of money after which, crooks promise, you will receive the tool needed for unlocking your data. But can you trust these people to keep their end of the bargain? You are making deals with cybercriminals here and there are no guarantees.
Who`s to say that once you pay them, they won`t just take your money and send you nothing? Because this is a possible scenario. And you won`t be the first person this happens to. Or, they can send you a tool with doesn’t work. And even if they give you the right decryptor and you free your files, you still lose. Why? Because the decryptor only goes so far. It removes the encryption placed on your data. The infection itself, on the other hand, remains intact. This means that it stays on board and it is ready to strike again any moment and send you back to square one.
How many times are you willing to sponsor hackers in order to get your files back? Every time you pay them, your money goes for nothing but more malware creation AND your personal and financial information gets exposed. Don’t waste your time and money. Paying is not the solution here so forget about it as an option. We are offering you a removal guide which is completely free and will help you get rid of Karma once and for all. Once you remove the pest, you can also try and recover your files.
How to protect yourself from more ransomware attacks? The best way, of course, is to never let the pest into your system in the first place. For the purpose, you have to be careful. Such infections can use many different methods to sneak in. For example, they can hide behind shady links and malicious ads. Or, they can catch a ride with freeware or disguise themselves as program updates. Another method involves spam emails messages and their attachments. Ransomware can also use a Trojan horse virus as a backdoor. Don’t let your carelessness make you an even easier victim. Be vigilant. Be careful what you agree to and do your best to keep your PC infection-free.
Karmen Ransomware Removal
Method 1: Restore your encrypted files using ShadowExplorer
Usually, Karmen Ransomware deletes all shadow copies, stored in your computer. Luckily, the ransomware is not always able to delete the shadow copies. So your first try should be restoring the original files from shadow copies.
- Download ShadowExplorer from this link: http://www.shadowexplorer.com/downloads.html.
- Install ShadowExplorer
- Open ShadowExplorer and select C: drive on the left panel
- Choose at least a month ago date from the date field
- Navigate to the folder with encrypted files
- Right-click on the encrypted file
- Select “Export” and choose a destination for the original file
Method 2: Restore your encrypted files by using System Restore
- Go to Start –> All programs –> Accessories –> System tools –> System restore
- Click “Next“
- Choose a restore point, at least a month ago
- Click “Next“
- Choose Disk C: (should be selected by default)
- Click “Next“. Wait for a few minutes and the restore should be done.
Method 3: Restore your files using File Recovery Software
If none of the above method works, you should try to recover encrypted files by using File Recovery Software. Since Karmen Ransomware first makes a copy of the original file, then encrypts it and deletes the original one, you can successfully restore the original, using a File Recovery Software. Here are a few free File Recovery Software programs:
