Terminate Velso Ransomware (Crypto-Malware/Ransomware)

What is Velso ransomware? And how does it implement its attack?

Velso ransomware is a file-encrypting threat discovered on January 15, 2018. This crypto-malware is classified as a generic crypto-threat that is programmed to apply a customized AES 256 encryption algorithm on the targeted files. According to security experts, it is designed to encrypt files with the following extensions:
.PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG .CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG
As pointed out earlier, Velso ransomware uses AES 256 cipher in encrypting the targeted files listed above. It also obfuscates the decryption key using the RSA 1024 cipher. Once it’s done with the encryption process, it drops a file called “get_my_files.txt” which reads:
“Hello. If you want to return files, write me to e-mail
[email protected]
Your userkey: {KEY}”
Developers of Velso ransomware claims to offer a decryption program as long as you are willing to pay a few hundred dollars in Bitcoins – this is something you must not do no matter how much the cost is as you will only end up losing that money for nothing. And even if Velso ransomware deletes the shadow volume copies of the encrypted files that still shouldn’t make you resort to paying them as it would be futile. The best thing you could do for now is to wait until a free decryptor is released by security experts and use whatever backup copies you have of the affected files.
How does Velso ransomware proliferate?
Velso ransomware is found to be proliferating using malicious spam emails. This kind of spam emails usually contains an infected attachment which may be a malicious executable file (.exe) or a document with macro scripts or even a link that could redirect you to the downloader of Velso ransomware. To avoid such occurrences, you have to be very careful when opening emails, especially those that are in the spam folder. Cybercrooks tend to disguise these emails to make them look like their invoices, receipts, and other important documents to catch your attention so you have to beware of such tactics.
Terminate Velso ransomware from your PC with the help of the following guidelines.
Step 1: Tap Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Task Manager.
Step 2: Go to Processes and look for the malicious process of Velso ransomware then right click on it and select End Process or End Task.

Step 3: Close the Task Manager and open Control Panel by pressing the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.
Step 4: Look for dubious programs that might be related to Velso ransomware and then Uninstall it/them.

Step 5: Tap Win + E to launch File Explorer.
Step 6: After opening File Explorer, navigate to the following directories below and look for Velso ransomware’s malicious components such as get_my_files.txt and remove them all.

%TEMP%
%APPDATA%
%DESKTOP%
%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
C:\ProgramData\local\

Step 7: Close the File Explorer.
Before you proceed to the next steps below, make sure that you are tech savvy enough to the point where you know exactly how to use and navigate your computer’s Registry. Keep in mind that any changes you make will highly impact your computer. To save you the trouble and time, you can just use PC Cleaner Pro, this system tool is proven to be safe and excellent enough that hackers won’t be able to hack into it. But if you can manage Windows Registry well, then, by all means, go on to the next steps.
Step 8: Tap Win + R to open Run and then type in regedit in the field and tap enter to pull up Windows Registry.

Step 9: Navigate to the listed paths below and look for the registry keys and sub-keys created by Velso ransomware.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

Step 10: Delete the registry keys and sub-keys created by Velso ransomware.
Step 11: Close the Registry Editor.
Step 12: Empty your Recycle Bin.
To make sure that Velso ransomware is completely removed and that nothing is left behind, use the following antivirus program. To use it, refer to the instructions below.
Perform a full system scan using SpyRemover Pro. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
Windows will now load the SafeMode with Networking.
Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
Type in explorer http://www.fixmypcfree.com/install/spyremoverpro

A single space must be in between explorer and http. Click OK.

A dialog box will be displayed by Internet Explorer. Click Run to begin downloading the program. The installation will start automatically once a download is done.