Eliminating Pico Ransomware (Crypto-Malware/Ransomware)

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

Pico ransomware is a data-encrypting virus created to lock files and demand ransom from victims. Creators of Pico ransomware asks its victims to pay $100 either in Bitcoin or Ethereum. Based on the analysis done by security experts, Pico ransom has taken the source code of Thanatos ransomware.
The instant it infects a computer, it creates the following folders and file in the Desktop:
%Desktop%\Ransomware\ThanatosSource\Release\Ransomware.pdb
After dropping its malicious components, Pico ransomware starts to implement its attack by modifying registry keys and sub-keys in the Windows Registry so that it can run its malicious components namely “Microsoft Update System Web-Helper” and “README.txt” automatically on every system boot. It may also collect information about the user and the system and use them for its attack. After that, it scans the computer in search for 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
Once it finds the files with the extensions listed above, Pico ransomware will encrypt them and add the .PICO extension to each one of the encrypted files. Following the encryption, it opens a file named README.txt” which contains the ransom note stating:
“Your files was encrypted. To decrypt your files,
follow next steps:
Pico Ransomware v1.0

Send $100 to one of these wallets:

BTC: {ADDRESS HERE}
ETH: {ADDRESS HERE}

Send your TXID and your MachineID to mail

E-Mail: [email protected]
Machine ID: {ID HERE}
—————————————————
Do not waste your time, files can only be
decrypted by our decode tool.”
How does Pico ransomware spread online?
Pico ransomware may spread using several methods. One of which is malicious spam email campaigns. Cybercriminals usually use this method as it is proven to be effective in spreading ransomware threats like Pico ransomware. Aside from spam emails, crooks might also use third-party downloads. This is why you must be extra cautious in downloading files, especially from unknown sources.
Make sure to follow the removal instructions below carefully to eliminate Pico ransomware from your computer.
Step 1: The first thing you need to do is to obliterate the process of Pico ransomware by opening the Task Manager – simply tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys on your keyboard.
Step 2: After that, click the Processes tab and look for a process named Microsoft Update System Helper as well as another suspicious-looking process that takes up most of your CPU’s resources and is most likely related to Pico ransomware and then end them all.

Step 3: Now that the malicious process is eliminated, close the Task Manager.
Step 4: Next, tap Win + R, type in appwiz.cpl and click OK or tap Enter to open Control Panel’s list of installed programs.
Step 5: Under the list of installed programs, look for Pico ransomware or anything similar and then uninstall it.

Step 6: Then close Control Panel and tap Win + E keys to launch File Explorer.
Step 7: Navigate to the following locations below and look for Pico ransomware’s malicious components such as Ransomware.pdb, notepad.exe and README.txt as well as other suspicious files it has created and downloaded into the system and then delete all of them.

%APPDATA%
%TEMP%
%WINDIR%\System32\Tasks
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\
%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop

Step 8: Close the File Explorer.
Before you go on any further, 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 [product-name] 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 9: Tap Win + R to open Run and then type in regedit in the field and tap enter to pull up Windows Registry.

Step 10: Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Microsoft Update System Web-Helper” = “C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe %UserProfile%\Desktop\README.txt”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

Step 11: Delete the registry keys and sub-keys created by Pico ransomware.
Step12. Close the Registry Editor and empty the Recycle Bin.
Try to recover your encrypted files using the Shadow Volume copies
Restoring your encrypted files using Windows’ Previous Versions feature will only be effective if Pico ransomware hasn’t deleted the shadow copies of your files. But still, this is one of the best and free methods there is, so it’s definitely worth a shot.
To restore the encrypted file, right-click on it and select Properties, a new window will pop-up, then proceed to Previous Versions. It will load the file’s previous version before it was modified. After it loads, select any of the previous versions displayed on the list like the one in the illustration below. And then click the Restore button.

After you’ve covered the steps provided above, you need to continue the removal process of Pico ransomware using a reliable program like [product-name]. How? Follow the advanced removal steps below.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. 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 the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.