Terminating Boris Ransomware (Crypto-Malware/Ransomware)

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

Boris ransomware is another HiddenTear variant that was spotted early in July 2018. Just like a typical ransomware infection, it is designed to encrypt important data in an infected PC. based on the analysis done by my malware researchers, the following IOCs have been determined to be associated with this threat:

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e10edfbbf16d48d70eeded0b1cb8c1cb

After its infiltration, it may drop its malicious files into some Windows directories. These files are then used to perform a series of tasks in the system which allows the crypto-malware to stay invisible from any antivirus programs. Aside from that, they also make some modifications in some registry entries so that Boris ransomware can run every time a victim starts the computer, the crypto-malware can run automatically. It then begins to look for the 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 the aforementioned files are found, Boris ransomware will begin the encryption by employing the AES encryption algorithm. After the encryption is completed, it appends the .boris extension on every affected file. It also drops a file named “README.txt” which reads:
“Your files are encrypted! If you want to restore data email [email protected]:
[redacted 16 hex]”
As you can see, there are no further details provided in the ransom note except for the email address you have to contact in order to decrypt your files. However, reaching out to the crooks behind this crypto-virus is definitely not recommended as crooks tend to demand a huge ransom. And besides, even if you pay the ransom, there really is no guarantee that these crooks will give you the encryption key or the decryptor used for file recovery.
How is the malicious payload of Boris ransomware disseminated?
Like other HiddenTear variants, Boris ransomware is disseminated via spam emails. Its malicious payload is attached in emails and could be a document with malicious macro scripts that once opened, will run some command used to install Boris ransomware in the system.
Make use of the removal instructions prepared below to successfully terminate Boris ransomware from your computer.
Step 1: Tap Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Task Manager.
Step 2: Go to the Processes and Applications tab and look for the malicious processes of Boris ransomware then right click on them 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 Boris 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 Boris ransomware’s malicious components such as hidden-tear.exe, [random].exe as well as a text file named README.txt which contains the ransom note and other suspicious-looking files and then 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 [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 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 Boris ransomware.

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
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaveTimeOut
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Step 10: Next, delete the registry keys and sub-keys created by Boris ransomware.
Step 11: Close the Registry Editor.
Step 12: Finally, empty the contents of your Recycle Bin.
Try to recover your encrypted files using the Volume Shadow copies
Restoring your encrypted files using Windows’ Previous Versions feature will only be effective if Boris 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.

Once you’re done executing the steps given above, you need to continue the removal process of Boris 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.