What is Shade8 Ransomware?
Shade8 Ransomware is one of those malicious infections that can give you a lot of fright, but in reality, they can be easily dealt with. Thus, if you were infected with this program, there is no need to panic. You just need to contact the researchers who can provide you with the decryption tool. Or, if you have a file backup ready, just remove Shade8 Ransomware from your system, delete the encrypted files, and then transfer the healthy copies back into your hard drive. For manual removal instructions, scroll down to the bottom of this description.
Where does Shade8 Ransomware come from?
This malicious infection belongs to the Hidden Tear Ransowmare family. Hidden Tear is an open-source malware. It means that the malicious code is available out in the open for anyone to use if they know how to access it and how to modify it. Over the years, we have actually encountered multiple infections based on the Hidden Tear code.
It doesn’t mean that all infections that come from this group are developed by the same criminals. There might be many different sources that use the same code. Like that, we have dealt with programs like Facebook Ransomware, Poop Ransomware, PTP Ransomware, and many other infections that were based on the same malicious code. Shade8 Ransomware is just one of the many that have caught our attention. And our research says that this program is rather generic, so it doesn’t look like the code has been tweaked a lot.
It also means that Shade8 Ransomware employs the same distribution methods as previously released Hidden Tear Ransomware infections. Most of the time, these programs spread through spam emails.
You have probably heard about this many times already, and we are actually tired of telling everyone to be careful of spam emails, but it’s better be safe than sorry. It also means that it is up to you to avoid the likes of Shade8 Ransomware.
If you receive messages from unknown senders, you need to remove them immediately. If those messages come with attached files, delete them no questions asked. Of course, if you think that the file you received MIGHT be important, but you don’t want to risk it, you can always scan the received file with a security tool of your choice. This way, you will ensure that the file you open is a safe document, and not a ransomware installer.
What does Shade8 Ransomware do?
Nevertheless, if Shade8 Ransomware manages to enter a target system, it will initiate a file encryption, just like many other ransomware programs from the same group. The encryption will be fast and efficient, and once it is complete, all the affected files will have a new extension added to their names. For example, a dog.jpeg file after the encryption would look like dog.jpeg.shade8. It’s like a stamp that those ransomware programs use to identify themselves. Also, security researchers often employ these extensions to name the ransomware infections if the name is not obvious from the ransom note.
Shade8 Ransomware obviously drops a ransomware note, too. The ransom note is just one line, and it says that “If you want your data 4shadow@protonmail.com.” It clearly says that you should contact these criminals via the given email in order to find out more about file recovery. To make the matters worse, Shade8 Ransomware also changes your background, and puts up a new desktop wallpaper. This wallpaper should scare you into contacting the criminals ASAP. The background contains one dark hooded figure and a short message that says the following:
If your data is necessary for you, we are the only ones who can give it back to you.
shadow4@protonmail.com
SHADOW
However, no matter what these criminals might want you to think, they are not the “only ones” who can help you retrieve your data.
How do I remove Shade8 Ransomware?
Before you restore your files, you need to remove Shade8 Ransomware for good. You can delete the infection manually, but if you are not sure about that, acquire a powerful security tool that will terminate this infection for you automatically. As for your files, you can restore them if you contact Michael Gillespie (@demonslay335 on Twitter) for the decryption tool.
Manual Shade8 Ransomware Removal Guide
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc and open Task Manager.
- Open the Processes tab and highlight suspicious processes.
- Click the End Process button.
- Press Win+R and type %HOMEDRIVE%. Click OK.
- Go to the user folder.
- Delete the shade8.jpg file and The1234 folder.
- Run a full system scan with SpyHunter.
100% FREE spyware scan and
tested removal of Shade8 Ransomware*
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