What is Skymap Ransomware?
Skymap Ransomware is a dangerous computer infection that should be terminated as soon as possible. As you can obviously tell from the name, this program encrypts target files and then expects the affected user to pay a ransom fee for the files. Computer security experts always emphasize that transferring the ransom payment seldom solves anything. If anything, you need to remove Skymap Ransomware, and then look for other methods to restore the affected files. Please do not fall into this trap, and keep your money to yourself. Also, do everything you can to avoid similar infections in the future.
Where does Skymap Ransomware come from?
As far as we managed to find out, Skymap Ransomware is part of the STOP Ransomware family, and so certain distribution and behavioral patterns can be applied across different infections from the same group. Therefore, we can surely say that Skymap Ransomware is an annoying infection, and it won’t step down.
We believe that Skymap Ransomware comes via spam email attachments, and users download and install this infection willingly. Of course, they are not aware of that, because, who would ever want to install this program willingly? The problem is that spam emails that distribute Skymap Ransomware are very sophisticated. They are seldom filtered into the Junk folder, and they also look like official notifications from reputable sources. As a result, a lot of users get confused and open such files without any second thought.
You could avoid Skymap Ransomware if you were to delete messages from unknown senders immediately. Also, you could make use of a reliable antispyware tool to scan the attached file before opening it. If the scanner says that the file is dangerous, you should delete it no questions asked.
What does Skymap Ransomware do?
Perhaps we do not really need to go through the basic ransomware behavioral patterns. If it is your first time getting infected with that kind of program, you should definitely have in mind that Skymap Ransomware scans your system looking for the types of files it can encrypt. Usually, ransomware programs affect files in the %USERPROFILE% directory, thus encrypting most of the personal files.
These programs also tend to overlook system files because they need your computer to function properly if they intend to collect the ransom fee. Hence, it is very likely that programs files and the Windows system files will remain intact after the encryption. On the other hand, the affected files will receive the “.skymap” extension to their names, and it is going to be really easy to tell which files were affected by the encryption.
Aside from the extension, Skymap Ransomware will also drop a ransom note in every single folder with the encrypted files. The ransom note is a TXT format file with the _readme.txt filename. If you open the file, here’s what you are going to find there:
ATTENTION!
Don’t worry my friend, you can return all your files!
All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
<…>
Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that’s price for you is $490.
Please note that you’ll never restore your data without payment.
As you can see, Skymap Ransomware is very straightforward when it comes to demanding money. Although these criminals are the ones who have the decryption key, let’s not forget that you can always restore your files from a file backup. If you have copies of your files saved on an external hard drive, you do not need to worry about anything. Simply delete the encrypted files, remove Skymap Ransomware, and transfer the healthy copies into your computer.
How do I remove Skymap Ransomware?
To remove this infection, please follow the manual removal instructions provided below. If you do not feel confident about manual removal, you can always acquire a reliable antispyware application that will help you terminate this infection for you automatically. Also, if you do not have a file backup, you should explore other file recovery options because you should never pay a single cent to these criminals.
Manual Skymap Ransomware
- Delete unfamiliar files from Desktop.
- Go to the Downloads folder and remove the most recently downloaded files.
- Press Win+R and type regedit. Click OK.
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
- On the right side, right-click and delete the SysHelper value.
- Exist Registry Editor and press Win+R. Enter %UserProfile%. Click OK.
- Go to Local Settings\Application Data.
- Delete the random name folder that has this name format: 0cc97d97-6cc7-4817-b300-eb6e298327c6.
- Repeat the same action with the %LocalAppData% directory (via Win+R).
- Press Win+R again and type %WinDir%. Click OK.
- Go to System32\Tasks.
- Delete Time Trigger Task and scan your computer with SpyHunter.
100% FREE spyware scan and
tested removal of Skymap Ransomware*
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