How to uninstall Exorcist 2.0 ransomware from your computer
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is Exorcist 2.0?
Exorcist 2.0 is a new variant of Exorcist ransomware. This variant was discovered by JAMESWT. It blocks access to files by encryption, changes their filenames and creates an HTA file (an executable which opens a ransom message) in all folders that contain encrypted files. Exorcist 2.0 renames files by appending a string of random characters as their new extension.
For example, "1.jpg" is renamed to "1.jpg.vQznnv", "2.jpg" to "2.jpg.vQznnv", and so on. Additionally, this ransomware creates a key file for each encrypted file.
The ransom message states that victims cannot decrypt files without specific decryption software that can only be purchased from cyber criminals behind Exorcist 2.0. Instructions about how to pay can be found in the provided Tor website. On the website it is stated that, unless victims purchase decryption software within a specific time, the cost will be repeatedly increased.
The initial cost of the decryption tool is US$300 (in Bitcoins), and can be purchased by transferring the equivalent amount of cryptocurrency to the provided BTC wallet address. As 'proof' that Exorcist 2.0's developers have valid decryption software, they offer free decryption of three files (PNG, JPG or BMP files), which can be uploaded via the Tor website.
Even when cyber criminals decrypt some files free of charge, however, this does not mean that they can be trusted. Victims who pay the ransom are scammed and do not receive any decryption tools. Unfortunately, there are no third party tools capable of recovering files encrypted by Exorcist 2.0.
In such cases, the only way to recover files free of charge is to restore them from a backup created previously. Note that possible further encryption can be prevented by uninstalling ransomware from the operating system, however, already encrypted files remain encrypted even after removal.
Screenshot of a message encouraging users to pay a ransom to decrypt their compromised data:
There are many other ransomware-type programs online. Some examples are Txt (Xorist), Dusk and CRPTD. Typically, they block access to data by encryption and create and/or display ransom messages. Main differences are size of ransom and cryptographic algorithm (symmetric or asymmetric) that ransomware employs for file encryption.
Victims cannot decrypt their files without tools held only by cyber criminals behind the ransomware, unless in rare cases the ransomware contains bugs/flaws or is not finished. Further encryption of any unaffected files can be prevented by uninstalling the ransomware, however, already compromised files remain encrypted even after removal of the rogue software.
Therefore, maintain backups on remote servers (such as Cloud) or unplugged storage devices.
How did ransomware infect my computer?
Typically, ransomware and other malware is distributed through malspam campaigns, fake software updating tools, untrusted download sources, unofficial (third party) software activation tools and Trojans. Users infect computers with malware when they open malicious files that they receive via email.
Typically, these emails contain malicious attachments or websites designed to download dangerous files. In most cases, cyber criminals send emails that have Microsoft Office documents, archive files (ZIP, RAR), PDF documents, JavaScript files, and executable files such as .exe attached to them.
Fake software updating tools do not update or fix any installed software - they simply install malware instead. They can also infect systems by exploiting bugs/flaws of outdated software. Examples of dubious file/software download channels are Peer-to-Peer networks such as torrent clients, eMule, various free file hosting sites and freeware download websites.
Users infect computers through these channels when they download and execute malicious files, which are often disguised as legitimate and regular. Software 'cracking' tools supposedly activate licensed software free of charge (illegally), however, rather than activating anything they often install malicious programs.
Trojans are rogue programs that, if installed, install other malware (causing chain infections).
| Name | Exorcist 2.0 virus |
| Threat Type | Ransomware, Crypto Virus, Files locker. |
| Encrypted Files Extension | String of random characters. |
| Ransom Demand Message | .hta (HTA) file. |
| Ransom Amount | US$300 in Bitcoins. |
| BTC Wallet Address | bc1qxrjm8d7j857gnxcp9dys0q5lptsfccllvw0grr |
| Symptoms | Cannot open files stored on your computer, previously functional files now have a different extension (for example, my.docx.locked). A ransom demand message is displayed on your desktop. Cyber criminals demand payment of a ransom (usually in bitcoins) to unlock your files. |
| Additional Information | This ransomware creates a key file for each encrypted file. |
| Distribution methods | Infected email attachments (macros), torrent websites, malicious ads. |
| Damage | All files are encrypted and cannot be opened without paying a ransom. Additional password-stealing Trojans and malware infections can be installed together with a ransomware infection. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
How to protect yourself from ransomware infections
Installed programs must be activated and updated with tools or implemented functions that are provided by the official developers. No other third party, unofficial tools should be used. Furthermore, it is illegal to activate licensed software with such tools.
Files and programs should be downloaded from official websites and via direct download links. Avoid third party installers and the tools/sources mentioned above. Do not open website links or files in irrelevant emails that are received from unknown, suspicious addresses.
Note that these bogus emails are often disguised as official and important. Regularly, scan your computer with reputable, up-to-date antivirus or anti-spyware software. If your computer is already infected with Exorcist 2.0, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this ransomware.
Text presented in Exorcist 2.0 ransomware .hta file (pop-up window):
- Decrypt
All your data has been encrypted with Exorcist 2.0 Ransomware.
Do not worry: you have some hours to contact us and decrypt your data by paying a ransom.
If you don't pay in time, price will be increased. Then, if the payment is still not received, your keys will be destroyed.
To do this, install Tor Browser (here: hxxps://www.torproject.org/download/) and follow instructions on this web site: hxxp://7iulpt5i6whht6zo2r52f7vptxtjxs3vfcdxxazllikrtqpupn4epnqd.onion/
IMPORTANT: Do not modify this file, otherwise you will not be able to recover your data!
Appearance of the Tor website:
Text in this website:
Exorcist Ransomware
Order
If the payment isn't made until NaN-NaN-NaN NaN:NaN:NaN, decryptor price will be increased null times
What's the matter?
All your files have been encrypted with Exorcist Ransomware.
The only way to decrypt them back is to buy Exorcist Decryption Tool.
The price is 300$
You set path to the encrypted file or folder, it will check all encrypted files and decrypt them.
We accept Bitcoin (BTC) cryptocurrency.
To be sure we have the decryptor and it works you can use Free Decrypt and decrypt only one file for free. But the only file you can decrypt is image (PNG, JPG, BMP), maximum size 3 MB, because they are usually not valuable.
Instruction:
You need to create a crypto wallet. You can read more about crypto wallets here: hxxps://bit.ly/379vYBt
Learn how to buy cryptocurrency (Bitcoin). Some links where you can find information here:
Bitcoin: hxxps://bit.ly/38nohHM
Copy the wallet number from the address field (depending on what you have chosen) and transfer the necessary amount of cryptocurrency to it. You can read more about translations here: hxxps://bit.ly/36br2dK
After paying the ransom, your files will be decrypted and you will be able to continue your work.
IMPORTANT: When transferring funds, carefully check the details to avoid errors and loss of funds. Your files will be decrypted only when transferring funds to our wallet.
FREE DECRYPT (JPG, BMP, PNG)
Free decrypt file
Free decrypt file key (key file is dropped nearby)
PAYMENT
Decryptor price: 300$
Pay in Bitcoin: bc1qxrjm8d7j857gnxcp9dys0q5lptsfccllvw0grr 0.029681 BTC
When funds reach one of these addresses, you automatically get decryption tool.
Chat
Screenshot of files encrypted by Exorcist 2.0 (string of random characters appended as the new extension):
Update 30 September 2020 - cyber criminals now distribute Exorcist 2.0 ransomware through an untrusted website containing download links for various software 'cracking' tools that supposed activate licensed software free of charge. One of the tools used to distribute Exorcist 2.0 is the "Windows 10 Activator 2020", which supposedly activates Windows 10.
Users are invited to download an archive file containing a password-protected ZIP archive file ("Setup.zip") and a text file containing the password, which supposedly can be used to extract the archive's contents. Rather than extracting the files, however, the archive file ("Setup.zip") encrypts files stored on the victim's computer.
Screenshot of the download page for various 'cracking' tools:
Screenshot of the files that supposed launch "Windows 10 Activator 2020":
Exorcist 2.0 ransomware removal:
Instant automatic malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
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Video suggesting what steps should be taken in case of a ransomware infection:
Quick menu:
- What is Exorcist 2.0 virus?
- STEP 1. Reporting ransomware to authorities.
- STEP 2. Isolating the infected device.
- STEP 3. Identifying the ransomware infection.
- STEP 4. Searching for ransomware decryption tools.
- STEP 5. Restoring files with data recovery tools.
- STEP 6. Creating data backups.
If you are a victim of a ransomware attack we recommend reporting this incident to authorities. By providing information to law enforcement agencies you will help track cybercrime and potentially assist in the prosecution of the attackers. Here's a list of authorities where you should report a ransomware attack. For the complete list of local cybersecurity centers and information on why you should report ransomware attacks, read this article.
List of local authorities where ransomware attacks should be reported (choose one depending on your residence address):
USA - Internet Crime Complaint Centre IC3
United Kingdom - Action Fraud
Spain - Policía Nacional
France - Ministère de l'Intérieur
Germany - Polizei
Italy - Polizia di Stato
The Netherlands - Politie
Poland - Policja
Portugal - Polícia Judiciária
Isolating the infected device:
Some ransomware-type infections are designed to encrypt files within external storage devices, infect them, and even spread throughout the entire local network. For this reason, it is very important to isolate the infected device (computer) as soon as possible.
Step 1: Disconnect from the internet.
The easiest way to disconnect a computer from the internet is to unplug the Ethernet cable from the motherboard, however, some devices are connected via a wireless network and for some users (especially those who are not particularly tech-savvy), disconnecting cables may seem troublesome. Therefore, you can also disconnect the system manually via Control Panel:
Navigate to the "Control Panel", click the search bar in the upper-right corner of the screen, enter "Network and Sharing Center" and select search result: 
Click the "Change adapter settings" option in the upper-left corner of the window: 
Right-click on each connection point and select "Disable". Once disabled, the system will no longer be connected to the internet. To re-enable the connection points, simply right-click again and select "Enable". 
Step 2: Unplug all storage devices.
As mentioned above, ransomware might encrypt data and infiltrate all storage devices that are connected to the computer. For this reason, all external storage devices (flash drives, portable hard drives, etc.) should be disconnected immediately, however, we strongly advise you to eject each device before disconnecting to prevent data corruption:
Navigate to "My Computer", right-click on each connected device, and select "Eject": 
Step 3: Log-out of cloud storage accounts.
Some ransomware-type might be able to hijack software that handles data stored within "the Cloud". Therefore, the data could be corrupted/encrypted. For this reason, you should log-out of all cloud storage accounts within browsers and other related software. You should also consider temporarily uninstalling the cloud-management software until the infection is completely removed.
Identify the ransomware infection:
To properly handle an infection, one must first identify it. Some ransomware infections use ransom-demand messages as an introduction (see the WALDO ransomware text file below).
This, however, is rare. In most cases, ransomware infections deliver more direct messages simply stating that data is encrypted and that victims must pay some sort of ransom. Note that ransomware-type infections typically generate messages with different file names (for example, "_readme.txt", "READ-ME.txt", "DECRYPTION_INSTRUCTIONS.txt", "DECRYPT_FILES.html", etc.). Therefore, using the name of a ransom message may seem like a good way to identify the infection. The problem is that most of these names are generic and some infections use the same names, even though the delivered messages are different and the infections themselves are unrelated. Therefore, using the message filename alone can be ineffective and even lead to permanent data loss (for example, by attempting to decrypt data using tools designed for different ransomware infections, users are likely to end up permanently damaging files and decryption will no longer be possible even with the correct tool).
Another way to identify a ransomware infection is to check the file extension, which is appended to each encrypted file. Ransomware infections are often named by the extensions they append (see files encrypted by Qewe ransomware below).
This method is only effective, however, when the appended extension is unique - many ransomware infections append a generic extension (for example, ".encrypted", ".enc", ".crypted", ".locked", etc.). In these cases, identifying ransomware by its appended extension becomes impossible.
One of the easiest and quickest ways to identify a ransomware infection is to use the ID Ransomware website. This service supports most existing ransomware infections. Victims simply upload a ransom message and/or one encrypted file (we advise you to upload both if possible).
The ransomware will be identified within seconds and you will be provided with various details, such as the name of the malware family to which the infection belongs, whether it is decryptable, and so on.
Example 1 (Qewe [Stop/Djvu] ransomware):
Example 2 (.iso [Phobos] ransomware):
If your data happens to be encrypted by ransomware that is not supported by ID Ransomware, you can always try searching the internet by using certain keywords (for example, a ransom message title, file extension, provided contact emails, crypto wallet addresses, etc.).
Search for ransomware decryption tools:
Encryption algorithms used by most ransomware-type infections are extremely sophisticated and, if the encryption is performed properly, only the developer is capable of restoring data. This is because decryption requires a specific key, which is generated during the encryption. Restoring data without the key is impossible. In most cases, cybercriminals store keys on a remote server, rather than using the infected machine as a host. Dharma (CrySis), Phobos, and other families of high-end ransomware infections are virtually flawless, and thus restoring data encrypted without the developers' involvement is simply impossible. Despite this, there are dozens of ransomware-type infections that are poorly developed and contain a number of flaws (for example, the use of identical encryption/decryption keys for each victim, keys stored locally, etc.). Therefore, always check for available decryption tools for any ransomware that infiltrates your computer.
Finding the correct decryption tool on the internet can be very frustrating. For this reason, we recommend that you use the No More Ransom Project and this is where identifying the ransomware infection is useful. The No More Ransom Project website contains a "Decryption Tools" section with a search bar. Enter the name of the identified ransomware, and all available decryptors (if there are any) will be listed.
Restore files with data recovery tools:
Depending on the situation (quality of ransomware infection, type of encryption algorithm used, etc.), restoring data with certain third-party tools might be possible. Therefore, we advise you to use the Recuva tool developed by CCleaner. This tool supports over a thousand data types (graphics, video, audio, documents, etc.) and it is very intuitive (little knowledge is necessary to recover data). In addition, the recovery feature is completely free.
Step 1: Perform a scan.
Run the Recuva application and follow the wizard. You will be prompted with several windows allowing you to choose what file types to look for, which locations should be scanned, etc. All you need to do is select the options you're looking for and start the scan. We advise you to enable the "Deep Scan" before starting, otherwise, the application's scanning capabilities will be restricted.
Wait for Recuva to complete the scan. The scanning duration depends on the volume of files (both in quantity and size) that you are scanning (for example, several hundred gigabytes could take over an hour to scan). Therefore, be patient during the scanning process. We also advise against modifying or deleting existing files, since this might interfere with the scan. If you add additional data (for example, downloading files/content) while scanning, this will prolong the process:
Step 2: Recover data.
Once the process is complete, select the folders/files you wish to restore and simply click "Recover". Note that some free space on your storage drive is necessary to restore data:
Create data backups:
Proper file management and creating backups is essential for data security. Therefore, always be very careful and think ahead.
Partition management: We recommend that you store your data in multiple partitions and avoid storing important files within the partition that contains the entire operating system. If you fall into a situation whereby you cannot boot the system and are forced to format the disk on which the operating system is installed (in most cases, this is where malware infections hide), you will lose all data stored within that drive. This is the advantage of having multiple partitions: if you have the entire storage device assigned to a single partition, you will be forced to delete everything, however, creating multiple partitions and allocating the data properly allows you to prevent such problems. You can easily format a single partition without affecting the others - therefore, one will be cleaned and the others will remain untouched, and your data will be saved. Managing partitions is quite simple and you can find all the necessary information on Microsoft's documentation web page.
Data backups: One of the most reliable backup methods is to use an external storage device and keep it unplugged. Copy your data to an external hard drive, flash (thumb) drive, SSD, HDD, or any other storage device, unplug it and store it in a dry place away from the sun and extreme temperatures. This method is, however, quite inefficient, since data backups and updates need to be made regularly. You can also use a cloud service or remote server. Here, an internet connection is required and there is always the chance of a security breach, although it's a really rare occasion.
We recommend using Microsoft OneDrive for backing up your files. OneDrive lets you store your personal files and data in the cloud, sync files across computers and mobile devices, allowing you to access and edit your files from all of your Windows devices. OneDrive lets you save, share and preview files, access download history, move, delete, and rename files, as well as create new folders, and much more.
You can back up your most important folders and files on your PC (your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders). Some of OneDrive’s more notable features include file versioning, which keeps older versions of files for up to 30 days. OneDrive features a recycling bin in which all of your deleted files are stored for a limited time. Deleted files are not counted as part of the user’s allocation.
The service is built using HTML5 technologies and allows you to upload files up to 300 MB via drag and drop into the web browser or up to 10 GB via the OneDrive desktop application. With OneDrive, you can download entire folders as a single ZIP file with up to 10,000 files, although it can’t exceed 15 GB per single download.
OneDrive comes with 5 GB of free storage out of the box, with an additional 100 GB, 1 TB, and 6 TB storage options available for a subscription-based fee. You can get one of these storage plans by either purchasing additional storage separately or with Office 365 subscription.
Creating a data backup:
The backup process is the same for all file types and folders. Here’s how you can back up your files using Microsoft OneDrive
Step 1: Choose the files/folders you want to backup.
Click the OneDrive cloud icon to open the OneDrive menu. While in this menu, you can customize your file backup settings.
Click Help & Settings and then select Settings from the drop-down menu.
Go to the Backup tab and click Manage backup.
In this menu, you can choose to backup the Desktop and all of the files on it, and Documents and Pictures folders, again, with all of the files in them. Click Start backup.
Now, when you add a file or folder in the Desktop and Documents and Pictures folders, they will be automatically backed up on OneDrive.
To add folders and files, not in the locations shown above, you have to add them manually.
Open File Explorer and navigate to the location of the folder/file you want to backup. Select the item, right-click it, and click Copy.
Then, navigate to OneDrive, right-click anywhere in the window and click Paste. Alternatively, you can just drag and drop a file into OneDrive. OneDrive will automatically create a backup of the folder/file.
All of the files added to the OneDrive folder are backed up in the cloud automatically. The green circle with the checkmark in it indicates that the file is available both locally and on OneDrive and that the file version is the same on both. The blue cloud icon indicates that the file has not been synced and is available only on OneDrive. The sync icon indicates that the file is currently syncing.
To access files only located on OneDrive online, go to the Help & Settings drop-down menu and select View online.
Step 2: Restore corrupted files.
OneDrive makes sure that the files stay in sync, so the version of the file on the computer is the same version on the cloud. However, if ransomware has encrypted your files, you can take advantage of OneDrive’s Version history feature that will allow you to restore the file versions prior to encryption.
Microsoft 365 has a ransomware detection feature that notifies you when your OneDrive files have been attacked and guide you through the process of restoring your files. It must be noted, however, that if you don’t have a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, you only get one detection and file recovery for free.
If your OneDrive files get deleted, corrupted, or infected by malware, you can restore your entire OneDrive to a previous state. Here’s how you can restore your entire OneDrive:
1. If you're signed in with a personal account, click the Settings cog at the top of the page. Then, click Options and select Restore your OneDrive.
If you're signed in with a work or school account, click the Settings cog at the top of the page. Then, click Restore your OneDrive.
2. On the Restore your OneDrive page, select a date from the drop-down list. Note that if you're restoring your files after automatic ransomware detection, a restore date will be selected for you.
3. After configuring all of the file restoration options, click Restore to undo all the activities you selected.
The best way to avoid damage from ransomware infections is to maintain regular up-to-date backups.
Outstanding!
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