An infection with the dangerous .maniac Virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove .maniac Virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of .maniac Virus
The .maniac Virus is a new virus which has been sighted in a limited attack campaign. At the moment the security researchers cannot determine the primary infection strategy. We presume that the most widely used tactics are going to be employed.
Among them are the email messages created in an automated way and sent to large lists of potential victims. The .maniac Virus can be directly attached to the messages. This is one of the easiest way for the criminals to attempt the infection. However a lot of email hosting providers usually capture the signatures of the virus and as such discard such messages or label them as dangerous or spam. Other infection methods related to this one is the option of inserting hyperlinks in the body content of the messages. The links are usually labelled as leading to a familiar website or a file of user interest. Redirects can redirect to hacker-controlled sites, infected payloads or other instances that can lead to an .maniac Virus infection.
The computer criminals behind the malware can create malicious sites or download portals which distribute malware of different kinds, including the .maniac Virus. A popular option is the use of infected documents which may be of different types ‒ spreadsheets, rich text documents, presentations and databases. They are modified to initiate the virus once the built-in scripts are run. Usually when the files are opened a notification will ask the users to run the macros (scripts). If this is done the infection follows.
The hacker-controlled sites are specialist portals that have been created either manually or automatically by the criminals behind the .maniac Virus. They can either directly distribute the threat by initiating various scripts or automated operations or link to such instances. Redirects are usually caused by email interaction, ad networks or other browsing activity. However one of the main sources is the availability of browser hijackers. They are malicious addons made for the most popular web browsers ‒ Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Once installed they not only infect the users with the malware, but also redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled site. Depending on the configuration the browser hijackers can also steal sensitive information such as any stored passwords, account credentials, history, bookmarks, form data and settings.
Impact of .maniac Virus
The security community has alerted us of a new danger called the .maniac virus. The code analysis shows that it is made using the Python programming language by an unknown creator. It is possible that is is operated by a single malicious individual or a hacker collective. This means that it is a modular threat that can easily be tweaked and updated further.
At the moment the base engine contains only the ransomware engine. It can be further improved by adding newer features and the behavior patterns.
One of the first stages involves information gathering which aims to extract sensitive data from the compromised machines. This step involves the gathering of all sorts of data including the hardware components, installed applications and user settings. All of this is used to generate the unique infection ID’s (UID) that are assigned to every host. Advanced versions have the ability to hijack data from user applications like web browsers as well. Most of them are compatible with the most popular ones: Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. As a result the criminals can obtain data such as the stored cookies, history, bookmarks, account credentials and passwords.
The next step would be to introduce stealth protection which has the ability to hide its presence from security software — anti-virus, firewalls and intrusion detection systems. They can be either disabled or removed. If the .maniac virus cannot effectively deal with them it can remove itself to avoid detection.
Further steps can include the inclusion of a Trojan component that can allow the hackers to spy on the infected hosts in real time. They can view the display actions while some versions can also allow the retrieval and storage of the mouse movement and keystrokes. All forms of Trojan modules give the criminals the ability to take over control of the machines at any given time.
Depending on the hacker configuration the criminals can opt to install the .maniac virus as a persistent threat which makes it very difficult to remove the existing threats without resorting to the use of a professional-grade anti-spyware solution. Such infections actively monitor the users actions to prevent manual removal.
The .maniac virus strains can also be instructed to modify the system’s registry and change important settings. As a result the victims may experience performance issues and application failure. If the .maniac virus is used a a payload delivery mechanism it can be used to facilitate additional malware to the compromised hosts.
Once all prerequisite steps have initiated completely the encryption phase begins. It uses a strong cipher to act against the most popular user data: documents, archives, images, music, videos, databases and configuration files. As a result all processed data receive the .maniac extension.
The ransomware note is created in two files Readme_to_recover_files.txt and Readme_to_recover_files.html that read the following message:
CRYPTOMANIAC
All your files have been encrypted by CRYPTOMANIAC!
All your files have been encrypted due to a security problem with your PC.
If you want to restore them, run the REQUEST RECOVERY application that will be automatically downloaded by CRYPTOMANIAC, if it is not automatically downloaded visit this link
***
You have to pay for decryption in Bitcoins.
The price is usually $500 worth of Bitcoin.
After payment you will be mailed the decryption tool that will decrypt all your files.
Free decryption as guarantee before paying you can get it from the REQUEST RECOVERY tool.
The free decryption tool only decrypts 10 files of the following extensions
***
How to obtain Bitcoins.
The easiest way to buy bitcoins is LocalBitcoins site.
You have to register, click ‘Buy bitcoins”, and select the seller by payment method and price, https://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins
Also you can find other places to buy Bitcoins and beginners guide here: http://www.coindesk.com/information/how-can-i-buy-bitcoins/
Attention!
Do not attempt to use a file recovery software like recuva or windows recovery, as this attempt is useless and futile as CRYPTOMANIAC destroys windows shadow volume making it unrecoverable.
Do not rename encrypted files.
Do not try to decrypt your data using thud party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to ours) or you can become a victim of a scam.
Please note that 250 of your personal files will be permanently deleted when the program resets either by terminating it or by a system reboot and 25 files will be permanently deleted every 60 minutes, so pay fast to reduce amount of files that will be permanently lost
Extra links to download REQUEST RECOVERY tool incase the one above is not available.
Remove .maniac Virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the .maniac Virus requires being familiar with system files and registries. Removing important data accidentally can lead to permanent system damage. If you don’t feel comfortable with manual instructions, download a powerful anti-malware tool that will scan your system for malware and clean it safely for you.
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.maniac Virus – Manual Removal Steps
Start the PC in Safe Mode with Network
This will isolate all files and objects created by the ransomware so they will be removed efficiently. The steps bellow are applicable to all Windows versions.
1. Hit the WIN Key + R
2. A Run window will appear. In it, write msconfig and then press Enter
3. A Configuration box shall appear. In it Choose the tab named Boot
4. Mark Safe Boot option and then go to Network under it to tick it too
5. Apply -> OK
Remove .maniac from Windows
Here’s a way to remove the program. This method will work regardless if you’re on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP. Simply selecting the program and pressing delete won’t work, as it’ll leave a lot of small files. That’s bad because these leftovers can linger on and cause all sorts of problems. The best way to delete a program is to uninstall it. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Hold the “Windows” button (It’s between CTRL and Alt on most keyboards) and press “R”. You’ll see a pop-up window.
2. In the textbox, type “appwiz.cpl”, then press“ Enter ”.
3. The “Programs and features” menu should now appear. It’s a list of all the programs installed on the PC. Here you can find the program, select it, and press “Uninstall“.
Remove .maniac Virus From Your Browser
Before resetting your browser’s settings, you should know that this action will wipe out all your recorded usernames, passwords, and other types of data. Make sure to save them in some way.
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1. Start Mozilla Firefox. In the upper right corner, click on the Open menu icon and select “Add-ons“.
2. Inside the Add-ons Manager select “Extensions“. Search the list of extensions for suspicious entries. If you find any, select them and click “Remove“.
3. Click again on the Open menu icon, then click “Options“.
4. In the Options window, under “General” tab, click “Restore to Default“.
5. Select “Search” in the left menu, mark the unknown search engine and press “Remove”.
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1. Start Google Chrome. On the upper-right corner, there a “Customize and Control” menu icon. Click on it, then click on “Settings“.
2. Click “Extensions” in the left menu. Then click on the trash bin icon to remove the suspicious extension.
3. Again in the left menu, under Chrome, Click on “Settings“. Go under “On Startup” and set a new page.
4. Afterward, scroll down to “Search“, click on “Manage search engines“.
5. In the default search settings list, find the unknown search engine and click on “X“. Then select your search engine of choice and click “Make default“. When you are ready click “Done” button in the right bottom corner.
2. In the “Manage add-ons” window, bellow “Add-on Types“, select “Toolbars and Extensions“. If you see a suspicious toolbar, select it and click “Remove“.
3. Then again in the “Manage Add-ons” window, in “Add-on Types“, Select “Search Providers“. Chose a search engine and click “Set as default“. Select the unknown search engine and click “Remove and Close”.
4. Open the Tools menu, select “Internet Options”.
5. In the “General” tab, in “Home page”, enter your preferred page. Click “Apply” and “OK”.
Repair Windows Registry
1. Again type simultaneously the WIN Key + R key combination
2. In the box, write regedit and hit Enter
3. Type the CTRL+ F and then write the malicious name in the search type field to locate the malicious executable
4. In case you have discovered registry keys and values related to the name, you should delete them, but be careful not to delete legitimate keys
Click for more information about Windows Registry and further repair help
