An infection with the dangerous .viiper virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove .viiper Virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of .viiper Virus
The .viiper virus is a customized form of the Hidden Tear family of malware. As such the hackers behind it continue to use the same tactics as the original virus strain. The criminals depend mostly on email messages that feature a social engineering tactic which blackmails the targets into infecting themselves. Depending on the hacker campaign there may be different types of strategies involved. The first ones involves sending the .viiper virus strains directly as file attachments. The victims are lured into executing them via the message in the body.
Another option would be to insert hyperlinks in the messages which link to the .viiper virus hosted on download sites. The criminals behind the .viiper virus can also use infected documents as part of the scheme. This technique involves the modification of a range of document types (rich text files, databases, presentations or spreadsheets) with the .viiper virus malware instance. The infection is started as soon as the file is opened or the internal scripts (also known as macros) are run.
Computer criminals in the case of the Hidden Tear malware also utilize infected software installers to spread viruses. They rely on popular application which are downloaded from their official sources and then modified to include the .viiper virus. Victims will discover that often the hackers resort to popular free or trial software such as the Adobe Flash Player, Internet browsers, Adobe Photoshop and etc.
Browser hijackers are another major source of infections with the .viiper virus. They represent malicious addons for the most popular web browsers: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera 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 hihackers can also steal sensitive information such as any stored passwords, account credentials, history, bookmarks, form data and settings.
Impact of .viiper Virus
The security researchers that alerted of the .viiper virus strain note that it is a customized version of the infamous Hidden Tear malware family. This is one of the most well-known virus types as its source is open and widely available both on the general Internet and the specialist hacker forums. Anyone who has access to its code can make modifications to the engine and change important parameters such as the ransomware note, extension and any additional active features.
At the moment the discovered strain seems to be an initial version. It contains just a basic encryption engine, however it is posslble to spot an updated version in the near future. A newer version of the .viiper virus may include modules such as the following:
- Trojan Instances ‒ Computer hackers use such features to spy in real time the victim computers.
- Information Harvesting ‒ Advanced versions of the .viiper virus can be used to steal sensitive data from the infected machines prior to the encryption process.
- Additional Malware Infections ‒ Like other Hidden Tear strains the .viiper virus can be used to deliver multiple infections at once.
- Persistent Installation ‒ This is a deep infection tactic which actively prevents manual removal attempts from the user’s part. When such a threat is involved in a computer attack the only way to effectively remove is by using a quality anti-malware solution.
When all predefined malware sequences are complete the encryption engine is called. It uses a predefined list of target file type extensions. The typical cases include the most popular data: archives, spreadsheets, presentations, documents, configuration files, photos, music, vieos, databases and etc. All processed files receive the .viiper extension.
The ransomware note associated with the .viiper virus is created in an application frame which reads the following message:
ViiperWare – Ransomware
Choose Language
1.) What happened to my Files?
a. Your Files has been encrypted, what means you’re not able to use them anymore until you decrypt them.
2.) Can I recover my Files?
b. Yes of course you can recover them. It’s pretty easy to do that but of course it’s not free. Just Pay the Price wich is shown below and you will recive your Decryption Key after we recieved the Payment!
3.) How I got infected with this?
c. Probably you tried to Download something Illegal from the Internet or you got scammed by someone. You should …
Enter Decryption
Pay the Price
Price: 20,00€
Unlike other Hidden Tear malware strains the ransomware sum is requested in Euros, meaning that it is posslbe that the hacker operators are from Europe.
We recommend that all victims resort to our complete .viiper virus removal guide to recover their computers.
Remove .viiper Virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the .viiper 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.
SpyHunter anti-malware tool will diagnose all current threats on the computer. By purchasing the full version, you will be able to remove all malware threats instantly. Additional information about SpyHunter / Help to uninstall SpyHunter
.viiper 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 .viiper 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 .viiper 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.
- 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”.
- 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
