Remove Karen Virus (.karen Files Ransomware) – Filecoder Ransomware

Karen – General Info

The Karen stands for a ransomware-type infection. The infection comes from the Filecoder ransomware family. Karen was elaborated particularly to encrypt all major file types. When the file is encrypted people are unable to use them. Karen adds the “.karen” extension for each file encrypted by it. For example, the file “myphoto.jpg“, once encrypted by Karen, will be renamed into “myphoto.jpg.karen“. As quickly as the encryption is completed, Karen places a special text file into every folder containing the encrypted data.

The message given by Karen text file requesting for the ransom is definitely the same as the statements given by other ransomware virus representatives belonging to the Filecoder family. It actually points out that the information is encrypted which the only way to bring back it is to use a a special decryption key. Sadly, this is absolutely true. The kind of cryptography mechanism applied by Karen is still not correctly examined. Still, it is definitely certain that each victim might be given the specific decryption key, which is totally unique. It is difficult to restore the files without the key available.

Another technique of Karen is that the victims cannot gain access to the key. The key is saved on a specific server run by the frauds related to Karen ransomware. To get the key and recover the important information people have to pay the ransom.

Nonetheless, regardless of the asked for amount, people should stay away from paying the ransom virus. Cyber frauds are not fair, so they tend to completely disregard what their victims feel about the issue, even when the payment reaches their pockets. This is why paying the ransom usually does not provide any positive outcome and people simply waste their money for absolutely nothing.

We highly encourage that you do not contact these crooks and certainly do not transfer money into their accounts. It is said to admit that there are no utilities able to crack Karen ransomware and to recover the information data totally free. Thus, the only right decision is to recover the lost data from the available backup.

Virus Summary

Name	Karen Ransomware
File Extension	.karen
Type	Ransomware
Family	Filecoder
Short Description	The ransomware encrypts all the data stored on your system and requires a ransom to be paid on your part supposedly to recover your important files.
Symptoms	File encryption by the ransomware is performed by means of the AES and RSA encryption algorithms. Once the encryption is completed, the ransomware adds its special karen extension to all the files modified by it.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments
Removal Tool	GridinSoft Anti-Malware

Keep in mind that the internet is now overwhelmed with threats that look comparable to Karen ransomware. Destructive programs of such kind are normally elaborated to encrypt important information and to set forth the demand prior to the user to pay the ransom. The peculiarity of all such ransomware threats is that all apply a comparable algorithm to create the distinct decryption key for files decryption.

Therefore, as long as the ransomware is still being developed or has some hidden bugs, manually recovering the information is simply not feasible. The only way to avoid the loss of your important information is to frequently create backups of your important information.

Remember that even if you create such backups, they need to be put into a special storage utility not connect to your main PC. You may use the Memory Stick or external hard disk for this purpose, or refer to the help of the cloud storage. If you save your backup files on your common system they may be encrypted together with other files, so it’s definitely not a good storage place.

How did ransomware infect my PC?

There are several ways used by online scams to distribute Karen ransomware. Even though it doubts how exactly Karen injects your PC, there are some leaks through which it may infiltrate the system:

• integration with third-party apps, especially freeware;
• spam emails from unknown senders;
• sites rendering free hosting services;
• pirated peer-to-peer (P2P) downloads.

Often Karen virus may exist as some genuine software, for example, in the pop-ups advising users to carry out some crucial software application updates. This is the common trick used by online scams to persuade people into downloading and installing Karen infection manually, by ways of their direct participation in the installation process.

Furthermore, the criminals may refer to numerous e-mail spam tactics to inject destructive codes into Windows PC. So, they may refer to to sending unsolicited spam e-mails with tricky notifications promoting users to download the attachments or click on certain download links, for example, the ones encouraging users to open some photos, files, tax reports or invoices.

Needless to mention, opening such documents or clicking on such dangerous links may seriously harm the system. Fictitious Adobe Flash Player upgrade notifies may result in Karen virus injection. As for the cracked software, these illegally downloaded programs may likewise contain destructive codes causing Karen secret installation. Lastly, injection of Karen may happen by methods of Trojans that privately get injected into the system and set up malicious tools without the user’s permission.

Is there any method to avoid the injection of Karen ransomware?

Even though there is no 100% guarantee to prevent your computer from getting infected, there are some pieces of advice we wish to share with with you. Firstly, be very careful when you surf the web and specifically while downloading complimentary programs. Keep away from opening suspicious email attachments, especially when the sender of the email is not familiar to you.

Remember that some freeware installers may include other unwanted utilities in the package, so they may be malicious. Make sure that your current antivirus and your entire OS is always duly updated.

Of course, downloading pirated software is unlawful and may result in necessary damage to be produced your system. For this reason, stay away from downloading cracked software. You are also highly encouraged to reconsider your existing security software and potentially switch to another security solution that can render far better services of defending your system.

Below please find the quotation from the Karen text file:

Can I speak to your manager??
Tell him that Karen was here. Look at your damn mails!

Screenshot of files with “.karen” extension added by the ransomware:

Use GridinSoft Anti-Malware to remove Karen ransomware from your computer

1.Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

  GridinSoft Anti-Malware

2. Double-click on the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-ag.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your computer.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

3. Press Install button for run GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

3.Once installed, GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically run.

4. Wait for the GridinSoft Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your computer for Win Speedup 2018 and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so we suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

5. Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has completed, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.