What is Karen Ransomware
Having files renamed with the .karen extension (like 1.pdf.karen) means your system is infected with Karen Ransomware. Ransomware is a malicious program usually designed to run encryption of data and demand money from victims for its decryption. After successfully restricting access to files, the virus drops the README.txt text note.
Can I speak to your manager??
Tell him that Karen was here. Look at your damn mails!
However, unlike the majority of ransomware infections, Karen’s text note is incomplete and does not contain any decryption-related information. The file-encryptor also opens a webpage with a field to enter UID (unique identifier), which is absent in the note as well. This means it would be impossible to contact the cybercriminals and pay the supposed ransom to return the data. The reason for that could be that cybercriminals released this ransomware as a premature version to test its functioning and effectiveness. Thus, potentially updated variants of Karen Ransomware may become more complete in the future. Unfortunately, there is no known third-party tool known to decrypt .Karen files at the moment. Even paying the ransom to cybercriminals is now possible with the current iteration of Karen Ransomware. You can give a try to third-party tools suggested in our guide below, however, they may not be able to help as of now. The only and best way to recover your files is to do so from an available backup (external USB drive, cloud, etc.). Alternatively, you can also ignore the happened encryption and not do anything if the data is not of great value to you. Note that deleting ransomware is crucial to not let it encrypt other files at the time of manual recovery and also not spread to other computers connected to the same network. Follow our guide below to do so and get protection against such threats in the future.
How Karen Ransomware infected your computer
Ransomware infections can be distributed via weak/unprotected RDP configuration, phishing e-mail spam letters, trojans, deceptive third-party downloads, pirated/cracked downloads, fake software cracking tools, fake software updates/installers, backdoors, keyloggers, botnets, system exploits, and other channels as well. To prevent various infiltrations and drive-by (stealth) installations of malware, it is advised to avoid downloading software from unofficial resources (Peer-to-Peer websites, torrent pages, landing pages, etc.) and beware of opening content that looks suspicious. For example, opening attachments or links from unknown or potentially hacked senders (be it on social media or in a dubious e-mail message) can be dangerous. Such attachments may contain files like .pdf, .docx, .xlsx, .zip, .rar, .exe that might be reconfigured to deploy malware installation upon their opening. Read our guide below and learn how one can protect his PC against threats like ransomware and other types of malware in the future.
- Download Karen Ransomware Removal Tool
- Get decryption tool for .karen files
- Recover encrypted files with Stellar Data Recovery Professional
- Restore encrypted files with Windows Previous Versions
- Restore files with Shadow Explorer
- How to protect from threats like Karen Ransomware
Download Removal Tool
To remove Karen Ransomware completely, we recommend you to use SpyHunter 5. It detects and removes all files, folders, and registry keys of Karen Ransomware. The trial version of Spyhunter 5 offers virus scan and 1-time removal for FREE.
Alternative Removal Tool
To remove Karen Ransomware completely, we recommend you to use Norton Antivirus from Symantec. It detects and removes all files, folders, and registry keys of Karen Ransomware and prevents future infections by similar viruses.
Karen Ransomware files:
README.txt
{randomname}.exe
Karen Ransomware registry keys:
no information
How to decrypt and restore .karen files
Use automated decryptors
Download Kaspersky RakhniDecryptor
Use following tool from Kaspersky called Rakhni Decryptor, that can decrypt .karen files. Download it here:
There is no purpose to pay the ransom because there is no guarantee you will receive the key, but you will put your bank credentials at risk.
Dr.Web Rescue Pack
Famous antivirus vendor Dr. Web provides free decryption service for the owners of its products: Dr.Web Security Space or Dr.Web Enterprise Security Suite. Other users can ask for help in the decryption of .karen files by uploading samples to Dr. Web Ransomware Decryption Service. Analyzing files will be performed free of charge and if files are decryptable, all you need to do is purchase a 2-year license of Dr.Web Security Space worth $120 or less. Otherwise, you don’t have to pay.
If you are infected with Karen Ransomware and removed from your computer you can try to decrypt your files. Antivirus vendors and individuals create free decryptors for some crypto-lockers. To attempt to decrypt them manually you can do the following:
Use Stellar Data Recovery Professional to restore .karen files
- Download Stellar Data Recovery Professional.
- Click Recover Data button.
- Select type of files you want to restore and click Next button.
- Choose location where you would like to restore files from and click Scan button.
- Preview found files, choose ones you will restore and click Recover.
Using Windows Previous Versions option:
- Right-click on infected file and choose Properties.
- Select Previous Versions tab.
- Choose particular version of the file and click Copy.
- To restore the selected file and replace the existing one, click on the Restore button.
- In case there is no items in the list choose alternative method.
Using Shadow Explorer:
- Download Shadow Explorer program.
- Run it and you will see screen listing of all the drives and the dates that shadow copy was created.
- Select the drive and date that you want to restore from.
- Right-click on a folder name and select Export.
- In case there are no other dates in the list, choose alternative method.
If you are using Dropbox:
- Login to the DropBox website and go to the folder that contains encrypted files.
- Right-click on the encrypted file and select Previous Versions.
- Select the version of the file you wish to restore and click on the Restore button.
How to protect computer from viruses, like Karen Ransomware , in future
1. Get special anti-ransomware software
Use ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware
Famous antivirus brand ZoneAlarm by Check Point released a comprehensive tool, that will help you with active anti-ransomware protection, as an additional shield to your current protection. The tool provides Zero-Day protection against ransomware and allows you to recover files. ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is compatible with all other antiviruses, firewalls, and security software except ZoneAlarm Extreme (already shipped with ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware) or Check Point Endpoint products. The killer features of this application are: automatic file recovery, overwrite protection that instantly and automatically recovers any encrypted files, file protection that detects and blocks even unknown encryptors.
2. Back up your files
As an additional way to save your files, we recommend online backup. Local storage, such as hard drives, SSDs, flash drives, or remote network storage can be instantly infected by the virus once plugged in or connected to. Karen Ransomware uses some techniques to exploit this. One of the best services and programs for easy automatic online backup is iDrive. It has the most profitable terms and a simple interface. You can read more about iDrive cloud backup and storage here.
3. Do not open spam e-mails and protect your mailbox
Malicious attachments to spam or phishing e-mails are the most popular method of ransomware distribution. Using spam filters and creating anti-spam rules is good practice. One of the world leaders in anti-spam protection is MailWasher Pro. It works with various desktop applications and provides a very high level of anti-spam protection.
