KiRa (GreatKiRa) Virus 🔐 — How to Remove?

The Kira (greatkira) virus falls under the ransomware type of infection. Malware of such sort encrypts all the data on your computer (images, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends a random extension to every file, leaving the read it!!.txt files in each directory which contains the encrypted files.

What is known about the Kira (greatkira) virus?

Kira (greatkira) will append an extra to the end of every encrypted file. The extensions it picks are completely random and consist of 4 symbols. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.szem”. In the same manner, the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will be renamed to “table.xlsx.bp1k”, and so on.

In each folder that contains the encrypted files, a read it!!.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the Kira (greatkira) developers. You can obtain this decoding tool after contacting [email protected] through email. That is how they do it.

Kira (greatkira) Summary:

The read it!!.txt file accompanying the Kira (greatkira) malware provides the following discouraging information:

I\'m from an international wanted u can call me : KiRa

I am an undercover hacker

My name is: GreatKiRa

I will use your computer as collateral for collection

i just want：2000$ LoL

Payment address: [email protected]

contact details : [email protected]

IG: @DD00

Hehh .. i think u are in big trouble $:
sO Contact me after payment and I will unlock it for you
If you do not pay, your computer and files will be automatically destroyed,

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Kira (greatkira) looks like. Each filename has the random extension appended to it.

How did my machine catch Kira (greatkira) ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for tamperers to have ransomware acting in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer file transfer.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file scheme. A Trojan is an object that gets into your machine disguised as something different. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. However, what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful program that encodes your data. Since the installation package can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of ransomware?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Kira (greatkira) virus will most likely install Vidar Stealer on your machine to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

How do I avert ransomware infection?

Kira (greatkira) ransomware has no endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can armour your PC from its infiltration within three easy steps:

• Ignore any letters from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the suspicious email with caution. A hoax letter will surely contain a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. But untrusted programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such software.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 How can I open encrypted files? Can I somehow access them?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files are decrypted.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 What to do if the Kira (greatkira) ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to give those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, cellphone, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities¹ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the virus with an anti-malware program.

1. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.