LKS Ransomware (.lks Files) — How to remove virus?

The Lks virus belongs to the Phobos ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the PC (photos, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the info.txt files in each directory with the encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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What is Lks virus?

☝️ A strictly correct description for the Lks would be “a Phobos family ransomware-type infection”.

The renaming will be done by this pattern: id-*******.[email address].LKS. In the course of encryption, a file entitled, for example, “report.docx” will be turned into “report.docx.id-bIC1770KL.[[email protected]].LKS”.

In every folder that contains the encrypted files, a info.txt text file will be found. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can obtain this decryptor after contacting [email protected] via email. That is pretty much the scheme of the malefaction.

Lks outline:

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Lks looks like. Each filename has the “.id-*******.[email address].LKS” extension added to it.

An example of encrypted .id-*******.[email address].LKS files.

How did my machine catch Lks ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for tamperers to have ransomware acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you open your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a ransomware item attached to them. So it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with emails like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus model². A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your computer pretending to be something different. For instance, you download an installer for some program you want 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 name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the things you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer networks like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Lks virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Lks virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes racketeers would decrypt few of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. As Lks virus is a relatively new ransomware, anti-malware engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Of course, if the tamperers do the job of encoding someone’s essential files, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. Despite that, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about malefactors simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive or at least on an external drive. Of course, that might be not enough. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all happened. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.

Lks is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Ccps, Rtgf, Iips, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Lks are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become blocked, their extensions altered, ransom notes emerge in each folder containing encrypted files.

Some lucky victims were able to decrypt the blocked files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the hackers accidentally send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware infection?

Lks ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can armour your PC from ransomware infiltration taking several easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown senders with strange 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 likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious email with caution. A fake email will always contain mistakes.
• Never use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such software.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a perfect shield for your PC.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft³

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft⁴.

Download Removal Tool.

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

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.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.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your PC for Lks infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

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.

FAQ

🤔 Can I somehow access “.id-*******.[email address].LKS” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.id-*******.[email address].LKS” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.id-*******.[email address].LKS” files ASAP. How can I do that?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. All other solutions require time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Lks virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.

With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual threats. The malware that has infiltrated your PC is most likely still active and it scans your system periodically to arrest any new files you might create on your PC after the attack. As it has already been said, the Lks malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your PC in the future.

🤔 What should I do if the Lks virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

In such a case, you need to have a flash memory card with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or brought into your machine. To block this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to post those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, mobile, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can use data recovery programs⁵ to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

• In the United States: On Guard Online;
• In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
• In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
• In Australia: SCAMwatch;
• In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
• In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
• In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
• In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

How to Remove LKS Ransomware & Recover PC

Name: LKS Virus

Description: LKS Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .id-*******.[email address].LKS extension. So, you can't use them at all.

Operating System: Windows

Application Category: Virus

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