The Mik virus falls within the Xorist ransomware family. Ransomware of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the ДЕШИФРАТОР.txt files in each folder which contains the encrypted files.
What is Mik?
☝️ A scientifically accurate description for the Mik would be “a Xorist family ransomware infection”.
Mik adds its own .miK extension to every file’s name. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.miK”. Likewise, the Excel table with the name “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.miK”, and so on.
In each folder containing the encrypted files, a ДЕШИФРАТОР.txt file will be created. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the Mik developers. That is how they do it.
Mik overview:
| Name | Mik Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Xorist ransomware |
| Extension | .miK |
| Ransomware note | ДЕШИФРАТОР.txt |
| Detection | Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.PAT!MTB, Win32/Injector.AAQK, Win32/TrojanDownloader.Vespula.AY |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .miK extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Mik virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Mik looks like. Each filename has the “.miK” extension appended to it.
That is how encrypted “.miK” files look.
How did Mik ransomware end up on my PC?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware injection.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for tamperers to have the Mik virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a ransomware file attached to them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file model2. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something legal. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some software. However, what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful agent that encrypts your data. As the installation package can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the things you’re downloading. The best way is to trust the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers 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. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Mik virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Mik virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often racketeers would unblock several of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Mik virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software designers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the decryption instruments are constantly updated, so the solution may soon be available.
Understandably, if the evildoers succeed in encrypting victim’s essential files, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. Nevertheless, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports about hackers simply disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.
The best 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 disk. Surely, that might be not enough. The most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the system restoration.
Mik 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, Bbbw, Maiv, Cuag, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Mik are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes emerge in each directory containing encrypted files.
Some lucky people were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.
How do I avert ransomware infiltration?
Mik ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your computer from ransomware injection taking several easy steps:
- Never open any letters from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the suspicious email carefully. A fake email will surely contain a mistake.
- Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as a part of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful defense for your personal computer.
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 system.
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 system for Mik 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
🤔 How can I open “.miK” files?Is it possible to open“.miK” files?
There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.miK” files are decrypted.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.miK” 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. The rest of the methods require patience.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Mik virus?
No way! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with active viruses. The malware that has infiltrated your system is most likely still functional and launching checks every so often to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has already been said, the Mik ransomware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your computer after some time.
🤔 What should I do if the Mik virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
If that happened, you need to have a flash memory card with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or brought into your machine. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What could help the situation right now?
Some of the blocked data can be located elsewhere.
- If you sent or received your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just 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 media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, cellphone, memory stick, etc.
HINT: You can use file recovery utilities5 to get your lost data back since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the ransomware itself with an antivirus 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.
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Brendan SmithHow to Remove MIK Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: MIK Virus
Description: MIK Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .miK extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here are Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
