PINGS Virus 🔐 (.PINGS Files) — How to Remove?

The Pings virus falls under the ransomware type of infection. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, leaving the FILE RECOVERY.txt text files in every folder containing encrypted files.

What is Pings virus?

Pings appends its specific .pings extension to the name of each encoded file. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.pings”. Just like the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.pings”, and so forth.

In each directory that contains the encoded files, a FILE RECOVERY.txt text document will be found. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can get this decoding tool after contacting [email protected] by email. That is basically the scheme of the felony.

Pings Overview:

The FILE RECOVERY.txt document coming in package with the Pings ransomware states the following:

YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED !!!

TO DECRYPT, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS:

You have to pay for decryption in Bitcoins. The price depends on how fast you write to us. After payment we will send you the decryption tool that will decrypt all your files.
Free decryption as guarantee
Before paying you can send us up to 1 file for free decryption. The total size of files must be less than 1Mb (non archived), and files should not contain valuable information. (databases,backups, large excel sheets, etc.)

Attention!
Do not rename encrypted files.
Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
If you delete a file with an extension (_TMP) This will cause this file to permanently damage!!!!!


Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam.

If you want to restore them, write us to the e-mail
[email protected]
Write this ID in the title of your message
ID:-

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Pings looks like. Each filename has the “.pings” extension added to it.

How did my computer get infected with Pings ransomware?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most exploited methods for hackers to have the Pings virus planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.

• If you open your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a harmful file enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
• Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus scheme. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your machine pretending to be something legal. For instance, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some program. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful program that encrypts your data. Since the installation package can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software companies’ official websites.
• As for the peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove ransomware?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your files, the Pings virus will probably deploy Vidar Stealer on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

How do I avert ransomware attack?

Pings ransomware has no superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your computer from its infiltration within several easy steps:

• Never open 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 lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the questionable email with caution. A hoax letter will surely contain a mistake.
• Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” which prevents the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 How can I open “.pings” files?Are the “.pings” files accessible?

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

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.pings” files ASAP. How can I do that?

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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 What to do if the Pings malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Many of the encoded files might still be at your disposal

• If you sent or received your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to give those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, cellphone, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ file recovery utilities¹ to get your lost data back since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you can do it only after you remove the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

1. Here are Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.