First Ransomware Removal Guide

First Ransomware is probably one of those rare malware infections that do not actually harm your computer, i.e., encrypt your files. This ransomware, of course, does claim that it has taken your files hostage and even demands a rather high amount as ransom fee in exchange for a supposed decryption key. As the name of this malware infection may suggest, this seems to be the first trial version of a newcomer cyber crook. As a matter of fact, we have found that this infection is based on the well-known Hidden Tear Ransomware, which was developed for educational purposes only. However, there have been a number of ransomware programs that hit the web and were based on this open-source program, including MafiaWare Ransomware, Payday Ransomware, and HappyLocker Ransomware. Normally, a ransomware infection is probably the worst attack that you can experience as this could mean the loss of all your important files. However, this threat is only dangerous for those who fall for this scam and rush to transfer the ransom fee; not that there is any way for them to really do so. But even their files would be safe since this vicious-looking program only pretends to encrypt files in the hope of fooling unsuspecting and inexperienced computer users. We recommend that you remove First Ransomware immediately, if you want to use your computer.

As a matter of fact, this ransomware does not even seem to spread on the web yet; or, at least. not widely. This could really mean that this Hidden Tear variant was simply created to practice or it could still be in development. In any case, we believe that it is important that we share with you that once it becomes the beast its predecessors are it may be distributed via spam e-mails. You should not expect to be able to identify such a mail right away since schemers are very tricky nowadays and can surprise you with a mail that you would want to open out of curiosity at least. First of all, this spam will have a normal and authentic-looking sender name and e-mail address. This could be a local authority, a well-known company, or any sender that would not raise doubt in you preferably. Second, the subject will be even more convincing that you need to see this mail. This can be anything related to invoices (unpaid or there is an issue), bookings (hotel and flight), or all kinds of fines (speeding and parking).

It is important for you to know that sometimes it is enough to click to open a spam and it might drop a dangerous infection right away onto your system. However, in most cases you need to save the attached file and run it on your computer in order for the ransomware infection to activate. This attachment usually poses as an image or text document with macro, but it is indeed a malicious executable file. In this particular case you are lucky because you can easily delete First Ransomware from your system without risking to lose all your encrypted files as there is no encryption taking place. Nevertheless, this infection teaches us a valuable lesson about the importance of prevention. There are two main steps you can do now. First, you can make sure that you will regularly make backup copies of your personal and important files onto a removable hard disk. Second, you install an up-to-date anti-malware application that will automatically ward off such malicious attacks.

The samples we have tested did not actually do any encryption. Yet, it is possible that new variants will emerge in the near future and those will fully function. This means that depending on the version you have been infected with you could or would not lose your files in this attack. Generally, ransomware programs attack your most precious files, including photos, videos, music files, archives, and program files. This is why such attacks are considered to be one of the most dangerous ones. This infection pops up its ransom note after you initiate this fake attack, which is quite scary and may give you the goosebumps. It is all in gray colors and contains a skeleton as well as a skull and bones. In other words, this note is death-themed, which is further strengthened by quote from a sonnet about death by John Donne called "Death, be not proud."

This note claims that your files have been encrypted and the only way for you to recover them is to pay 1.5 BTC within 48 hours, which is around 1,205 dollars, to get the decryption key. This is a rather high fee compared to the usual 0.1 to 1 BTC. But no need for panic, because if you are infected with this version, your files are totally fine. There are two buttons on this screen, "Checkout payment options" and "Pay," but none of them work. All in all, it would be a huge mistake to pay this rookie, but you know what, it is also impossible since there is no Bitcoin wallet or e-mail address provided. Therefore, there is only one thing left for you to do: Remove First Ransomware from your system right away.

Although this ransomware blocks your Task Manager so that the main malicious process cannot be killed, you can simply close the ransom note window to stop its operation. Once you have cleared your screen, you can delete the related file and Run registry entry to stop it from hitting you again next time you reboot your system. Please use our guide below if you need assistance with the manual removal. Since you may not want to risk this option, we also suggest that you use a professional anti-malware program, such as SpyHunter to automatically kill this ransomware and any other potential threat it may find on your computer. Protect your PC with such a security tool and you can experience real peace of mind in your virtual world.

How to remove First Ransomware from Windows

1. Press Win+E to open Windows File Explorer.
2. Locate the downloaded malicious file ("firstransomware.exe") you launched and delete it.
3. Empty your Recycle Bin.
4. Press Win+R and enter regedit. Click OK.
5. Locate "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Microsoft Windows Search" value name where value data is similar to "C:\Users\user\Desktop\firstransomware.exe"
6. Remove this value name.
7. Exit the editor.
8. Restart your PC.