Kirk Ransomware Removal Guide

Kirk Ransomware was detected in March, 2017, and it immediately became the first ransomware infection asking victims to send a ransom in Monero, which is a digital currency similar to Bitcoin. It is not the only unique feature it has, specialists working at 411-spyware.com say. They have also found that this ransomware infection uses the theme of Star Trek (a science fiction media franchise). Behind this facade, an extremely dangerous malicious application hides. It illegally enters computers with the intention of encrypting users’ personal files and easily obtaining money from them. There is no doubt that Kirk Ransomware is the one responsible for making it impossible to access files if you have found a bunch of files locked after clicking the OK button located on the Low Orbital Ion Cannon| When harpoons, air strikes and nukes fail pop-up window. This window claims that “LOIC is initializing for your system”, but, according to researchers, it is completely fake, and Kirk Ransomware has only borrowed a slogan used by LOIC, an open-source application for testing the network stress, to fool users. Of course, users have no idea about that and click OK on this fake window, thus allowing a ransomware infection to enter their systems and encrypt pictures, documents, and media files (625 different file types in total will be affected by this computer infection).

Malicious applications that are classified as ransomware are all developed by cyber criminals to obtain money from computer users. Kirk Ransomware is no exception, so it goes to encrypt users’ files the first thing it sneaks onto the system. All these encrypted files receive a new extension .kirked, but their original extensions also do not disappear, for instance, picture.jpg.kirked. Once the encryption of files is finished, a black window with all the information users need to know is opened for them. Also, a ransom note RANSOM_NOTE.txt is dropped on the computer. This ransom note should automatically be opened for users too. No matter which of these messages left for users you read, you will not need much time to realize that this ransomware infection wants your money. The price of the decryption tool depends on how fast you make a payment, for example, if you send money within 0-2 days, its price is 50 Monero (~ $1214), whereas if you decide to make a payment after 15-30 days, you will need to send 500 Monero (~ $12149). After doing that, the pwd file (it contains the encrypted unlock key) created by ransomware after the encryption of data needs to be attached to an email and sent to kirk.help@scryptmail.com or kirk.payments@scryptmail.com. As the ransom note of Kirk Ransomware tells users, they will then receive the “decrypted password file and a program called Spock.” Do not forget that there are no guarantees that you will get the key for unlocking your files, so keep this in mind while making the final decision.

Kirk Ransomware shows up on users’ computers and starts performing its illegal activities when they open the malicious file loic_win32.exe. It might have other names too, of course, but, at the time of writing, it pretends to be the installer of the application called LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon). Most probably, users find it located on some kind of dubious third-party website. Download programs only from their official websites from now on to avoid security-related problems. Since this might not be enough to protect your computer from ransomware-type infections, it is a must to install a security application too and enable it.

You are not allowed to keep Kirk Ransomware on your system because it will keep working on your computer. Its presence might result in the loss of new data too. Only three items have to be erased to delete this malicious application fully: 1) the malicious recently downloaded .exe file, 2) the pwd file from Desktop (do not delete this file if you are planning on making a payment to cyber criminals!), and 3) the .txt file RANSOM_NOTE.txt. Follow our step-by-step instructions or let SpyHunter, which is a legitimate malware remover, help you. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, files locked by this ransomware infection cannot be decrypted for free, so do not expect to find your data unlocked after removing this ransomware infection from your PC. This does not mean that you can do nothing, of course.

How to delete Kirk Ransomware manually

1. Locate the recently downloaded malicious file, e.g. loic_win32.exe (it might be located in %USERPROFILE%\Downloads or %USERPROFILE%\Desktop).
2. Delete it.
3. Remove RANSOM_NOTE.txt.
4. Delete the pwd file created by Kirk Ransomware on Desktop if you are sure you are not going to transfer money to get the decryption key.