BitStak Ransomware

It might be frightening to see a screen-sized notification on your desktop, but if this notification requires you to pay money for file decryption, you should not be that quick to click anything. We believe that you have been infected with BitStak Ransomware. This malicious infection will try to make you think that you have no other way to retrieve your files, but to pay. Luckily, that is a blatant lie, and you should not succumb to the infection’s demands. Remove BitStak Ransomware from your system and do everything you can to avoid similar threats in the future. After all, your computer’s security should be your utmost priority.

This infection differs from most of the other ransomware applications we have to deal with because it already has a decrypter. The tool can be found on a number of computer security-related websites. As long as you use “BitStak decrypter” for your search engine query, you can be sure that you will find this application. Does it mean that you can leave this program be, though? No. Absolutely not. And in order to terminate this infection, we believe, you need to find out more about what it is and how it works.

For starters, let us begin with the distribution method that is applied by this infection. Just like most of the ransomware programs, BitStak Ransomware travels around via spam email attachments. It means that you initiate the installation of this program yourself, and, most probably, you do not even realize that. Have you opened some email attachment recently? Was your screen locked by this program immediately after that? If so, you know where to look for the ransomware installation file: You clearly need to delete it from your Downloads folder. Also, staying away from unfamiliar email messages would also help you avoid getting infected. Some of the spam messages that are part of the ransomware distribution network may look like notifications from legitimate financial institutions, but you should know that banks and other companies seldom ask you to download and install anything. They definitely do not send documents by email, so that should already raise the first red flag for you.

If, unfortunately, BitStak Ransomware entered your computer, the ransomware will run a full system scan to locate files that have such extensions as .jar, .mp3, .wav, .save, .mp4, .cfg, .flv, .php, .com, .txt, .doc, .exe, .dat, .bat, .vb, .zip, .7z, and others. These are the files that the ransomware can encrypt. It will look for those files in such directories as Program Files, AppData, User Documents, Videos, Music, Pictures, and so on. The program will locate all the files that it can encrypt, and it will scramble their data information in a way that they will no longer be readable. The infection will also change the names of the files, adding the ransomware extension. For example, a document.doc could be renamed to WÖU.fPf.bitstak.

Imagine that: You open your computer, and you can no longer access your files. It sounds terrible, does it not? On top of that, the infection also displays a message that colors your screen black and reads:

BitStak

Your all files are locked. To release your files you need to pay a 40 (eur) fee using Bitcoin as payment method. If you have any external hard-drives plugged, remember to plug them before restoring or you won’t be able to restore them later.

This message also implies that the infection could encrypt all your mapped drives, even if they are plugged in just temporarily. Whatever it might be, you should understand that paying is not an option, especially when you can restore your files without a file backup.

Since we have covered the file restoring method in the second paragraph already, right now we need to discuss the removal of BitStak Ransomware. Truth be told, it is not too complicated, but you need to figure out the locations of the infection’s files yourself, so it might be a little too challenging for users who are not used to removing programs manually.

The best way to eradicate this infection is to invest in a powerful antispyware tool to do the job for you. What’s more, a security application of your choice will also safeguard your system against similar intruders in the future, so you will kill two birds with one stone.

How to Remove BitStak Ransomware

1. Press Win+R and type msconfig into the Open box.
2. Click OK and open the Startup tab.
3. Find the BitStak entry on the Startup item list.
4. Copy its location and open the directory via Explorer.
5. Delete the BitStak executable file and go to your Downloads folder.
6. Delete all the recently downloaded files.
7. User the SpyHunter free scanner to scan your PC.