Minotaur Ransomware

Do you have between 400-500 US Dollars to spare? If you do not, Minotaur Ransomware is the last threat you want to face. Of course, your money is not the most important thing you might end up losing if this infection invades. If it does, it can encrypt files, and decrypting them manually is not possible. The creator behind this malware encrypts files to have leverage when demanding a ransom of 0.125 Bitcoin – which is around $400-500 – but there are absolutely no guarantees that a decryptor would be sent your way if you paid this ransom. In fact, we would be thoroughly surprised if that happened. Our researchers have had the “pleasure” of analyzing Darknes@420blaze.it Ransomware, Matrix-THDA Ransomware, Yourhope@airmail.cc Ransomware, and hundreds of other file encryptors. Unfortunately, the victims of most of these threats are unable to recover their files, even when they pay the ridiculous ransoms. Our research suggests that victims of this kind of malware should not waste any time to delete it. If you continue reading, you will learn how to remove Minotaur Ransomware.

You have to be extremely cautious about spam emails. If you are not cautious, you might end up opening one that was created by malware creators or distributors. It is likely that Minotaur Ransomware might be spread using spam emails as well. Its launcher could be concealed as a document file, and the message might try to trick you into opening it. Unfortunately, that is often enough to unleash ransomware. Once the threat is executed, it can download the encryption key and start the encryption process. At this point, we cannot tell which algorithm is used by this threat. Some of the more common ones used by ransomware creators are RSA, AES, or XOR. During encryption, Minotaur Ransomware adds the “.Lock” extension to the corrupted files. This extension is very common, and you cannot figure out which threat you need to delete just by looking at it. In fact, you can unveil the ransomware only if you open the ransom note file. It is called “How To Decrypt Files.txt,” and it can be found in every folder where you can also find your personal files corrupted by the infection.

The ransom note represented by Minotaur Ransomware introduces you to minotaur@420blaze.it. This email address belongs to the creator of the infection, and the note instructs you to email a unique key in order to have the files decrypted. It also informs that the price for the decryption key is 0.125 Bitcoin. As we discussed already, paying the ransom is not a good idea because there is no way to know that a decryptor would be presented in return. Even if you are successful at decrypting your files, you cannot forget to delete Minotaur Ransomware from your operating system. This malicious threat does not appear to start itself on Windows Startup, and it is unlikely to run after the initial attack, which means that new files should not be affected. That being said, the ransomware is like a conduit that connects your operating system to cyber attackers, and we are sure you want to sever it. The good news is that you can do that successfully by removing the infection.

Deleting Minotaur Ransomware manually is not the easiest of tasks. It requires you to find and delete the launcher of the infection. Unfortunately, we cannot give you the exact location or even the name of this launcher because it could be anywhere and its name is random. Of course, if you can remember opening a spam email attachment, there is a good chance that you can pin the malicious .exe file right away. Besides the launcher, you should also remove Minotaur Ransomware ransom note files. It is the same file, but it has many copies all over your PC. We also want to remind you that you do not need to remove the threat on your own. Manual removal is great, but if you are unable to perform it successfully, a trustworthy anti-malware program certainly can. Install it now, and forget about having to erase malicious threats or defend your operating system against them in the future. If you have questions about this process, our research team is ready to answer them in the comments section.

Minotaur Ransomware Removal

1. Find and Delete the malicious [unknown name].exe file that executed the ransomware.
2. Find and Delete all copies of the malicious ransom note file called How To Decrypt Files.txt.
3. Empty Recycle Bin and then immediately install a trusted malware scanner.
4. Run a full system scan to check for leftovers. Delete them if they are found.