Eliminate WALAN Ransomware (Crypto-Malware/Ransomware)

What is WALAN ransomware? And how does it implement its attack?

WALAN ransomware is one of the latest crypto-viruses discovered recently. It uses an extension of “.WALAN” in marking its encrypted files. Like other crypto-virus, it is created to lock valuable files in a targeted computer, leaving them unusable and inaccessible to users. It urges users to recover files by contacting the given email address at [email protected]. However, doing so is definitely not advised as you could only end up losing money for nothing.
Once the WALAN ransomware attack takes place, a series of malicious activities will be implemented on the targeted computer. It starts by placing its malicious payload into a system folder which is the one to employ an information gathering module. During this process, the malware collects information about the infected system and user and send the gathered data to a remote server. From there, a couple of malicious files will then be added into the computer which helps in keeping the crypto-virus from getting detected by any program in the computer like antivirus programs. Some of these malicious files are also responsible in modifying the Windows Registry that keeps the malware running on every system boot. Following these changes, WALAN ransomware will look for files to encrypt and locks them using a strong encryption algorithm and adds the .WALAN extension to the encrypted files. Moreover, it will drop a file named “DECRYPT_INFO.txt” which contains the following message:
“Hello, dear friend.
All your files are encrypted with a unique key.
Are you sure you want to recover all your files ?
Write us an email: [email protected]
Enter your unique ID in the message: [redacted 10 lowercase hex]”
How is the malicious payload of WALAN ransomware spread online?
WALAN ransomware, just like a typical ransomware, proliferate using malicious spam email campaigns that contain the malicious payload. Once the infected attached file is downloaded and opened, it will connect to its remote Command and Control (C&C) server which is the one responsible for downloading and attaching the crypto virus. This is why you need to be cautious about the files you download over the web and make sure that these files came from legitimate and reliable sources.
To eliminate WALAN ransomware from your computer successfully, you have to follow the removal instructions provided below.
Step 1: Close any programs opened by WALAN ransomware, like its ransom note. If you find it hard to do so, you can close it via Task Manager. Just tap Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Task Manager.
Step 2: Next, go to the Processes tab and look for the malicious process of WALAN ransomware. Such processes typically consume high amount of system resources and are named randomly so you need to beware of them. Once you found these processes, right click on each one of them and select End Process or End Task.

Step 3: Close the Task Manager and open Control Panel by pressing the Windows key + R, then type in “appwiz.cpl” and then click OK or press Enter.
Step 4: Look for dubious programs that might by related to WALAN ransomware and then Uninstall it/them.

Step 5: Close Control Panel and then tap Win + E to launch File Explorer.
Step 6: After opening File Explorer, navigate to the following directories below and look for the malicious components of WALAN ransomware such as DECRYPT_INFO.txt and [random].exe, as well as other suspicious-looking files and then erase them all.

%TEMP%
%APPDATA%
%DESKTOP%
%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
C:\ProgramData\local\

Step 7: Close the File Explorer.
Before you proceed to the next steps below, make sure that you are tech savvy enough to the point where you know exactly how to use and navigate your computer’s Registry. Keep in mind that any changes you make will highly impact your computer. To save you the trouble and time, you can just use [product-name], this system tool is proven to be safe and excellent enough that hackers won’t be able to hack into it. But if you can manage Windows Registry well, then by all means go on to the next steps.
Step 8: Tap Win + R to open Run and then type in regedit in the field and tap enter to pull up Windows Registry.

Step 9: Navigate to the listed paths below and look for the registry keys and sub-keys created by WALAN ransomware.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

Step 10: Delete the registry keys and sub-keys created by WALAN ransomware.
Step 11: Close the Registry Editor.
Step 12: Empty your Recycle Bin.
Try to recover your encrypted files using their Shadow Volume copies
Restoring your encrypted files using Windows’ Previous Versions feature will only be effective if WALAN ransomware hasn’t deleted the shadow copies of your files. But still, this is one of the best and free methods there is, so it’s definitely worth a shot.
To restore the encrypted file, right-click on it and select Properties, a new window will pop-up, then proceed to Previous Versions. It will load the file’s previous version before it was modified. After it loads, select any of the previous versions displayed on the list like the one in the illustration below. And then click the Restore button.

Once you’re done executing the steps given above, you need to continue the removal process of WALAN ransomware using a reliable program like [product-name]. How? Follow the advanced removal steps below.

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot it.
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
Windows will now load the Safe Mode with Networking.
Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.