What is Mikel Ransomware
Mikel Ransomware is a malicious infection designed to encrypt personal data and extort money for its decryption. It is also identified as a new variant of another file-encryptor named Proxima. During encryption, Mikel Ransomware assigns the .mikel extension to highlight the change. For instance, a file like 1.pdf will change to 1.pdf.mikel and reset its original icon. Please note that deleting the assigned extension from the encrypted file will not return access to it. Encryption makes data permanently locked and requires decryption keys to unlock it. After the encryption is complete, the virus creates the Mikel_Help.txt text note with instructions regarding decryption.
Your data have been Stolen, encrypted and inaccessible
Your critical information has been downloaded, including databases, financial/developmental, accounting, and strategic documents.
The file structure has been changed to unreadable format, but you can recover them all with our tool.
If payment is not made and if we don t hear anything from you for a while, your data will be leaked on TOR darknet and your competitors can have access to your data, we will also attack your company over and over again in the future.
If you want to decrypt all of your data and return your systems to operative state, you require a decryption tool, we are the only ones who own it, and also, if you want your stolen data will be wiped out from our website, you better contact us at the following email addresses:
You can write us to our mailbox:
Mikel@cyberfear.com
Mikel@onionmail.com
write this in the email title:
ID: -
* Make sure to include the ID in the email subject line, otherwise we wont answer your emails.
++++ What assurance is provided that we will not deceive you?
It's just a business and we don't pursue any political objectives. We absolutely do not care about you and your data, except getting benefits, money and our reputation are the only things that matters to us. if we do not do our work and liabilities, nobody will cooperate with us which is not in our interests.
Prior to the payment, and to check the ability to return files, you can send us 3 files (under 5MB) of any format that do not include sensitive information. We will decrypt them and send them back to you. That is our guarantee.
++ Important
If you want the decryption procedure to be effective, DO NOT delete or modify the encrypted files, it will cause issues with the decryption process.
++ Beware
Any organization or individual who asserts they can decrypt your data without paying us should be avoided. They just deceive you and charge you much more money as a consequence; they all contact us and buy the decryption tool from us.
If you do not cooperate with us, it does not matter to us, But you have to accept its consequences:
*Your data will be leaked for free on TOR darknet and your competitors can have access to your data.
*We know exactly what vulnerabilities exist in your network and will inform google about them.
*We are experts in Negative SEO. We will do irreparable harm to your website.
The money we asked for is nothing compare to all of these damages to your business, so we recommend you to pay the price and secure your business, simple.
If you pay, we will give you tips for your security, so it can t be hacked in the future.
besides, you will lose your time and data cause we are the only ones that have the private key. In practice, time is much more valuable than money.
To summarize, the note claims all files have been encrypted and uploaded to the servers of cybercriminals. To reaccess the blocked data, victims are required to contact extortionists via e-mail (including the assigned ID in the subject line) and pay for a special decryption tool. If victims refuse to meet these requirements and do not purchase the tool, threat actors threaten to leak the collected data to darknet platforms – to disrupt the reputation of the attacked company and its long-term development afterwards. This line in the note makes it clear that Mikel Ransomware is designed to target corporate entities like companies rather than regular users. Thus, the amount of ransom demanded by cybercriminals may be potentially high (even between 10,000$ and 100,000$).
Before paying the ransom, the cybercrooks also offer to test free decryption as a “guarantee” – victims can send 3 encrypted files (under 5MB) and get them decrypted for free. Such a technique is employed by multiple ransomware infections to lean victims towards trusting threat actors and paying the ransom eventually. Unfortunately, at the moment of writing this article, buying the tool from cybercriminals might be the only way to restore your data unless you have an available backup.
The encryption used by Mikel and many other infections involves complex algorithms and the generation of online keys, which significantly downgrade the capabilities of free third-party tools. Using your own backup is always considered a safer option compared to trusting extortionists – many threat actors fool their victims and do not send any decryption tools even after the payment is made. You can also ignore the decryption and not do anything if the data is not of great value to you. Unfortunately, your data may still be published and cause reputational damage as it was propagated by cybercriminals.
If you are not going to collaborate with extortionists, please note that deleting ransomware is crucial to not let it encrypt other files at the time of manual recovery or spread to other systems working in the same network. It is also important to remove it after decrypting files with cybercriminals if you decide to. Follow our guide below to do so and get protection against such threats in the future. You will also see some reputable third-party decryption/recovery software presented in our guide, however, this recommendation is general and does not guarantee the tools will successfully decrypt files blocked by Mikel Ransomware. You can give them a try if no other option is left.
How Mike Ransomware infected your computer
Ransomware infections can penetrate your system in a variety of ways – via phishing e-mail letters, unprotected RDP configuration infected software installers (pirated or cracked), exploit kits, trojans, fake updates/license cracking tools, unreliable ads, backdoors, keyloggers, and other dubious channels. As a rule, users become infected after getting pushed to downloading and opening some malicious file or link. One of such instance can be seen in fake emails where attachments are disguised as legitimate files (.DOCX, .XLSX, .PDF, .EXE, .ZIP, .RAR, or .JS). These e-mails may impersonate reputable companies (e.g., delivery companies, tax authorities, banks, and so forth) to trick users into clicking harmful links or downloading malware. Whether you end up beleiving what they say or simply get curious to see the attached content, interacting with it can be dangerous and lead to the installation of malware. Links attached to malvertising e-mails can lead to fake websites proposing malicious software or asking for users’ credentials. Thus, you should always avoid interacting with dubious download sources, torrent-sharing pages, suspicious ads, potentially malicious attachments/links, and other kinds of risky content. Download software only from official resources to prevent drive-by (stealth) installations of malware. Read our guide below for more information on protecting against ransomware and other forms of malware.
- Download Mikel Ransomware Removal Tool
- Get decryption tool for .mikel files
- Recover encrypted files with Stellar Data Recovery Professional
- Restore encrypted files with Windows Previous Versions
- Restore files with Shadow Explorer
- How to protect from threats like Mikel Ransomware
Download Removal Tool
To remove Mikel Ransomware completely, we recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 from EnigmaSoft Limited. It detects and removes all files, folders, and registry keys of Mikel Ransomware. The trial version of SpyHunter 5 offers virus scan and 1-time removal for FREE.
Alternative Removal Tool
To remove Mikel Ransomware completely, we recommend you to use Norton Antivirus from Symantec. It detects and removes all files, folders, and registry keys of Mikel Ransomware and prevents future infections by similar viruses.
Mikel Ransomware files:
Mikel_Help.txt
{randomname}.exe
Mikel Ransomware registry keys:
no information
How to decrypt and restore .mikel files
Use automated decryptors
Download Kaspersky RakhniDecryptor
Use following tool from Kaspersky called Rakhni Decryptor, that can decrypt .mikel files. Download it here:
There is no purpose to pay the ransom because there is no guarantee you will receive the key, but you will put your bank credentials at risk.
Dr.Web Rescue Pack
Famous antivirus vendor Dr. Web provides free decryption service for the owners of its products: Dr.Web Security Space or Dr.Web Enterprise Security Suite. Other users can ask for help in the decryption of .mikel files by uploading samples to Dr. Web Ransomware Decryption Service. Analyzing files will be performed free of charge and if files are decryptable, all you need to do is purchase a 2-year license of Dr.Web Security Space worth $120 or less. Otherwise, you don’t have to pay.
If you are infected with Mikel Ransomware and removed from your computer you can try to decrypt your files. Antivirus vendors and individuals create free decryptors for some crypto-lockers. To attempt to decrypt them manually you can do the following:
Use Stellar Data Recovery Professional to restore .mikel files
- Download Stellar Data Recovery Professional.
- Click Recover Data button.
- Select type of files you want to restore and click Next button.
- Choose location where you would like to restore files from and click Scan button.
- Preview found files, choose ones you will restore and click Recover.
Using Windows Previous Versions option:
- Right-click on infected file and choose Properties.
- Select Previous Versions tab.
- Choose particular version of the file and click Copy.
- To restore the selected file and replace the existing one, click on the Restore button.
- In case there is no items in the list choose alternative method.
Using Shadow Explorer:
- Download Shadow Explorer program.
- Run it and you will see screen listing of all the drives and the dates that shadow copy was created.
- Select the drive and date that you want to restore from.
- Right-click on a folder name and select Export.
- In case there are no other dates in the list, choose alternative method.
If you are using Dropbox:
- Login to the DropBox website and go to the folder that contains encrypted files.
- Right-click on the encrypted file and select Previous Versions.
- Select the version of the file you wish to restore and click on the Restore button.
How to protect computer from viruses, like Mikel Ransomware , in future
1. Get special anti-ransomware software
Use ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware
Famous antivirus brand ZoneAlarm by Check Point released a comprehensive tool, that will help you with active anti-ransomware protection, as an additional shield to your current protection. The tool provides Zero-Day protection against ransomware and allows you to recover files. ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is compatible with all other antiviruses, firewalls, and security software except ZoneAlarm Extreme (already shipped with ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware) or Check Point Endpoint products. The killer features of this application are: automatic file recovery, overwrite protection that instantly and automatically recovers any encrypted files, file protection that detects and blocks even unknown encryptors.
2. Back up your files
As an additional way to save your files, we recommend online backup. Local storage, such as hard drives, SSDs, flash drives, or remote network storage can be instantly infected by the virus once plugged in or connected to. Mikel Ransomware uses some techniques to exploit this. One of the best services and programs for easy automatic online backup is iDrive. It has the most profitable terms and a simple interface. You can read more about iDrive cloud backup and storage here.
3. Do not open spam e-mails and protect your mailbox
Malicious attachments to spam or phishing e-mails are the most popular method of ransomware distribution. Using spam filters and creating anti-spam rules is good practice. One of the world leaders in anti-spam protection is MailWasher Pro. It works with various desktop applications and provides a very high level of anti-spam protection.
