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Tutorials

Useful tutorials on various PC troubleshooting topics. Video tutorials.

How to remove Selena Ransomware and decrypt .selena files

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Selena is a disruptive ransomware infection targeting primarily business networks. It encrypts network-stored data and demands victims to pay a monetary ransom for its return. During encryption, Selena alters the way original files appear - no longer accessible files acquire a uniquely generated victim's ID, the e-mail address of cybercriminals, and the .selena extension. To illustrate, a file initially titled as 1.xlsx will change to id[q2TQAj3U].[Selena@onionmail.org].1.xlsx.selena and reset its icon to blank. After this process comes to a close, the ransomware creates a file named selena.txt, which is a text note explaining how to recover the files. It is said there is no way to decrypt the restricted data other than directly negotiating with cybercriminals. To get further information, victims are guided to write to one of the following e-mail addresses (selena@onionmail.org or selena@cyberfear.com) and state their personal ID in the title. In order to get the necessary decoder and private keys, which will unlock access to data, victims are required to pay money (in bitcoins) for it. The price remains unknown and is likely to be calculated individually only after contacting the swindlers. In addition, cybercriminals offer victims to send 2 files containing no valuable information (under 5MB) and get the decrypted for free. This offer works as a guarantee measure proving they are actually able to decrypt your data. Unfortunately, options to decrypt files without the help of cybercriminals are less likely existent.

How to fix iPhone (iTunes) error 2009

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Do you get an error message while trying to update or restore your iPhone through iTunes? - Then this guide will be helpful for you. Error 2009 is a popular and widely-complaint iTunes issue among the likes of other similar error codes such as 53, 14, 2016, 1110, 3194, etc. Users facing this problem encounter a message saying this text: "The iPhone [device name] could not be restored/updated. An unknown error occurred (2009)". As a result, no further continuation of updating or device restoration will take place due to the error occurrence. Reasons for why such errors arouse are not binary - they can be caused by outdated software, internal and third-party conflicts, system glitches, and other unknown reasons. Below, we have compiled a list of instructions to help you deal with the error 2009 potentially. Follow carefully each step after each until you find the working solution.

How to remove Pipikaki Ransomware and decrypt .@PIPIKAKI files

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Pipikaki is a recent devastating ransomware infection reported by victims on forums. Malware of this type is also known as crypto-viruses, designed to encrypt system-stored data and blackmail victims into paying money for its return. Pipikaki does exactly the same renaming targetted files with the victim's ID and .@PIPIKAKI extension during encryption. For instance, a previously named file 1.pdf will change to 2.pdf.[8A56562E].@PIPIKAKI or similarly depending on a victim's ID. Instructions on how to return restricted files are then presented inside of a file named WE CAN RECOVER YOUR DATA.txt. The ransom note guides users to contact developers (via Skype, ICQ Live chat, or pipikaki@onionmail.org e-mail) and negotiate about returning the data. As a rule, many cybercriminals ask their victims to pay a certain amount of monetary ransom (most often in cryptocurrencies). It is also said that noncompliance with what swindlers demand will result in the publication of all sensitive data. They threaten to leak important business-related information (clients' data, bills, annual reports, etc.) which was collected from the encrypted machine/network.

How to get rid of spam in e-mail

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There is no doubt that e-mail has already taken a large part of people's online activity these days. It is now the main departure point for registering at various websites and resources. Any internet user has at least one, if not many e-mail addresses registered and used for various goals, be it a person-to-person communication, receiving different newsletters, updates, or simply as a two-level authentication tool for log-in security measures. While this all sounds useful indeed, there is a dark side to this - a huge and new opportunity for cybercriminals to deliver illegitimate and intentionally malicious content to users. Such a phenomenon is known as e-mail spam. Many e-mail services are always developing new and improving existing algorithms to detect potential spam and prevent inexperienced users from falling into the evil hands of various frauds. These anti-spam mechanisms are educated enough to identify potentially unwanted messages based on different triggers (sender's IP-address reputation, spammy language content, world-known blacklists, etc.). Having some e-mail letters categorized as spam should push users to be more careful and less trustworthy with regard to the message. Unfortunately, there are cases when spam goes undetected being delivered straight into your Inbox. A large number of newsletter subscriptions accumulated over long-time usage can also create a flood of unnecessary messages blurring your eye. Whatever it is, we are going to show how one can get rid of e-mail spam and slow its frequency rates. The guide below will give useful recommendations with guidelines for the world's most used e-mail services like Gmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail, and Microsoft Outlook.

How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages/photos/videos in Android

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WhatsApp has become one of the most reliant means of communication these days. It is not only a way of exchanging keyboard-written messages but also a bridge for sharing photos and videos of different sizes. It may feel terrible when some important piece of information, be it a video, image, or simply text, gets accidentally deleted and lost, therefore. Luckily, deleting some data in WhatsApp does not mean you are destined to lose it forever. This is what we are going to discuss below - 3 easy ways to help you recover your files deleted from WhatsApp on Android for free.

How to remove Axxes Ransomware and decrypt .axxes files

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Axxes is a ransomware virus. Infections of this type are designed to prevent users from accessing their personal data. This is done through the so-called encryption process usually followed by attempts to blackmail victims into paying money for data return. After successfully attacking a system, Axxes enciphers targeted files and renames them using the .axxes extension. To illustrate, a regular file like 1.png will change to 1.png.axxes and reset its icon as well. The rest of the data will be renamed based on the same pattern as well. Next, the virus creates two files containing decryption instructions (RESTORE_FILES_INFO.hta and RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt). Cybercriminals say all business- and employee-related data has been both encrypted and uploaded to external servers. Should victims refuse to collaborate with the developers, the latter claim they hold their right to publish victims' data on specialized resources. To avoid this, victims are guided to open Tor Browser at the attached website address and contact swindlers to pay for decryption. The onion page also displays a number of tabs including what other companies have been compromised by the virus already. It is unfortunate, but for now, there are no free means to decrypt Axxes files completely. Furthermore, cutting all the ends with cybercriminals will definitely motivate them to leak your collected data.

How to remove GonnaCope Ransomware and decrypt .cope files

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Recently discovered by a malware researcher named Petrovic, GonnaCope is a ransomware infection able to encrypt system-stored data. Research showed that it also deletes and replaces some data with random and pointless files, which appear with the .cope extension. On the other hand, files encrypted by GonnaCope do not change in their appearance and remain exactly the same yet no longer accessible. To get access back to encrypted files, swindlers behind the virus guide victims to complete a 100$ transfer (in Bitcoin) to the crypto-address attached in the ReadMe.txt note. In addition, it also displays a cmd window with almost identical information. After sending the money, ransomware developers promise to provide their victims with a decryption key to return the data. Whether cybercriminals can be trusted or not is never without uncertainty. In general, frauds have a bad reputation since they are able to fool you and not send any promised decryption tools at the end. Either way, they are the only figures who have the ability to decrypt your data at this moment. Victims can avoid paying the ransom only if there are backup copies available on external devices. This way, they can be used to recover encrypted and no longer usable files. If you are not in favor of paying the required ransom and you do not have backups to use, you can still put your hand to using third-party tools - there is a chance they will be able to help under some circumstances.

How to remove PARKER Ransomware and decrypt .PARKER files

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PARKER is the name of a ransomware program designed to encrypt users' data and extort money from victims. It is likely to be a product of cybercriminals who developed two other devastating file-encryptors named ZORN and MATILAN. Just like them, PARKER creates the same RESTORE_FILES_INFO.txt text note on how to recover encrypted data. During encryption, the virus changes various types of potentially important files in the following pattern - from 1.pdf to 1.pdf.PARKER and so forth with other files stored on a system. As a result, this change will make files no longer usable without a special decryption tool, which has to be purchased from cybercriminals. Unless victims contact threat actors via written contact addresses and pay the required monetary ransom within 3 given days, the latter threatens to leak the collected data to public resources. This will carry a risk of debunking private company information, which can be abused by competitors or other fraudulent figures. Although it is always advised against collaborating with cybercriminals, they might be the only figures able to provide full data decryption and somewhat guarantee to not publish sensitive information. Unfortunately, there are no third-party tools that could at least decrypt your data for free. The best feasible option available is to recover encrypted files through backups stored on uninfected devices (e.g. USB flashcards, other PCs, Cloud, etc.).