Maas Ransomware

Maas Ransomware is a variant of a malicious application known as Stop Ransomware. It means that the threat behaves in a similar manner but has a different name. Our researchers found out that it encrypts personal victims’ files, such as photos, with a secure encryption algorithm. After the encryption, the malicious application drops a ransom note. The purpose of it is to convince users to pay a ransom. In exchange, the malware’s creators offer decryption tools that could restore all the threat’s affected files. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that the promised tools will reach you even if you do what hackers ask of you. Therefore, if you do not want to risk your money, we advise against paying the ransom. To learn more about the infection, we invite you to read the rest of the text and check the deletion instructions located below that explain how to remove Maas Ransomware manually.

Victims of threats like Maas Ransomware or Stop Ransomware are often tricked into launching them. For instance, hackers may send victims emails in which they could pretend to be representing reputable companies. Such emails could say that it is important for you to open attached files or links, but once you do so, your computer could be infected without you even noticing it. Therefore, we highly recommend against interaction with any files or links received unexpectedly or if they raise suspicion even if they seem to be coming from reliable sources. If you want to be sure that the attached file is safe, we advise scanning it with a reliable antimalware tool. Ad for links, it would be best to check their full URL addresses. To see where they might lead you to, you should check the last URL address’s part.

Moreover, users can also get tricked into launching malicious applications like Maas Ransomware on unreliable file-sharing websites. Such sites might claim that the offered file is a system update or a reputable tool. Thus, it would be best not to download files from unreliable websites even if they look like harmless documents, upgrades, software installers, etc. In rare cases, hackers manage to infect legitimate installers, which is why the smartest thing to do after downloading an installer or any other file is to scan it with a reputable antimalware tool. The scanning takes only a moment, and once it is over, you should know if the inspected file is truly harmless or malicious after all. As the saying goes: it is better to be safe than sorry.

If Maas Ransomware enters the system, it should settle in by creating files listed in the deletion instructions available at the end of this text. After settling in, the malware should start encrypting various personal files that victims might be unable to replace and find valuable. During the encryption, all the enciphered files should be marked with an extension called .maas, for example, mountain.jpg.maas. Such files should be unreadable, which is why users should be unable to open them. Soon after the encryption process, the malware should create a ransom note called _readme.txt. Inside this file, you ought to see a message saying that your files were encrypted and that you can decrypt them if you pay ransom to purchase decryption tools. However, before paying, you should be asked to contact the malware’s creators. Maas Ransomware’s note might even say that you can get a couple of files decrypted free of charge to prove that the promised decryption tools exist.

Even if hackers can prove that their offered decryption tools exist, they cannot guarantee that users will receive them. After all, they ask to pay ransom first and promise to send decryption tools afterward. How can you know that they will bother to do so? If you do not want to risk losing your money in vain, we advise not to pay the ransom. If you have backup copies, you could replace encrypted files instead of decrypting them. However, we recommend removing Maas Ransomware first as it might still be dangerous if it is left on a system. If you want to erase it manually, you could try the instructions available below. The other way to eliminate Maas Ransomware is to employ a reputable antimalware tool like SpyHunter that should identify it as Stop Ransomware.

Restart the computer in Safe Mode

Windows 8/Windows 10

1. Press Win+I for Windows 8 or open Start menu for Windows 10.
2. Click the Power button.
3. Tap and hold Shift, then click Restart.
4. Pick Troubleshoot and choose Advanced Options.
5. Go to Startup Settings and click Restart.
6. Click F5 to restart the PC.

Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7

1. Go to Start, select Shutdown options, and pick Restart.
2. Click and hold F8 when the PC starts restarting.
3. Select Safe Mode with Networking.
4. Press Enter and log on.

Remove Maas Ransomware

1. Press Win+E.
2. Check these locations:
   %TEMP%
   %USERPROFILE%\desktop
   %USERPROFILE%\downloads
3. Look for the threat’s installer, e.g., updatewin.exe; then right-click it and press Delete.
4. Then locate these paths:
   %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data
   %LOCALAPPDATA%
5. Find the threat’s created directories with random names that should contain copies of the malware’s launcher (e.g., 2a9ea166-82c4-499d-9f16-9e28ac1b8ef4), right-click them, and press Delete.
6. Recheck these paths:
   %LOCALAPPDATA%
   %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data
7. Locate files called script.ps1 or similarly, right-click them and press Delete.
8. Find this path: %WINDIR%\System32\Tasks
9. Look for a file called Time Trigger Task or similarly, right-click it and choose Delete.
10. Exit File Explorer.
11. Press Win+R.
12. Type Regedit and press Enter.
13. Go to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
14. Find a value name called SysHelper, right-click it, and press Delete.
15. Exit Registry Editor.
16. Empty Recycle bin.
17. Restart the system.