Remove Leto ransomware

About this threat

Leto ransomware file-encoding malware, generally known as ransomware, will encrypt your data. Threat could result in severe consequences, as encoded files may be permanently damaged. What is more, infection happens very easily, therefore making ransomware one of the most harmful malicious software threats. A big part in a successful ransomware infection is user carelessness, as infection commonly occurs when people open infected email attachments, press on dubious advertisements and fall for fake ‘downloads’. After files are successfully encrypted, it’ll request you to pay a certain amount of money for a decryptor. You will likely be demanded to pay between tens and thousands of dollars, it depends on what file encrypting malicious program you have, and how valuable your files are. No matter how much you’re asked to pay, giving into the demands isn’t recommended. There’s nothing stopping criminals from just taking your money, without providing you a decoding utility. You can definitely encounter accounts of users not getting files back after payment, and that is not really shocking. This type of thing might reoccur or something might happen to your device, so it would be much better to invest the money into backup. From USBs to cloud storage, there are plenty of backup options available, you just need to select one. Just terminate Leto ransomware, and if you had backup before the infection, file recovery shouldn’t cause problems. You’ll come across malware like this everywhere, and contamination is likely to happen again, so you have to be ready for it. In order to keep a computer safe, one should always be ready to come across potential threats, becoming informed about their spread methods.

Download Removal Toolto remove Leto ransomware

How does ransomware spread

People usually infect their devices with file encrypting malicious software by opening infected files attached to emails, tapping on malicious ads and obtaining software from untrustworthy sources. More elaborate methods are not as common.

If you recall downloading a strange attachment from a seemingly legitimate email in the spam folder, that might be how the ransomware managed to infect. The method includes creators attaching the ransomware infected file to an email, which is then sent to hundreds or even thousands of people. As those emails often use topics like money, plenty of people open them without even considering the consequences. What you can expect from a ransomware email is a basic greeting (Dear Customer/Member/User etc), grammatical mistakes, encouragement to open the attachment, and the use of a known business name. Your name would be automatically inserted into an email if it was a legitimate company whose email ought to be opened. It wouldn’t be shocking if you see big company names (Amazon, eBay, PayPal) be used, as that ought to make people trust the email much more. You may have also gotten the infection through compromised advertisements or infected downloads. Compromised websites might be hosting infected advertisements so stop interacting with them. It is possible you obtained the ransomware accidentally when it was hidden as some kind of software/file on an untrustworthy download platform, which is why you are better off using official sources. Never get anything, whether it is programs or updates, from sources like advertisements or pop-ups. If a program was in need of an update, you would be notified through the application itself, not via your browser, and most update themselves anyway.

What happened to your files?

An infection that leads to permanent file loss isn’t an impossible scenario, which is what makes ransomware so harmful. The process of encrypting your data is not a long process, so it’s possible you will not even notice what’s going on. If not for other signs, the weird file extension attached to the files will make everything clear. Your files will be locked using strong encryption algorithms, which may be impossible to break. A ransom note will then appear, which should explain the situation. The ransom note will have information about how to purchase the decryptor, but think about all you options before you make the decision to give into the requests. Complying with the demands doesn’t necessarily mean data decryption because hackers might just take your money, leaving your files locked. Furthermore, you would be financing the future projects of these crooks. The easily made money is regularly luring more and more people to the business, which is estimated to have made $1 billion in 2016. We suggest you consider investing the money demanded into some kind of backup option. And you wouldn’t be putting your files in danger if this kind of threat entered your computer again. If you have chosen to not put up with the demands, you will have to terminate Leto ransomware if it’s still present on the system. If you become familiar with how these threats are distributed, you ought to be able to dodge them in the future.

Leto ransomware termination

In order to ensure the infection is terminated completely, anti-malware program will be needed. Because you allowed the infection to get in, and because you are reading this, you might not be very knowledgeable with computers, which is why it is not advised to manually delete Leto ransomware. If you employed anti-malware software, everything would be done for you, and you wouldn’t unwittingly end up doing more damage. There shouldn’t be any issues with the process, as those types of utilities are developed to eliminate Leto ransomware and other similar infections. So that you are not left on your own, guidelines below this report have been placed to help with the process. Just to be clear, anti-malware will only be able to get rid of the infection, it is not going to restore your data. Sometimes, however, malware specialists are able to release a free decryption utility, so be on the look out for that.

Download Removal Toolto remove Leto ransomware

Learn how to remove Leto ransomware from your computer

• Step 1. Remove Leto ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.
• Step 2. Remove Leto ransomware using System Restore
• Step 3. Recover your data

Step 1. Remove Leto ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.

• a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking.
• b) Step 2. Remove Leto ransomware.

a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking.

For Windows 7/Vista/XP

1. Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
2. Press and keep pressing F8 until Advanced Boot Options appears.
3. Choose Safe Mode with Networking

For Windows 8/10 users

1. Press the power button that appears at the Windows login screen. Press and hold Shift. Click Restart.
2. Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart.
3. Choose Enable Safe Mode with Networking.

b) Step 2. Remove Leto ransomware.

You will now need to open your browser and download some kind of anti-malware software. Choose a trustworthy one, install it and have it scan your computer for malicious threats. When the ransomware is found, remove it. If, for some reason, you can't access Safe Mode with Networking, go with another option.

Step 2. Remove Leto ransomware using System Restore

• a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
• b) Step 2. Restore files and settings.

a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

For Windows 7/Vista/XP

1. Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
2. Press and keep pressing F8 until Advanced Boot Options appears.
3. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

For Windows 8/10 users

1. Press the power button that appears at the Windows login screen. Press and hold Shift. Click Restart.
2. Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart.
3. Choose Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

b) Step 2. Restore files and settings.

1. You will need to type in cd restore in the window that appears. Press Enter.
2. Type in rstrui.exe and again, press Enter.
3. A window will pop-up and you should press Next. Choose a restore point and press Next again.
4. Press Yes.

While this should have taken care of the ransomware, you might want to download anti-malware just to be sure no other threats are lurking.  

Step 3. Recover your data

• a) Using Data Recovery Pro to recover encrypted files.
• b) Restore files through Windows Previous Versions
• c) Using Shadow Explorer to recover files

While backup is essential, there is still quite a few users who do not have it. If you are one of them, you can try the below provided methods and you just might be able to recover files.

a) Using Data Recovery Pro to recover encrypted files.

1. Download Data Recovery Pro, preferably from a trustworthy website.
2. Scan your device for recoverable files.
3. Recover them.

b) Restore files through Windows Previous Versions

If you had System Restore enabled, you can recover files through Windows Previous Versions.

1. Find a file you want to recover.
2. Right-click on it.
3. Select Properties and then Previous versions.
4. Pick the version of the file you want to recover and press Restore.

c) Using Shadow Explorer to recover files

If you are lucky, the ransomware did not delete your shadow copies. They are made by your system automatically for when system crashes.

1. Go to the official website (shadowexplorer.com) and acquire the Shadow Explorer application.
2. Set up and open it.
3. Press on the drop down menu and pick the disk you want.
4. If folders are recoverable, they will appear there. Press on the folder and then Export.

* SpyHunter scanner, published on this site, is intended to be used only as a detection tool. More info on SpyHunter. To use the removal functionality, you will need to purchase the full version of SpyHunter. If you wish to uninstall SpyHunter, click here.