Remove “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” (Ransomware Removal)

If you are seeing “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” message – you are infected with a serious virus!

A full screen message with “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” on top and a locked screen is what you will discover if your PC has been infected with ransomware. You will be accused in committing a crime associated with pirated software and will be informed that you have to pay a penalty of 500 EUR. In case you do not want to pay the penalty, you are threatened to go to jail. What is more, the message will also state that all the files on your computer have been encrypted and they will remain that way until you pay the requested fine. Although this is all very frightening, you should consider a few things before rushing into making any payments.

How did I get infected with?

All ransomware infections act similarly and and are distributed the same way. “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” ransomware does not make an exception, which means that it gets installed on the system silently with the help of Trojan horses, together with compromised downloads, ads promoting fake players or updates, spam email attachments, and so on. All distribution methods “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” ransomware uses are dubious and require a badly protected operating system. If you want such infections to be pushed away instead of allowed into your PC, you should make sure it is properly maintained.

Why is this Dangerous?

What “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” ransomware relies on to convince you that you are dealing with a serious issue is logos of local authorities. These logos vary according to the country the particular user is from. However, this is exactly what should make you doubt the truthfulness of the message because no law enforcement agency in the world would act this way. What we think should bother you most is your encrypted files. If you do not have any back-up, you will surely lose all your stored data. Still, this is not a reason to spend money on fines for made-up crimes. Not only will it be a waste, but you will also reveal sensitive information to cyber criminals. Besides, if you do not delete the infection, the same problem can occur anytime. This is why you should waste no time to get rid of “Pirated Software Has Been Detected” ransomware.

How to Remove Pirated Software Has Been Detected?

from Windows 7 (Win 8 instructions are further below)

• Make sure you do not have any floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs inserted in your infected computer
• Restart the computer
  
• When you see a table, start tapping the F8 key every second until you enter the Advanced Boot Options

• in the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking , and then press ENTER.

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• type “inetcpl.cpl” command in the field

• Click on the connections TAB
• Then on LAN SETTINGS
• Uncheck the box labeled “Use a proxy server for your LAN”
• Press OK
• Now, press again, simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.
• In the dialog box type iexplore www.virusresearch.org/download-en

• your Internet Explorer will open and a professional scanner will start downloading
• Follow the instruction and use the professional malware removal tool to detect the files of the virus.
• After performing a full scan you will be asked to register the software. You can do that or perform a manual removal as shown in step 2

from Windows 8

Start Your Computer into Safe Mode with Networking

• Make sure you do not have any floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs inserted in your computer
• Move the mouse to the upper right corner until the windows 8 charm menu appears
  
• Click on the magnifying glass

• select Settings
• in the search box type Advanced
• On the left the following should appear

• Click on Advanced Startup Options
• Scroll down a little bit and click on Restart Now

• Click on Troubleshoot

• Then Advanced options

• Then Startup settings

• Then Restart

• When you see this screen press F5 – Enable Safe Mode with Networking

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type iexplore www.virusresearch.org/download-en

• Internet Explorer will open and a professional scanner will start downloading
• Follow the instruction and use the professional malware removal tool to detect the files of the virus.
• After performing a full scan you will be asked to register the software. You can do that or perform a manual removal.
• To perform Manual removal you need to follow the steps below.

STEP 2: Locate the virus start-up point

while in safe mode, simultaneously press the Windows Logo Button and then “R” to open the Run Command

Type “services.msc” carefully review all services disable if you see a suspicious one.

Open your Windows Registry Editor

navigate and delete the following registry keys:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\SERVICES\SecurityCenterServer

HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN|Dmsqksqrwqbsr, C:\Users\”USERNAME”\AppData\Roaming\Kgaord\posdqm.exe

SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN|Dmsqksqrwqbsr, C:\Users\”USERNAME”\AppData\Roaming\Kgaord\posdqm.exe

Please, note, that the file names are random and yours might be different.