Given the wide array of ransomware families and the individual strains within those families, how you decrypt data following an attack varies.

In some cases, there are decrypting software packages available online for certain kinds of ransomware. They can be created either because the strain has been thoroughly studied since it appeared or because a researcher found a flaw in the encryption used by the criminals. If you can determine the type of ransomware that has encrypted your files, you can look to see if a decryptor is available.

In many cases, however, the popular ransomware strains have such strong encryption that decrypting files is not possible and, for the most part, there are no decryption options for modern ransomware families.

The better option is to restore your system from a secure backup – which recovers your files and, in the majority of cases, deletes the malware so you do not risk reinfection.

Ensuring you have a behavior-based ransomware blocker will also prevent future infections.