An infection with the dangerous .blank Virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove .blank Virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of .blank Virus
The .blank Virus is a new virus which has been sighted in attack campaign. At the moment the security researchers cannot determine the primary infection strategy. We presume that the most widely used tactics are going to be employed.
Among them are the email messages created in an automated way and sent to large lists of potential victims. The .blank Virus can be directly attached to the messages. This is one of the easiest way for the criminals to attempt the infection. However a lot of email hosting providers usually capture the signatures of the virus and as such discard such messages or label them as dangerous or spam. Other infection methods related to this one is the option of inserting hyperlinks in the body content of the messages. The links are usually labeled as leading to a familiar website or a file of user interest. Redirects can redirect to hacker-controlled sites, infected payloads or other instances that can lead to an .blank Virus infection.
The computer criminals behind the malware can create malicious sites or download portals which distribute malware of different kinds, including the .blank Virus. A popular option is the use of infected documents which may be of different types ‒ spreadsheets, rich text documents, presentations and databases. They are modified to initiate the virus once the built-in scripts are run. Usually when the files are opened a notification will ask the users to run the macros (scripts). If this is done the infection follows.
The hacker-controlled sites are specialist portals that have been created either manually or automatically by the criminals behind the .blank Virus. They can either directly distribute the threat by initiating various scripts or automated operations or link to such instances. Redirects are usually caused by email interaction, ad networks or other browsing activity. However one of the main sources is the availability of browser hijackers. They are malicious addons made for the most popular web browsers ‒ Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Once installed they not only infect the users with the malware, but also redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled site. Depending on the configuration the browser hijackers can also steal sensitive information such as any stored passwords, account credentials, history, bookmarks, form data and settings.
Impact of .blank Virus
The .blank virus is a newly discovered threat that has been reported by the security community. The initial security scan does not reveal any correlation with any of the well-known malware families. It is not known who is behind the attacks — it can be a single hacker or a criminal collective.
The analysis shows that the first module that is executed after the infection has been complete is the information gathering component which is used to gather sensitive information about the hardware and the users. The security analysts note that there are two primary types of data that can be classified. The first one includes anonymous data that is mainly connected to operating system data and the installed hardware components. The personally-identifiable gathered information has the ability to directly expose the victim’s identity. The module is configured to extract strings such as the victim’s name, address, telephone number, location, preferences and passwords.
The .blank virus has been found to perform an analysis of the infected computers seeking to gather information on the user’s regional settings. This is related to the operations of the ransomware engine. Advanced malware samples can contain several ransom note versions written in the appropriate languages. This makes it possible for the ransomware to select the most appropriate version after the encryption phase has ended.
Another useful feature of the .blank virus is the fact that it is built using a modular framework. It can be extended in future versions with newer modules. A prominent example is the addition of a Trojan component that would allow the criminals to spy on the users in real time. It also allows the hackers to overtake control of the machines at any given time.
Once all parts have executed completely the ransomware part is engaged. It uses a powerful cipher in order to process target files. The harvested samples from a live attack campaign show that the ransomware acts against the following files:
.cfr .ytd .sngw .tst .skudef .clem .sims3pack .hbr .hkx .rgt .ggpk .ttarch2 .hogg .spv .bm2 .lua
.dff .save .rgssad .scm .aud .rxdata .mcmeta .bin .mpqe .rez .xbe .grle .bf .iwd .vpp_pc .scb .naz
.m2 .xpk .sabs .nfs13save .gro .emi .wad .15 .vfs .drs .taf .m4s .player .umv .sgm .ntl .esm .qvm
.arch00 .tir .bk .sabl .bin .opk .vfs0 .xp3 .tobj .rcf .sga .esf .rpack .DayD,rofile .qsv .gam .bndl
.u2car .psk .gob .1rf .1t, .iqm .i3c1 .acm .SC2Replay .xfbin .db0 .fsh .dsb .cry .osr .gcv .blk .4
.1zc .umod .w3x .mwm .crf .tad .pbn .14 .pp e .ydc .fmf .swe .nfsllsave .tgx .trf .atlas .20 .game
.rw .rvproj2 .sc1 .1sd .pkz .rim .bff .gct .9 .fpk .pk3 .osf .bns .cas .1f1 .rbz .sex .mrm .mca .hsv
.vpt .pff .i3chr .tor .01 .utx .kf .dzip .fxcb .modpak .ydr .frd .bmd .vpp .gcm .frw .baf .edf .w3g
.mtf .tf c .1pr .pk2 .cs2 .fps .osz .1nc .jpz .tinyid .ebm .i3exec .ert .sv4 .cbf .oppc .enc .rmv
.mta .otd .pk7 .gm .cdp .cmg .ubi .hpk .plr . mis .ids .replay_last_battle .z2f .map .ut4mod .dm_l
.p3d .tre .package .streamed .12r .xbf .wep .evd .dxt .bba, .profile .vmt .rpf .0 cs .lab .cow .ibf
.tew .bix .uhtm .txd .jam .ugd .13 .dc6 .vdk .bar .cvm .wso .xxx .zar .anm .6 .ant .ctp .sv5 .dnf
.he0 .mve .emz .e4 mod .gxt .bag .arz .tbi .itp .i3animpack .vtf .afl .ncs .gaf .ccw .tsr .bank .lec
.pk4 .psv .los .civ5save .r1v .nh .sco .ims .epc .rg m .res .wld .sve .db1 .dazip .vcm .rvm .eur
.me2headmorph .azp .ags .12 .slh .cha .wowsreplay .dor .ibi .bnd .zse .ddsx .mcworld .intr .vdf .mtr
.addr .blp .mlx .d2i .21 .tlk .gml .n2pk .ekx .tas .rav .ttg .spawn .osu .oac .bod .dcz .mgx .wowpreplay
.fuk .kto .fda .vo b .ahc .rrs .ala .mao .udk .jit .25 .swar .nav .bot .jdf .32 .mul .sz.s .gax .xmg .udm
.zdk .dcc .blb .wxd .isb .pt2 .utc .card .lug .3 Q3SaveGame .osk .nut .unity .cme .elu .db7 .hlk .ds1 .wx
.bsm .13z .itm .clz .zfs .3do .pac .dbi .alo .gla .yrm .fomod .ees .erp .d1 . bmd .pud, .ibt .24 .wai .slaw
.opq, .gtf .bnt .ngn .tit .wf .bnk .ttz .nif .ghb .1a0 .bun .11 .icd .z3 .djs .mog .2da .imc .sgh .db9 .4 2
.vis .whd .pcc .43 .1dw .age3yrec .pcpack .ddt .cok .xcr .bsp .yaf .swd .tfil .1sd .blorb .unr .mob .fos
.cem .material .1fd .hmi .m d4 .dog .256 .eix .00b .cpx .cdata .hak .phz .stormreplay .1rn .spidersolitairesave-ms
.anm .til .1ta .sims2pack .md2 .pkx .sns .pat .tcif .cm .mine .rbn .uc .asg .raf .myp .mys .tex .cpn .model .sfar .fbrb
.sav2 .1mg .tbc .xpd .bundledmesh .bmg .18, .gsc .shader_bundle .dr1 .world .rwd .rwv .rda .3g2 .3gp .asf .asx .avi .flv
.ai .m2ts .mkv .mo v .mp4 .mpg .mpeg .mpeg4 .rm .swf .vob .wmv .doc .docx .pdf .rar .jpg .jpeg .png .tiff .zip .7z .dif.z
.tar.gz .tar .mp3 .sh .c .cpp . h .mov .gif .txt .py .pyc .jar .csv .psd, .wav .ogg .wma .aif .mpa .wp1 .arj .deb .pkg .db
.dbf .sav .xml .html .aiml .apk .bat .bin . cgi .pl .com .wsf .bmp .bmp .gif .tif .tiff .htm .js .jsp, .php .xhtml .cfm .rss
.key .odp .pps .ppt .pptx .class .cd .java .swift .vb .ods .x1r .xls .xlsx .dot .docm .dotx .dotm .wpd .wps .rtf .sdw .sgl
.vor .uot .uof .jtd .jtt .hwp .602 .pdb .psw .xlw .xlt .xlsm .xl tx .xltm .xlsb .wk1 .wks .123 .sdc .slk .px1 .wb2 .pot .pptm
.potx .potm .sda .sdd .sdp .cgm .wotreplay .rofl .pak .big .bik .xtbl .un ity3d .capx .ttarch .iwi .rgss3a .gblorb .xwm .j2e .mpk
.xex .tiger .1bf .cab .rx3 .epk .vol .asset .forge .1ng .sii .litemod .vef .da t .papa .psark .ydk .mpq .wtf .bsa .re4 Ads .ff
.yrp .pck .t3 .1tx .uasset .bikey .patch .upk .uax .mdl .1v1 .qst .ddv .pta
All processed files are renamed with the .blank extension. A ransomware note is created in a file that contains the following message:
YOU HAVE BEEN INFECTED WITH BLANK RANSOMWARE
Your important files, documents, videos, pictures etc. have been encrypted. In order to decrypt them click a magic button. This ransomware was made for fun and it won’t want you to pay for files.
Have fun decrypting your files!
Remove .blank Virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the .blank Virus requires being familiar with system files and registries. Removing important data accidentally can lead to permanent system damage. If you don’t feel comfortable with manual instructions, download a powerful anti-malware tool that will scan your system for malware and clean it safely for you.
SpyHunter anti-malware tool will diagnose all current threats on the computer. By purchasing the full version, you will be able to remove all malware threats instantly. Additional information about SpyHunter / Help to uninstall SpyHunter
.blank Virus – Manual Removal Steps
Start the PC in Safe Mode with Network
This will isolate all files and objects created by the ransomware so they will be removed efficiently. The steps bellow are applicable to all Windows versions.
1. Hit the WIN Key + R
2. A Run window will appear. In it, write msconfig and then press Enter
3. A Configuration box shall appear. In it Choose the tab named Boot
4. Mark Safe Boot option and then go to Network under it to tick it too
5. Apply -> OK
Remove .blank from Windows
Here’s a way to remove the program. This method will work regardless if you’re on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP. Simply selecting the program and pressing delete won’t work, as it’ll leave a lot of small files. That’s bad because these leftovers can linger on and cause all sorts of problems. The best way to delete a program is to uninstall it. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Hold the “Windows” button (It’s between CTRL and Alt on most keyboards) and press “R”. You’ll see a pop-up window.
2. In the textbox, type “appwiz.cpl”, then press“ Enter ”.
3. The “Programs and features” menu should now appear. It’s a list of all the programs installed on the PC. Here you can find the program, select it, and press “Uninstall“.
Remove .blank Virus From Your Browser
Before resetting your browser’s settings, you should know that this action will wipe out all your recorded usernames, passwords, and other types of data. Make sure to save them in some way.
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1. Start Mozilla Firefox. In the upper right corner, click on the Open menu icon and select “Add-ons“.
2. Inside the Add-ons Manager select “Extensions“. Search the list of extensions for suspicious entries. If you find any, select them and click “Remove“.
3. Click again on the Open menu icon, then click “Options“.
4. In the Options window, under “General” tab, click “Restore to Default“.
5. Select “Search” in the left menu, mark the unknown search engine and press “Remove”.
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1. Start Google Chrome. On the upper-right corner, there a “Customize and Control” menu icon. Click on it, then click on “Settings“.
2. Click “Extensions” in the left menu. Then click on the trash bin icon to remove the suspicious extension.
3. Again in the left menu, under Chrome, Click on “Settings“. Go under “On Startup” and set a new page.
4. Afterward, scroll down to “Search“, click on “Manage search engines“.
5. In the default search settings list, find the unknown search engine and click on “X“. Then select your search engine of choice and click “Make default“. When you are ready click “Done” button in the right bottom corner.
2. In the “Manage add-ons” window, bellow “Add-on Types“, select “Toolbars and Extensions“. If you see a suspicious toolbar, select it and click “Remove“.
3. Then again in the “Manage Add-ons” window, in “Add-on Types“, Select “Search Providers“. Chose a search engine and click “Set as default“. Select the unknown search engine and click “Remove and Close”.
4. Open the Tools menu, select “Internet Options”.
5. In the “General” tab, in “Home page”, enter your preferred page. Click “Apply” and “OK”.
Repair Windows Registry
1. Again type simultaneously the WIN Key + R key combination
2. In the box, write regedit and hit Enter
3. Type the CTRL+ F and then write the malicious name in the search type field to locate the malicious executable
4. In case you have discovered registry keys and values related to the name, you should delete them, but be careful not to delete legitimate keys
Click for more information about Windows Registry and further repair help
