An infection with the dangerous .locked Virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove .locked Virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of .locked Virus
The .locked Virus is a new virus which has been sighted in a limited 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 .locked 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 .locked Virus infection.
The computer criminals behind the malware can create malicious sites or download portals which distribute malware of different kinds, including the .locked 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 .locked 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 .locked Virus
Security researchers uncovered a new ransomware called StorageCrypter which is also known as the .locked virus bearing the name of its extension. At the moment the initial security analysis shows that the infection engine contains only the base necessities in order to function. No correlation has been found between it and any of the famous malware families. In addition no information has been identified about the hacker or criminal collective collection behind it.
We suspect that if the attacks prove to be succesful in the eyes of its creator(s), an updated version will be released. Future strains that originate from the .locked virus can integrate in themselves a fully featured infection component. At the moment the majority of distribution methods rely on social engineering email messages and propagation through malware executable file. An updated version of the .locked virus will be able propagate itself on an infected network.
The addition of a Trojan Module will allow criminals to spy on the victims in real time by viewing their on-screen actions and recording their mouse movement and keystrokes which are being sent to the operators in real time. Usually advanced threats also include an information gathering module which is started at the onset of infections. Depending on its implementation and configuration it may extract data such as the available hardware components, installed software and user configuration.
At the moment the .locked virus immediately starts its ransomware engine after the infection has commenced. As usual the ransomware process seeks to modify the most commonyl used user files by using a built-in list of target file type extensions. Examples include the following: documents, archives, images, videos, music, configuration files and etc. The virus engine appends the .locked extension to all processed data.
The _READ_ME_FOR_DECRYPT.txt file reads the following message:
Warning
Your documents,photos,databases,important files have been encrypted by RSA-4096 and AES-256!
If you modify any file, it may cause make you cannot decrypt!!!
You have to pay for decryption in bitcoin
Before paying you can send to us up to 2 files for free decryption
and it can also prove that we have ability to decrypt.
Please note that files must NOT contain valuable information
and their total size must be less than 2MbHow to decrypt your files ?
To decrypt your files,please following the steps below
1,Pay 0.4 bitcoin to this address: 1HUqiacJ6F6yLwTeGwohEdgWVuehibEegq
Pay To : 1HUqiacJ6F6yLwTeGwohEdgWVuehibEegq
Amount : 0.4
2,After you have finished paying,Contact us and Send us your Decrypt-ID via email
3,Once we have confimed your deal,You can use the tool we sent to you to decrypt all your files.How to obtain bitcoin ?
The easiest way to buy bitcoin is LocalBitcoins site.
You have to register, click Buy bitcoins and select the seller
by payment method and price
https://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins
https://paxful.com/buy-bitcoin
http://bitcointalk.org/
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us
Contact Email : [email protected]
Decrypt-ID :
CDwQ5HyOC0s+EM*****
We recommend that all users abstain from communicating with the hackers and use our full .locked Virus removal guide below to recover their data and delete the active infections.
Remove .locked Virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the .locked 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
.locked 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 .locked 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 .locked 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
