BIGGYLOCKER Virus 🔐 (.$BIG$ Files) — How to Remove?

The Biggylocker virus falls within the ransomware type of malicious agent. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, leaving the read_me.txt files in each directory with the encrypted files.

What is Biggylocker virus?

☝️ A scientifically accurate denomination for the Biggylocker is “a ransomware-type infection”.

Biggylocker appends its specific .$big$ extension to the name of each encoded file. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.$big$”. In the same manner, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.$big$”, and so on.

In every folder that contains the encoded files, a read_me.txt file will be created. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other information. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the Biggylocker developers. You can obtain this decrypting software after contacting [email protected] via email. That is how they do it.

Biggylocker overview:
Name Biggylocker Virus
Extension .$big$
Ransomware note read_me.txt
Ransom $120
Contact [email protected]
Detection Win32/Packed.BlackMoon.A suspicious, BScope.TrojanDownloader.Deyma, Mal/Kryptik-BX
Symptoms Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .$big$ extension and you can’t open them.
Fix Tool See If Your System Has Been Affected by Biggylocker virus

The read_me.txt file coming in package with the Biggylocker ransomware states the following:

$$$BiggyLocker$$$ ransomware
Your files are encrypted with a AES and RSA algorithm , it is unbreakable .
you can\'t recover your files without our decryption service , the price is 120 USD in bitcoin
after the payment you must email us at : [email protected]
to prove us that you pay.
- do not use any decryption tools because those tools will just destroy your files , making recover   impossible .
- do not rename your files .

 

our bitcoin address : 36zvYAn9vtbWQFcKcidPKhcuAz6woMszE9
or
bc1qw0ll8p9m8uezhqhyd7z459ajrk722yn8c5j4fg

 

we guarantee you will receive the decryption software after the payment .
greeting !

In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Biggylocker looks like. Each filename has the “.$big$” extension added to it.

Biggylocker Virus - encrypted .$big$ files

That is how encrypted “.$big$” files look.

How did my computer get infected with Biggylocker ransomware?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for malefactors to have the Biggylocker virus planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never guess what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of the Biggylocker virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Biggylocker virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware2 can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Often criminals would unblock some of your files so you know that they really have the decryption program. Since Biggylocker virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. However, the decoding tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon be available.

Of course, if the hackers succeed in encoding someone’s essential data, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about hackers simply disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.

The optimal solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external storage. Surely, that might be not enough. Your most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also wise to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Biggylocker, that work similarly. Examples of those are Oflg, Ofww, Towz, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Biggylocker are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: documents become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the hackers accidentally send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How сan I avoid ransomware injection?

Biggylocker ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your system from its attack in three easy steps:

  • Never open any letters from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the suspicious email with caution. A hoax letter will surely have mistakes.
  • Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft3

Download Removal Tool.

Run the setup file.

Run Setup.exe
GridinSoft Anti-Malware Setup

Press “Install” button.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Install

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Splash-Screen

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Scanning

Click on “Clean Now”.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware Scan Result

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 How can I open “.$big$” files?Can I somehow access “.$big$” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.$big$” files are decrypted.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.$big$” files ASAP. How can I do that?

If the “.$big$” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 What should I do if the Biggylocker malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the blocked files might still be at your disposal

  • If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
  • You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to send those images back to you.
  • If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
  • Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
  • Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, cellphone, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ file recovery programs5 to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

Also, you can contact the following official fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

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Brendan Smith

References

  1. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.

About the author

Brendan Smith

Cybersecurity analyst covering malware families, suspicious files, and detection alerts. Brendan focuses on clear explanations of what a warning means, when it may be a false positive, and which cleanup steps are appropriate.

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