BLACKOUTWARE Ransomware 🔐 (.BLO File) — Removal Guide

The Blackoutware virus falls within the ransomware type of infection. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, creating the !!!WARNING!!!.txt files in every folder with the encrypted files.

Blackoutware virus: what is known so far?

Blackoutware will add its extra .blo extension to the title of each encrypted file. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.blo”. Likewise, the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.blo”, and so on.

In each folder containing the encrypted files, a !!!WARNING!!!.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can obtain this decryptor after contacting [email protected] via email. That is it.

Blackoutware Overview:

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Blackoutware looks like. Each filename has the “.blo” extension appended to it.

How did my computer get infected with Blackoutware ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most exploited ways for malefactors to have the Blackoutware virus working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.

• Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan file scheme. A Trojan is a program that gets into your machine pretending to be something legal. For example, you download an installer of some program you want or an update for some software. However, what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful program that encrypts your data. Since the update file can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software companies’ official websites.
• As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove ransomware?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Blackoutware virus will probably deploy Vidar Stealer on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

How сan I avert ransomware infiltration?

Blackoutware ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can defend your computer from ransomware injection in several easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious letter with caution. A hoax email will surely have mistakes.
• Never use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.blo” files?Are the “.blo” files accessible?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.blo” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Blackoutware virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Some of the encrypted data can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, cellphone, external storage, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery programs¹ to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

1. Here are Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.