The Blaze virus falls within the Babuk ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the How To Decrypt.txt text files in every folder containing encrypted files.
What is Blaze virus?
☝️ A scientifically accurate description for the Blaze would be “a Babuk family ransomware infection”.
Blaze will append its extra .blaze extension to the name of every encoded file. For instance, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.blaze”. Just like the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.blaze”, and so forth.
In every directory with the encrypted files, a How To Decrypt.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.
Blaze summary:
| Name | Blaze Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Babuk ransomware |
| Extension | .blaze |
| Ransomware note | How To Decrypt.txt |
| Detection | MSIL/Spy.Agent.DSV, TrojanSpy:Win32/Delgent, Trojan.Ransom.Magniber |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .blaze extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Blaze virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Blaze looks like. Each filename has the “.blaze” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .blaze files.
How did my machine catch Blaze ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most popular ways for criminals to have the Blaze virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer file transfer.
If you open your inbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is unknown to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a ransomware item enclosed in them. So it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse scheme2. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something else. For example, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some software. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that compromises your data. As the installation package can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The optimal thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.
How do I get rid of the Blaze virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Blaze virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often racketeers would unblock few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption program. As Blaze virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures engineers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Of course, if the malefactors succeed in encrypting victim’s essential files, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of hackers simply vanishing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.
The best solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be not enough. Your most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system is rolled back.
Blaze is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. Examples of those are Gtys, Wdlo, Tuid, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Blaze are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: documents become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each directory containing encoded files.
Some fortunate people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding key to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.
How сan I avoid ransomware attack?
Blaze ransomware has no endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can protect your computer from its injection within three easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable letter with caution. A hoax email will always contain a mistake.
- Avoid using cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often shared as an element of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” which prevents the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information on this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful defense for your PC.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft3
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft4.
Download Removal Tool.
You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:
Run the setup file.
When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your PC.
An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
Press “Install” button.
Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.
Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your computer for Blaze infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.
Click on “Clean Now”.
When the scan has completed, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.
FAQ
🤔 How can I open “.blaze” files?Is it possible to open“.blaze” files?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.blaze” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?
It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. The rest of the methods require patience.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Blaze virus?
No way! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your PC off the actual threats. The malware that has attacked your PC is probably still active and launching checks from time to time to encode any new files you might create on your PC after the infection. As it has already been said, the Blaze malware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide criminals with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Blaze ransomware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
If that happened, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your PC. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What could help the situation right now?
Some of the encrypted data can be located elsewhere.
- If you sent or received your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, mobile, flash memory, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery utilities5 to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.
Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:
- In the United States: On Guard Online;
- In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
- In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
- In Australia: SCAMwatch;
- In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
- In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
- In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
- In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;
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 SmithHow to Remove BLAZE Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: BLAZE Virus
Description: BLAZE Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .blaze extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here are Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
