BLOCKER Ransomware (.blocker files) — How to remove virus?

The Blocker virus belongs to the ransomware type of infection. Ransomware of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the #Decrypt#.txt text files in each folder with the encrypted files.

Blocker virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A strictly correct designation for the Blocker is “a ransomware-type infection”.

Blocker will append its specific .blocker extension to every file’s name. For example, a file named “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.blocker”. Likewise, the Excel file named “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.blocker”, and so forth.

In each directory with the encoded files, a #Decrypt#.txt text file will be created. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.

Blocker abstract:

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Blocker looks like. Each filename has the “.blocker” extension appended to it.

How did my computer get infected with Blocker ransomware?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most popular ways for malefactors to have ransomware acting in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer networks.

If you open your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malicious item attached to them. So it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrents 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 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 Blocker virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Blocker virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware² can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Often criminals would decode some of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. Since Blocker virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are frequently upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Understandably, if the malefactors succeed in encoding someone’s essential data, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After receiving the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of ransomware developers just disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The optimal countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be not enough. Your most important thing could be that file you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the OS is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Blocker, that work similarly. For instance, Dehd, Zaqi, Sbpg, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Blocker are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: documents become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in every directory containing encrypted files.

Some fortunate people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avert ransomware injection?

Blocker ransomware has no endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your computer from its injection within three easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter with caution. A fake letter will surely contain a mistake.
• Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try searching for information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal way is not to use such software.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft³

Download Removal Tool.

Run the setup file.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

Click on “Clean Now”.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.blocker” files?Is it possible to open“.blocker” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.blocker” 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. All other solutions require time.

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

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your critical files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to post those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it 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, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can use data recovery utilities⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but remember: you can do it only after you eradicate the virus 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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