The Blockz virus falls within the ransomware type of infection. Malware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the How To Restore Your Files.txt files in every folder with the encrypted files.
Blockz virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically correct designation for the Blockz is “a ransomware malicious agent”.
Blockz will append its specific .blockZ extension to the name of each encoded file. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.blockZ”. In the same manner, the Excel sheet named “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.blockZ”, and so forth.
In every directory that contains the encrypted files, a How To Restore Your Files.txt file will be created. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is how they do it.
Blockz overview:
| Name | Blockz Virus |
| Extension | .blockZ |
| Ransomware note | How To Restore Your Files.txt |
| Detection | MSIL/Spy.Agent.DSV, TrojanSpy:Win32/Delgent, Trojan.Ransom.Magniber |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .blockZ extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Blockz virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Blockz looks like. Each filename has the “.blockZ” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .blockZ files.
How did Blockz ransomware end up on my PC?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for tamperers to have ransomware working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose mailer is strange to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan virus scheme1. A Trojan is an object that gets into your machine pretending to be something different. For instance, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. Since the installation file can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Blockz virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Blockz virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware2 can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often criminals would decode few of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. Since Blockz virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.
Understandably, if the evildoers succeed in encrypting someone’s essential data, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. However, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of criminals just disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.
The optimal countermeasure to ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external drive. Surely, that might be not enough. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the OS restoration.
There are other ransomware products, besides Blockz, that work similarly. For instance, Udla, Tuid, Kxde, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Blockz are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in every directory containing encrypted files.
Some lucky victims were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, 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 do I avoid ransomware injection?
Blockz ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can defend your computer from its attack taking three easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious letter with caution. A hoax email will surely contain mistakes.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as an element of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. But untrusted programs are very hard to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try to find information on this program on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful shield for your system.
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 computer.
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 system for Blockz 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 How can I open “.blockZ” files?Can I somehow access “.blockZ” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.blockZ” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?
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.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Blockz virus?
No way! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete actual viruses from your PC. The virus that has infected your PC is probably still functional and it scans your system periodically to encode any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has already been said, the Blockz virus 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 after some time.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Blockz malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.
In such a case, you need to have a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encodes any new files created or imported into your computer. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right now?
Many of the encrypted files might still be at your disposal
- If you exchanged your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You might have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, cellphone, flash memory, etc.
HINT: You can use data recovery programs5 to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but be advised: 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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Brendan SmithHow to Remove BLOCKZ Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: BLOCKZ Virus
Description: BLOCKZ Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .blockZ extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- You can read more on spyware variants and nature in the respective 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’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
