DATALOCK Virus (.DATALOCK Files) — How to Remove?

The Datalock virus belongs under the MedusaLocker ransomware family. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, leaving the Recovery_Instructions.html text files in every directory with the encrypted files.

What is Datalock virus?

☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Datalock is “a MedusaLocker family ransomware malicious agent”.

Datalock will append its own .datalock extension to the title of every encrypted file. For example, a file named “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.datalock”. Likewise, the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.datalock”, and so forth.

In each directory containing the encrypted files, a Recovery_Instructions.html text document will appear. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is it.

Datalock abstract:

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

How did Datalock ransomware end up on my PC?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for tamperers to have the Datalock virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer networks.

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

As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrent trackers 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. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove the Datalock virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Datalock virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware³ can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes tamperers would decode few of your files to prove that they really have the decryption program. Since Datalock virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are constantly updated, so the solution may soon be available.

Understandably, if the tamperers do the job of encoding victim’s critical files, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After obtaining the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports about ransomware developers simply vanishing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The optimal solution against 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 disk. Of course, that might be insufficient. The most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also wise to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the OS restoration.

Datalock 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 Bbnm, Zpps, Sijr, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Datalock are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: files become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in every folder containing encrypted files.

Some lucky victims were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How сan I avoid ransomware attack?

Datalock ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your computer from ransomware injection taking three easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email with caution. A fake email will always have a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information on this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft⁴

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 “.datalock” files?Is it possible to open“.datalock” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.datalock” files you will not be able to access them.

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

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. All other solutions require time.

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

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to post those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, cellphone, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can use data recovery utilities⁶ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you can do it only after you remove 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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