The Fisakalzb virus falls under the Snatch ransomware family. Malware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, creating the HOW TO RESTORE YOUR FILES.TXT files in every directory containing encrypted files.
Fisakalzb virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A strictly accurate description for the Fisakalzb would be “a Snatch family ransomware malicious agent”.
Fisakalzb will append its extra .fisakalzb extension to the name of every encrypted file. For instance, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.fisakalzb”. In the same manner, the Excel sheet named “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.fisakalzb”, and so forth.
In each folder that contains the encrypted files, a HOW TO RESTORE YOUR FILES.TXT file will be found. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the ransomware developers. That is pretty much the scheme of the crime.
Fisakalzb summary:
| Name | Fisakalzb Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Snatch ransomware |
| Extension | .fisakalzb |
| Ransomware note | HOW TO RESTORE YOUR FILES.TXT |
| Detection | Ransom.VenusLocker, Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.SZ!MTB, Win32:TeslaCrypt-GL [Trj] |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .fisakalzb extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Fisakalzb virus |
In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Fisakalzb looks like. Each filename has the “.fisakalzb” extension added to it.
An example of encrypted .fisakalzb files.
How did my computer get infected with Fisakalzb ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most exploited ways for evil-doers to have the Fisakalzb virus settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open 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 addresser is unknown to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a malware item attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus scheme2. A Trojan is a program that gets into your machine disguised as 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 program that encrypts your data. Since the update wizard can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The optimal way is to use the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like torrents or eMule, the threat 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 reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Fisakalzb virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Fisakalzb virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often criminals would decrypt some of your files to prove that they do have the decryption tool. Since Fisakalzb virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.
Sure thing, if the hackers succeed in encrypting victim’s essential files, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports of ransomware developers just vanishing 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 drive. Of course, that might be not enough. Your most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.
There are other ransomware products, besides Fisakalzb, that work similarly. Examples of those are Towz, Powd, Tuow, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Fisakalzb are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate people were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the hackers accidentally send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How to avert ransomware injection?
Fisakalzb ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can protect yourself from its injection within three easy steps:
- Never open any emails from unknown mailers with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the dubious letter carefully. A hoax email will surely have mistakes.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way 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 perfect shield for your personal computer.
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 Fisakalzb 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 finished, 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 “.fisakalzb” files?Are the “.fisakalzb” files accessible?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.fisakalzb” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?
Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. 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.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Fisakalzb malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
Of course not. Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual viruses. The virus that has infected your PC is must be still functional and running scans from time to time to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has already been said, the Fisakalzb virus comes with the company. 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 Fisakalzb virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.
If that happened, you need to have a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to execute the procedure. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or brought into your system. To block this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital programs to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the encoded files might still be within your reach
- If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to give those images back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, phone, memory stick, etc.
HINT: You can use data recovery utilities5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you can do it only after you kill the ransomware itself with an antivirus 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 FISAKALZB Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: FISAKALZB Virus
Description: FISAKALZB Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .fisakalzb 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.
