NEWLOCKER Virus 🔐 (.NEWLOCKER Files) — How to Remove?

The Newlocker virus belongs under the MedusaLocker ransomware family. Malware of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, leaving the HOW_TO_RECOVER_DATA.html text files in each directory with the encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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What is Newlocker virus?

☝️ A strictly correct description for the Newlocker would be “a MedusaLocker family ransomware-type infection”.

Newlocker will append its own .newlocker extension to the title of every encoded file. For instance, an image named “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.newlocker”. In the same manner, the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.newlocker”, and so on.

In every folder that contains the encrypted files, a HOW_TO_RECOVER_DATA.html text document will be created. It is a ransom money note. 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 purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. That is basically the scheme of the crime.

Newlocker summary:

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

An example of encrypted .newlocker files.

How did Newlocker ransomware end up on my PC?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for hackers to have ransomware planted in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.

If you access your inbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a malicious item enclosed in them. Thus it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with emails like these.

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse model. A Trojan is an object that gets into your computer pretending to be something different. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that encodes your data. As the installation package can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the stuff you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of the Newlocker virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your files, the Newlocker virus will probably install Vidar Stealer on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Often tamperers would decrypt several of your files so you know that they do have the decryption tool. As Newlocker virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are frequently upgraded, so the solution may soon be available.

Of course, if the hackers do the job of encrypting victim’s critical data, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.

The optimal safety measure 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 storage. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all happened. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.

Newlocker is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Coty, Foza, Boza, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Newlocker are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in every directory containing encoded files.

Some fortunate victims were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption key to the wronged 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. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avert ransomware infiltration?

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

You can armour your PC from ransomware injection taking several easy steps:

• Ignore any letters 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 lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable email with caution. A hoax letter will surely contain a mistake.
• Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often shared as an element of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. Understandably, dubious programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try searching for information on this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.
• And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful armor for your personal computer.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft³.

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 computer for Newlocker 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 “.newlocker” files?Are the “.newlocker” files accessible?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.newlocker” files are decrypted.

🤔 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. 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. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Newlocker virus?

Of course not. Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with actual threats. The ransomware that has infected your computer is most likely still functional and running scans from time to time to encrypt any new files you might create on your PC after the infection. As it has already been said, the Newlocker ransomware 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 PC after some time.

🤔 What to do if the Newlocker ransomware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.

In such a case, you need to have a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or brought into your computer. To block this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital programs to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the blocked files might still be within your reach

• If you sent or received your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to post those images 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 too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, phone, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities⁴ to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you remove 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.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
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