The Rabel virus belongs with the ransomware type of infection. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, leaving the WOW.txt files in each folder with the encrypted files.
Rabel virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically accurate denomination for the Rabel is “a ransomware-type infection”.
Rabel appends its own .rabel extension to the name of each encrypted file. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.rabel”. Likewise, the Excel table with the name “table.xlsx” will be renamed to “table.xlsx.rabel”, and so forth.
In each folder with the encrypted files, a WOW.txt file will be found. It is supposed to be a ransom money note. However, this exact document is empty – no instructions or even a mocking text. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. However, not in that case scenario.
Rabel overview:
| Name | Rabel Virus |
| Extension | .rabel |
| Ransomware note | WOW.txt |
| Detection | Trojan:Win32/Vundo!AW, Ransom:Win32/Gandcrab.PA!MTB, Win32/Packed.Themida.HPL |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .rabel extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Rabel virus |
In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Rabel looks like. Each filename has the “.rabel” extension added to it.
An example of encrypted .rabel files.
How did my computer get infected with Rabel ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for hackers to have the Rabel virus working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you access your inbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a viral item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse model1. A Trojan is an object that gets into your computer disguised as something else. For instance, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some software. However, what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful program that encodes your data. As the installation package can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The optimal way is to trust 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 know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. 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 to remove the Rabel virus?
It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Rabel virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware2 can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Sometimes criminals would decode several of your files to prove that they do have the decryption tool. Since Rabel virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware instruments are constantly upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.
Understandably, if the criminals do the job of encoding victim’s essential data, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.
The optimal solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive or at least on an external drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that file you were working on when it all happened. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.
Rabel 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 Ccza, Qqmt, Qqlo, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Rabel are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes appear in every directory containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate victims were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But obviously, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a criminals’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How сan I avoid ransomware infiltration?
Rabel ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.
You can armour your system from ransomware infiltration taking three easy steps:
- Ignore any letters from unknown mailers with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious letter carefully. A hoax email will surely have mistakes.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. Try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect 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 PC for Rabel 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 “.rabel” files?Are the “.rabel” files accessible?
There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.rabel” files are decrypted.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.rabel” files ASAP. How can I do that?
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. The rest of the methods require patience.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Rabel malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
No way! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your PC off the actual viruses. The malware that has infected your device is must be still functional and running scans from time to time to encrypt any new files you might create on your PC after the attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Rabel 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 system in the future.
🤔 What to do if the Rabel virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.
If that happened, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or imported into your computer. To suppress this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Some of the encrypted data can be found elsewhere.
- If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You may have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery programs5 to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you can do it only after you kill 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 RABEL Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: RABEL Virus
Description: RABEL Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .rabel 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 Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
