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

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:

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.

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.

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.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft³

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”.

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.

🤔 What to do if the Rabel virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 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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