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

The Root virus belongs under the Chaos ransomware family. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, creating the read_it.txt files in each directory containing encrypted files.

What is known about the Rootvirus?

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

Root adds its own .Root extension to the name of each encoded file. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.Root”. In the same manner, the Excel file named “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.Root”, and so forth.

In every directory that contains the encoded files, a read_it.txt text file will be created. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is it.

Root overview:

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

How did my machine catch Root ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular ways for tamperers to have the Root virus planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you open your inbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malware file attached to them. So it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails 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 know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove the Root virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Root virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes racketeers would decrypt some of your files to prove that they really have the decryption program. As Root virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software designers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly updated, so the solution may soon be available.

Understandably, if the malefactors succeed in encoding victim’s critical data, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. Nevertheless, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about ransomware developers simply vanishing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The best safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud drive 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 happened. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Root, that work similarly. Examples of those are Oori, Ooxa, Ggew, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Root are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes are found in every directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky users were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a criminals’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How сan I avoid ransomware infection?

Root ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can protect your system from its injection within several easy steps:

• Ignore any letters from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious email with caution. A fake letter will always have mistakes.
• Never use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such software.

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”.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.Root” files?Can I somehow access “.Root” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.Root” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.Root” files ASAP. How can I do that?

If the “.Root” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. 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.

🤔 What to do if the Root ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach

• If you sent or received your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to give those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery programs⁵ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the virus with an antivirus program.

Also, you can contact the following official 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?
2. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.