UNLOCK Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove virus?

The Unlock virus falls within the ransomware type of infection. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (photos, documents, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, creating the UNLOCK_FILES_INFO.txt text files in every directory which contains the encrypted files.

Unlock virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A strictly accurate denomination for the Unlock would be “a ransomware-type malicious agent”.

The pattern of renaming is the following: id-*******.unlock. In the process of encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be altered to “report.docx.id391dh36794.unlock”.

In each folder containing the encoded files, a UNLOCK_FILES_INFO.txt notebook document will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. That is basically the scheme of the crime.

Unlock overview:

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Unlock looks like. Each filename has the “.id-*******.unlock” extension added to it.

How did my machine catch Unlock ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for evil-doers to have ransomware acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.

If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a malware item enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.

As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger 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 reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove the Unlock virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Unlock virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes criminals would decode few of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Unlock virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decoding instruments are frequently updated, so the solution may soon arrive.

Of course, if the malefactors do the job of encoding someone’s essential files, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. Nevertheless, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of ransomware developers just disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The optimal solution against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Obviously, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Unlock, that work similarly. Examples of those are Zppl8, 8zvpm, Hr1wf, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Unlock are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each folder containing encoded files.

Some lucky users were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How to avoid ransomware infection?

Unlock ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your PC from ransomware attack taking three easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious letter with caution. A fake email will always have mistakes.
• Never use cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try to find information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

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

🤔 Are the “.id-*******.unlock” files accessible?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.id-*******.unlock” files you will not be able to access them.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

If the “.id-*******.unlock” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

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

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Many of the encoded files might still be within your reach

• If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to send 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 networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a laptop, phone, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery utilities⁴ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself 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.

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