Remove .lock ransomware And Restore Locked Files

Proper Guide To Delete .lock ransomware

.lock ransomware is a new destructive kind of crypto-malware that belongs to the Xorist ransomware family. Similar to other malicious programs of same category, it also blocks victims from accessing their essential data by encrypting them with a powerful cipher. This hazardous threat can compromise various types of files including images, videos, audios, documents, PDFs etc. and make them completely unusable. Data encrypted by this notorious infection can be easily identified as it renames them by appending “.LOCK” extension with each of them as suffix. It mainly targets Windows OS based PC systems and can affect all versions of Windows including the most recent one Win 10.

Depth Analysis of .lock ransomware:

Once the file-encrypting process is completed by .lock ransomware, it changes the desktop’s wallpaper and also leaves a ransom note titled “HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt” on each affected folder. This text file informs victims regarding the attack and also states that in order to regain access to the encrypted files, you must purchase a key from the Get the decryption key.exe file on your desktop. At the end, users may have to pay the attackers a ransom amount of $200 to $1500 in BitCoins cryptocurrency to get the required tool.

Should You Deal With the Criminals?

Whatever the circumstance might be, you should not fulfill .lock ransomware authors’ demands. This is because their only purpose is to extort illicit money from the victimized users. Such people often disappear once the ransom is paid or provide rogue software in the name of decryption tool. Additionally, paying ransom to such hackers will only encourage them to create and spread more such viruses for future profits. So, never make any sort of payment to the attackers and find any alternative way to restore the compromised files.

What Should The Victims Do?

If you are an affected person, the first thing you need to do here is to perform .lock ransomware removal from the computer as soon as possible. For data-recovery, you should use a recently made backup. Many users don’t have appropriate backup, you can try an effective data-recovery tool that can be downloaded right here via the link provided under this article. Paying ransom to the criminals is not a clever thing to do under any situation as there is huge chance of getting scammed at the end.

Threat Summary

Name: .lock ransomware

Type: Ransomware, File-encrypting malware, Crypto-virus

Short Description: Hazardous virus which encrypts users’ crucial files and then asks them to pay the attackers a sum of ransom to get the decryption software/key.

Extension:  “.LOCK”

Ransom Demanding Notes: HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt

Symptoms: Locked files become inaccessible and useless stored inside the infected PCs, previous functional data now have different extension, couple of ransom demanding messages are exhibited. Users are asked to pay an amount of ransom to unlock their encrypted files.

Distribution methods: Spam emails, peer to peer network sharing, unofficial activation and updating tools.

Damage: All files are encrypted and cannot be accessed without paying ransom, Additional password stealing Trojans and malware infections can be installed along with ransomware infections and other malware.

Removal: To remove this virus from the system, we advise you to use a reliable anti-malware tool. Once malware gets removed, you can recover your files by using existing backup or data-recovery software.

Penetration of .lock ransomware:

The targeted users are sent dubious emails by cyber criminals that look eye-catching and try to trick people into believing that it is from a shipping company like FedEx or DHL. The letter states that recipients are delivered a package to you but failed for some reason. However, these mails usually contain malicious attachments that could be in various forms. Once the attached file is opened, run or executed, it leads to the virus installation.

And therefore, it is very important to ignore suspicious emails that are sent from sources you were not expecting to get. These mails might contain dubious attachments and may trigger crypto-virus intrusion as well as data encryption. In case your device is already infected with this malware, you must remove .lock ransomware from the computer without wasting any time.

Text Presented In The Ransom Notes:

All of your files are encrypted To decrypt it you must purchase a key from the Get the decryption key.exe file on your desktop

Text Presented In The Wallpaper:

All of your files are encrypted. !

To decrypt files run @ decrypt0r.exe file on the desktop

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows

Click Here For Mac

Step 1: Remove .lock ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Delete .lock ransomware using “System Restore”

Step 1: Remove .lock ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

For Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Boot the PC in “Safe Mode”. Click on “Start” option and continuously press on F8 during the start process until the “Windows Advanced Option” menu appears on the screen. Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” from the list.

Now, a windows homescreen appears on the desktop and work-station is now working on “Safe mode with networking”.

For Windows 8 Users: Go to the “Start Screen”. In the search results select settings, type “Advanced”. In the “General PC Settings” option, choose “Advanced startup” option. Again, click on the “Restart Now” option. The work-station boots to “Advanced Startup Option Menu”. Press on “Troubleshoot” and then “Advanced options” button.  In the “Advanced Option Screen”, press on “Startup Settings”. Again, click on “Restart” button. The work-station will now restart in to the “Startup Setting” screen. Next is to press F5 to boot in Safe Mode in Networking.

For Windows 10 Users: Press on Windows logo and on the “Power” icon. In the newly opened menu, choose “Restart” while continuously holding “Shift” button on the keyboard. In the new open “Choose an option” window, click on “Troubleshoot” and then on the “Advanced Options”. Select “Startup Settings” and press on “Restart”. In the next window, click on “F5” button on the key-board.

Step 2: Delete .lock ransomware using “System Restore”

Log-in to the account infected with .lock ransomware. Open the browser and download a legitimate anti-malware tool. Do a full System scanning. Remove all the malicious detected entries.

In case if you cannot start the PC in “Safe Mode with Networking”, Try using “System Restore”

• During the “Startup”, continuously press on F8 key until the “Advanced Option” menu appears. From the list, choose “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” and then press “Enter”

• In the new opened command prompt, enter “cd restore” and then press “Enter”.

• Type: rstrui.exe and Press “ENTER”

• Click “Next” on the new windows

• Choose any of the “Restore Points” and click on “Next”. (This step will restore the work-station to its earlier time and date prior to .lock ransomware infiltration in the PC.

• In the newly opened windows, press on “Yes”.

Once your PC gets restored to its previous date and time, download the recommended anti-malware tool and perform a deep scanning in order to remove .lock ransomware files if they left in the work-station.

In order to restore the each (separate) file by this ransomware, use “Windows Previous Version” feature. This method is effective when “System Restore Function” is enabled in the work-station.

Important Note: Some variants of .lock ransomware delete the “Shadow Volume Copies” as well hence this feature may not work all the time and is applicable for selective computers only.

How to Restore Individual Encrypted File:

In order to restore a single file, right click on it and go to “Properties”. Select “Previous Version” tab. Select a “Restore Point” and click on “Restore” option.

In order to access the files encrypted by .lock ransomware, you can also try using “Shadow Explorer”. In order to get more information on this application, press here.

Important: Data Encryption Ransomware are highly dangerous and it is always better that you take precautions to avoid its attack on your work-station. It is advised to use a powerful anti-malware tool in order to get protection in real-time. With this help of “SpyHunter”, “group policy objects” are implanted in the registries in order to block harmful infections like .lock ransomware.

Also, In Windows 10, you get a very unique feature called “Fall Creators Update” that offer “Controlled Folder Access” feature in order to block any kind of encryption to the files. With the help of this feature, any files stored in the locations such as “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, “Videos”, “Favorites” and “Desktop” folders are safe by default.

It is very important that you install this “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update” in your PC to protect your important files and data from ransomware encryption. The more information on how to get this update and add an additional protection form rnasomware attack has been discussed here.

How to Recover the Files Encrypted by .lock ransomware?

Till now, you would have understood that what had happed to your personal files that got encrypted and how you can remove the scripts and payloads associated with .lock ransomware in order to protect your personal files that has not been damaged or encrypted until now. In order to retrieve the locked files, the depth information related to “System Restore” and “Shadow Volume Copies” has already been discussed earlier. However, in case if you are still unable to access the encrypted files then you can try using a data recovery tool.

Use of Data Recovery Tool

This step is for all those victims who have already tries all the above mentioned process but didn’t find any solution. Also it is important that you are able to access the PC and can install any software. The data recovery tool works on the basis of System scanning and recovery algorithm. It searches the System partitions in order to locate the original files which were deleted, corrupted or damaged by the malware. Remember that you must not re-install the Windows OS otherwise the “previous” copies will get deleted permanently. You have to clean the work-station at first and remove .lock ransomware infection. Leave the locked files as it is and follow the steps mentioned below.

Step1: Download the software in the work-station by clicking on the “Download” button below.

Step2: Execute the installer by clicking on downloaded files.

Step3: A license agreement page appears on the screen. Click on “Accept” to agree with its terms and use. Follow the on-screen instruction as mentioned and click on “Finish” button.

Step4: Once the installation gets completed, the program gets executed automatically. In the newly opened interface, select the file types that you want to recover and click on “Next”.

Step5: You can select the “Drives” on which you want the software to run and execute the recovery process. Next is to click on the “Scan” button.

Step6: Based on drive you select for scanning, the restore process begins. The whole process may take time depending on the volume of the selected drive and number of files. Once the process gets completed, a data explorer appears on the screen with preview of that data that is to be recovered. Select the files that you want to restore.

Step7. Next is to locate the location where you want to saver the recovered files.