DABLIO Virus – How to Remove It

by Martin Beltov | December 4, 2018 | 0 Comments .encrypted, DABLIO, Lockscreen, ransomware, removal guide, virus

This article will aid you to remove DABLIO Virus. Follow the ransomware removal instructions provided at the end of the article.

DABLIO Virus is one that encrypts your data and demands money as a ransom to get it restored. Files will be prepended with the “encrypted” string. The DABLIO Virus will leave ransomware instructions as a desktop wallpaper image. Keep on reading the article and see how you could try to potentially recover some of your locked files and data.

Threat Summary

Name	DABLIO
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	The ransomware encrypts files by placing the “encrypted” string in the file names on your computer system and demands a ransom to be paid to allegedly recover them.
Symptoms	The ransomware will encrypt your files and leave a ransom note with payment instructions.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss DABLIO.
Data Recovery Tool	Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive.

DABLIO Virus – Distribution Techniques

The reports stating the DABLIO virus’s detection do not reveal much information about the way the samples are distributed. This probably means that the collected samples are distributed as a test sample or are limited to a certain list of intended targets. Whatever the case in all cases if the intrusions prove successful the hackers will probably use widespread campaigns and several of the popular methods to increase the number of infected victims.

One of the popular methods is the use of email SPAM messages that containing various phishing and social engineering elements. They are made in order to confuse and coerce the recipients into thinking that they have received a legitimate message notification from a well-known company or an Internet service that they might use. The messages themselves may contain links to the ransomware itself or the virus can be directly attached.

A similar phishing strategy involves the creation of malicious web sites that are designed to spoof vendor pages, download portals and other elements. They can spread the virus files or any of the infected payload carriers. There are two popular types:

Infected Documents — The criminals behind the DABLIO virus can embed the infection code into the most popular document types: spreadsheets, presentations, text documents and databases. Whenever they are opened a message will appear asking the users to enable the built-in macros. This will trigger the DABLIO virus download sequence which will result in its deployment.
Setup Files — The other popular strategy is the insertion of the virus code in application installers. The hackers will typically choose popular software which computer users generally search. When they are installed the setup procedure will deploy the infection.

Large infections can be done by instructing browser hijackers to carry the payload. They are generally made for the most popular web browsers and are uploaded to their respective repositories. Their descriptions will include promises of new feature additions or performance optimizations. As soon as they are installed their built-in behavior patterns will be run. In most of the cases modifications to the settings will be done following the virus’s delivery.

DABLIO Virus – Detailed Analysis

As soon as the Dablio virus has started it will start its built-in behavior pattern. The collected samples do not exhibit anything other than the ransomware module itself. This means that the samples are possibly early development versions or testing releases. These early samples have been found to be written in Python allowing them to be extended further by adding various module to the base threat.

Typical virus infections can start with information gathering of sensitive user data. All gathered data can grouped into one of these two categories:

Personal Information — This group of data can reveal information about the user which can be used to expose their identity: real name, address, phone number and even stored account credentials.
Anonymous Metrics — This subset of data can be used to create an unique ID associated with every compromised machine. This is done by generating a report of the installed hardware components, operating system environment values and certain user settings.

If other modules are installed they can make use of this information. A popular example is the security bypass which can identify applications and services that can stop the Dablio virus infection. The usual suspects are anti-virus software, firewalls and sandbox environments. As soon as their real-time engines are detected they will be disabled.

When these two modules have finished running the Dablio virus will have the ability to conduct all kinds of System modifications. A partial list of the possible functionality exhibited by future strains of the ransomware is the following:

Windows Registry Entries Modifications — The virus may look for specific Windows Registry entries belonging to the operating system or to third-party apps. Such modifications can render certain functions non-working. More serious changes can even disable them.
Persistent Installation — The Dablio virus may be installed in a way which will make manual user recovery very difficult. This is usually done by modifying boot options and configuration files into starting the malicious engines as soon as the computer is powered on.
Data Removal — The engine can identify and remove important files such as system backups and Shadow Volume Copies. In these cases the victims will need to use a backup software together with the anti-spyware recovery utility.
Additional Malware Delivery — Such infections can be used as payload carriers for other malware. The reason why this is considered as an option is because the virus would have first penetrated the target machines and bypassed any security measures. All popular forms of malware can be considered — Trojans, miners, browser hijackers and etc.

Other features can be added interactively if the Dablio virus is bundled with a Trojan. This would allow the hackers to spy on the users and also take over control of their machines at any given time.

Update: Further information about this ransomware has been found. A security researcher reveals that it is based on an older Python ransomware called

Remove HolyCrypt Ransomware and Restore (encrypted) Files - How to, Technology and PC Security Forum | SensorsTechForum.com

Ransomware virus makes have no breaks, even during summer seasons. A perfect example for that is the lately active 64-bit HolyCrypt ransomware which adds the (encrypted) name prefix at the beginning of the file names of the objects it encrypts....Read more

sensorstechforum.com

HolyCrypt. This confirms the suspicion that the hacker or criminal collective is not experienced in order to base it on older code. It is possible that much of the functionality as encountered on the base threat will be retained.

DABLIO Virus – Encryption Process

As soon as all prior components have finished running the actual ransomware module will be started. Like other popular threats it will use the built-in list of target file type extensions to select what data will be encrypted. An example list is the following:

Archives
Backups
Databases
Images
Music
Videos

All victims files will be prepended with the “encrypted” string. The associated ransomare note will be created in a document. Some of the samples also use a lockscreen which will block the ordinary interaction with the computer. The message reads the following:

#DABLIO

Good Morning. Good afternoon. Good evening.

I’m sorry to inform you that your computer was ENCRYPTED.

ALL YOUR FILES WERE COMMITTED.
PAY TO HAVE YOUR FILES NORMAL CONDITION.
DO NOT WORRY! EVERYTHING WILL BE BACK.
ACCESS THE WEBSITE WWW.LOCALBITCOIN.COM AND MAKE THE PURCHASE OF
THE BITCOINAND TRANSFER OF THE BITCOIN TO MY WALLET.
AFTER WE SEND UNLOCK CODE OF YOUR FILES.
THANKS;

Email: dablio@tuta.io

Cry nnow. Laugh Later.

Enter Key for Unloked your Computer and Files!

Remove DABLIO Virus and Try to Restore Data

If your computer system got infected with the DABLIO ransomware virus, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of this ransomware as quickly as possible before it can have the chance to spread further and infect other computers. You should remove the ransomware and follow the step-by-step instructions guide provided below.

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

How to Remove DABLIO from Windows.

Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove DABLIO

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter's malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter's EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

1. Hold Windows key() + R

2. The "Run" Window will appear. In it, type "msconfig" and click OK.

3. Go to the "Boot" tab. There select "Safe Boot" and then click "Apply" and "OK".

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on "Restart" to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Uninstall DABLIO and related software from Windows

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

1. Hold the Windows Logo Button and "R" on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear.

2. In the field type in "appwiz.cpl" and press ENTER.

3. This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press "Uninstall"

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

Step 3: Clean any registries, created by DABLIO on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by DABLIO there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type "regedit" and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4: Scan for DABLIO with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the "Download" button to proceed to SpyHunter's download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter's EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the 'Malware/PC Scan' tab. A new window will appear. Click on 'Start Scan'.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the 'Next' button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Step 5 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by DABLIO.

Ransomware infections and DABLIO aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.

1. Download the reccomended Data Recovery software by clicking on the link underneath:

EaseUS Data Recovery Software

Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.

Windows Mac OS X

Get rid of DABLIO from Mac OS X.

Step 1: Uninstall DABLIO and remove related files and objects

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your Mac with SpyHunter for Mac

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter for Mac needs to purchased to remove the malware threats. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy

1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it:

3. In the Activity Monitor look for any suspicious processes, belonging or related to DABLIO:

Tip: To quit a process completely, choose the “Force Quit” option.

4. Click on the "Go" button again, but this time select Applications. Another way is with the ⇧+⌘+A buttons.

5. In the Applications menu, look for any suspicious app or an app with a name, similar or identical to DABLIO. If you find it, right-click on the app and select “Move to Trash”.

6: Select Accounts, after which click on the Login Items preference. Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to DABLIO. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“-“) icon to hide it.

7: Remove any left-over files that might be related to this threat manually by following the sub-steps below:

Go to Finder.
In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.

In case you cannot remove DABLIO via Step 1 above:

In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:

Disclaimer! If you are about to tamper with Library files on Mac, be sure to know the name of the virus file, because if you delete the wrong file, it may cause irreversible damage to your MacOS. Continue on your own responsibility!

1: Click on "Go" and Then "Go to Folder" as shown underneath:

2: Type in "/Library/LauchAgents/" and click Ok:

3: Delete all of the virus files that have similar or the same name as DABLIO. If you believe there is no such file, do not delete anything.

You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:

→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.

Click the button below below to download SpyHunter for Mac and scan for DABLIO:

Download

SpyHunter for Mac

Step 3 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by DABLIO.

1. Download the reccomended Data Recovery software by clicking on the link underneath:

EaseUS Data Recovery Software

Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.

DABLIO FAQ

What is DABLIO ransomware and how does it work?

DABLIO is a ransomware infection - the malicious software that enters your computer silently and blocks either access to the computer itself or encrypt your files.

Many ransomware viruses use sophisticated encryption algorithm how to make your files inaccessible. The goal of ransomware infections is to demand that you pay a ransom payment to get access to your files back.

How does DABLIO ransomware infect my computer?

Via several ways.DABLIO Ransomware infects computers by being sent via phishing e-mails, containing virus attachment.

This attachment is usually masked as an important document, like an invoice, bank document or even a plane ticket and it looks very convincing to users.

After you download and execute this attachment, a drive-by download occurs and your computer is infected with the ransomware virus.

Another way, you may become a victim of DABLIO is if you download a fake installer, crack or patch from a low reputation website or if you click on a virus link. Many users report getting a ransomware infection by downloading torrents.

How to open .DABLIO files?

You can't. At this point the .DABLIO files are encrypted. You can only open them once they are decrypted.

Decryptor did not decrypt my data. What now?

Do not panic and backup the files. If a decryptor did not decrypt your .DABLIO files successfully, then do not despair, because this virus is still new.

One way to restore files, encrypted by DABLIO ransomware is to use a decryptor for it. But since it's a new virus, advised that the decryption keys for it may not be out yet and available to the public. We will update this article and keep you posted as soon as this decryptor is released.

How Do I restore ".DABLIO" files (Other Methods)?

Yes, sometimes files can be restored. We have suggested several file recovery methods that could work if you want to restore .DABLIO files.

These methods are in no way 100% guarantee that you will be able to get your files back. But if you have a backup, your chances of success are much greater.

How do I get rid of DABLIO ransomware virus?

The safest way and the most efficient one for the removal of this ransomware infection is the use a professional anti malware software. It will scan for and locate DABLIO ransomware and then remove it without causing any additional harm to your important .DABLIO files.

Also, keep in mind that viruses like DABLIO ransomware also install Trojans and keyloggers that can steal your passwords and accounts. Scanning your computer with an anti-malware software will make sure that all of these virus components are removed and your computer is protected in the future.

What to Do If nothing works?

There is still a lot you can do. If none of the above methods seem to work for you, then try these methods:

Try to find a safe computer from where you can can login on your own line accounts like One Drive, iDrive, Google Drive and so on.
Try to contact your friends, relatives and other people so that they can check if they have some of your important photos or documents just in case you sent them.
Also, check if some of the files that were encrypted it can be re-downloaded from the web.
Another clever way to get back some of your files is to find another old computer, a flash drive or even a CD or a DVD where you may have saved your older documents. You might be surprised what will turn up.
You can also go to your email account to check if you can send any attachments to other people. Usually what is sent the email is saved on your account and you can re-download it. But most importantly, make sure that this is done from a safe computer and make sure to remove the virus first.

More tips you can find on our forums, where you can also asks any questions about your ransomware problem.