Remove BlackShades Ransom Trojan and Restore the Encrypted Files

A very dangerous RAT(Remote Access Trojan) has been reported to have capabilities to hold the computers of its victims for ransom. The Trojan has been reported to be spread primarily in North America and the UK. It has been the reason for over 100 arrests conducted by the law enforcement agencies, seizing over 1000 storage devices, SC Magazine reports. Users who have had their computers locked by BlackShades ransomware Trojan are strongly advised not to pay any ransom money and to seek alternative methods, such as the ones in this article to remove this Trojan and Restore the encrypted files.

Threat Summary

Name	BlackShades
Type	Remote Access Trojan with file encryption capability.
Short Description	The ransomware encrypts files with a strong cipher and asks a ransom payment for decryption. Also steals information and may perform remote control activities on the infected machine.
Symptoms	Files are encrypted and become inaccessible. A ransom note with instructions for paying the ransom may show as a text file or a wallpaper.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments, File Sharing Networks.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by BlackShades Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join our forum to Discuss Locky Ransomware.
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.

BlackShades Ransom Trojan – Distribution

This Trojan is remote access, which means that it uses an active connection by opening up a port and establishing a connection to the cybercriminal’s control server. To infect users and establish this connection, the Trojan uses the following malicious executable, detected by ESG researchers:

→ File Name: WinSecurity.exe
Size: 241,152 KB
MD5: 45beca45fc84cfea06cfc50490a222ba

Researchers believe that this executable may be distributed along fake setups of programs downloaded from shady third-party locations. However, another scenario suggests that the file may be in an obfuscated form and could be distributed in an archive uploaded online or via spam e-mail messages. Either way, users are strongly advised to follow the usual security tips to protect themselves against ransomware in the future.

BlackShades Ransom Trojan In Detail

Once activated on the computer, the WinSecurity.exe file may establish a connection to the C&C server of the cyber-criminals. From there, the Trojan may send the following information to them:

• Operating system installed.
• Hardware specs.
• Browsing history.
• Network information.
• Passwords.

After this has been completed, the Trojan may disable any antivirus or anti-malware software that might be actively running. In addition to that the Trojan may provide the cyber criminals administrative access to your computer. Most RATs have even options which they give to the crooks, such as encrypting files. If the people behind the BlackShade Crypter Ransomware decide it is time to encrypt your files, they may execute a remote command that will make the malicious file to scan for different files to encrypt, for example:

→ “PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG ..CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG”Source:fileinfo.com

The encrypted files may have various file extensions added to them, and they are unable to be opened. In addition to that, the ransomware may lock the user out of his computer completely by modifying settings in the Windows Registry Editor.

Besides encrypting possibilities, the Trojan has been reported to be associated with the following files:

• dos_sock.bss
• nir_cmd.bss
• pws_cdk.bss
• pws_chro.bss
• pws_ff.bss
• pws_mail.bss
• pws_mess.bss

In addition to that, users may notice the Trojan’s presence by the following symptoms:

• The cursor of the mouse moves without being moved.
• The light of the web camera of the user becomes active.
• The monitor of the user turns off during usage.
• The usernames and passwords on the infected PC are changed.
• The files are unable to be opened, and a ransom note has been left for the unlocking of the files.

Researchers have reported that BlackShades is a very nasty cyber-threat because, besides having the ability to hold your files locked until you pay a hefty “fee,” the virus can also steal all of the information from infected PCs. If you become a “lucky winner” of the ransomware, bear in mind that you should immediately switch of your internet connection.

Remove BlackShades Ransomware Trojan and Restore the Encrypted Files

To remove this ransomware in full from your computer, you need to isolate it first. This means that you should boot your computer into safe mode to disable any third-parties running and from there, start the removal process. We suggest that you follow the removal instructions below, to delete the Trojan. Due to the complicatedness of the situation, experts advise using an advanced anti-malware tool to help you with the detection of all the registry entries and the files s this ransomware has dropped and modified on your computer.

If you have had your files encoded by the ransomware, we advise you to try using the file restoration alternatives In step “3. Restore files encrypted by BlackShades” while you wait for a decryptor to be released. Once a decryptor has been released, we will update this article with a download URL.

Manually delete BlackShades from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the BlackShades threat: Manual removal of BlackShades requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove BlackShades files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

For Windows XP, Vista, 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

2.Find malicious files created by BlackShades on your PC

Find malicious files created by BlackShades

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

3.Fix registry entries created by BlackShades on your PC

Fix registry entries created by BlackShades on your PC.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

Automatically remove BlackShades by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove BlackShades with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Remove BlackShades with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove BlackShades.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove BlackShades.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly 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.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any BlackShades files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

2. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by BlackShades in the future

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

To back up your files via Windows and prevent any future intrusions, follow these instructions:

1. For Windows 7 and earlier 1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 1. Enabling the Windows Defense Feature (Previous Versions)

1-Click on Windows Start Menu

2-Type Backup And Restore
3-Open it and click on Set Up Backup

4-A window will appear asking you where to set up backup. You should have a flash drive or an external hard drive. Mark it by clicking on it with your mouse then click on Next.

5-On the next window, the system will ask you what do you want to backup. Choose the ‘Let Me Choose’ option and then click on Next.

6-Click on ‘Save settings and run backup’ on the next window in order to protect your files from possible attacks by BlackShades.

1-Press Windows button + R

2-In the window type ‘filehistory’ and press Enter

3-A File History window will appear. Click on ‘Configure file history settings’

4-The configuration menu for File History will appear. Click on ‘Turn On’. After its on, click on Select Drive in order to select the backup drive. It is recommended to choose an external HDD, SSD or a USB stick whose memory capacity is corresponding to the size of the files you want to backup.

5-Select the drive then click on ‘Ok’ in order to set up file backup and protect yourself from BlackShades.

1- Press Windows button + R keys.

2- A run windows should appear. In it type ‘sysdm.cpl’ and then click on Run.

3- A System Properties windows should appear. In it choose System Protection.

5- Click on Turn on system protection and select the size on the hard disk you want to utilize for system protection.
6- Click on Ok and you should see an indication in Protection settings that the protection from BlackShades is on.

Restoring a file via Windows Defense feature:
1-Right-click on the encrypted file, then choose Properties.

2-Click on the Previous Versions tab and then mark the last version of the file.

3-Click on Apply and Ok and the file encrypted by BlackShades should be restored.

3. Restore files encrypted by BlackShades

Restore Files Encrypted by BlackShades

Security engineers strongly advise users NOT to pay the ransom money and attempt restoring the files using other methods. Here are several suggestions:

To restore your data, your first bet is to check again for shadow copies in Windows using this software:

Shadow Explorer

If this method does not work, Kaspersky have provided a decryptors for files encrypted with the this and other encryption algorithms:

Kaspersky Decryptors

Another method of restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some examples of data recovery programs:

• Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Technicians License(Pro version with more features)
• Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
• Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery

There is also the technical option to use a network sniffer:

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. For more information click on the following article.

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove BlackShades Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove BlackShades.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all BlackShades associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Vencislav Krustev

A network administrator and malware researcher at SensorsTechForum with passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cyber security. Strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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