Exolock Ransomware

What is Exolock Ransomware?

Finding Exolock Ransomware on your system could mean losing all your important files as this malicious program can slither onto your system without your knowledge and encrypt all your files behind your back. This is done with the intention to extort money from you for the decryption of your files, which, by the way, very rarely happens actually. Our malware experts at anti-spyware-101.com say that this current version that emerged only a month ago, in September, 2017, may only partially work. This means that it could crash upon finishing the encryption; therefore, you may not even see the ransom note screen and may not have a clue as to what has just happened. You should know that being hit by such a dangerous infection can only be cured by having a backup of your files somewhere safe or if malware hunters manage to come up with a free tool to recover your files. Well, right now we do not have knowledge of such a free tool; therefore, it is quite likely that you will lose all your files to this devastating attack. We advise you to remove Exolock Ransomware right away so that you can start with a clean system.test

Where does Exolock Ransomware come from?

Our research and user reports indicate that this ransomware is distributed in the general ways. This means that it is most likely that you infect your system with this vicious threat by opening a spam e-mail and viewing its attachment. This attached file can pose as an image, a text document with macro, or even a ZIP archive. Once you open this file, it may directly start up this malicious attack or download the malicious .exe file in the background, and then initiate it. This obviously means that by the time you can actually delete Exolock Ransomware, all your files will be encrypted and opening this mail will have serious consequences. Unfortunately, this spam can be very deceiving and convincing so even if you consider yourself an experienced computer user, you could still fall for this tricky spam. The main trick here is the subject matter that is chosen carefully to draw anyone's attention based on the fact the most of us are pretty curious beings. Therefore, when you find a mail even in your spam folder that claims to come from the local authorities or any well-known company, and it regards an urgent-looking matter like an invoice issue, you will be likely to click on it to see what it may be about.

Other potential distribution methods include downloading malicious bundles packed with potentially unwanted programs and malware infections like this one. You can drop such a package onto your system when you click on the wrong third-party ad or when your PC is infected with adware or any other malware that is capable of redirection or displaying third-party content. You may also infect your computer with such a beast when you get redirected to a malicious site that is rigged with Exploit Kits (e.g., Angler). Such kits can only harm you though if your browsers and Java and Flash drivers are not up-to-date. Therefore, it is important to always keep these updated to be on the safe side so that you do not have to remove Exolock Ransomware or any other threat in the end.

How does Exolock Ransomware work?

This dangerous threat uses the AES encryption algorithm to attack your files. It appends the ".exolocked" extension to your files. However, our sample crashed at this point and did not get to display the ransom note, which is supposed to be like in this picture: "2.bp.blogspot.com/-RFj4_9RlH8I/Wb49k8vEuPI/AAAAAAAAG0s/UqhlLtYWO58qEF7gSUOxaXOSqfcpacqRwCLcBGAs/s1600/ExoLock.png". Of course, it is possible that your version does not crash any more and you will see this ransom note screen at the end of this attack.

These criminals demand 0.01 Bitcoin (about 43 US dollars) from you for the decryption key, which is not really much considering that ransom fees can usually reach hundreds and even thousand of dollars worth of Bitcoins. Nevertheless, it is never safe to transfer money to cyber criminals, not to mention the fact that you would simply support cybercrime by doing so. Please note that in most cases cyber criminals do not send victims the decryption key or tool at all. It is indeed more likely that they send another dangerous infection disguised as the key. This is why we recommend that you act right away and remove Exolock Ransomware from your PC.

How do I delete Exolock Ransomware?

If you are infected with the same version we were testing, chances are this ransomware will crash your operating system after it encrypts your files. If this happens to you, obviously, you will need to restart your computer before you could remove Exolock Ransomware from your system. Once you log in again, you can try to locate the suspicious files you have saved lately and delete them all. You can use our guide below if you want to take care of this dangerous threat alone. However, it would be more efficient and secure if you employed a professional malware removal application like SpyHunter. Of course, you can try to find any other security tool on the web that would suit your needs, but beware of rogue ones because you could have more system security issues instead of less. Keep all your drivers and programs updated from official sources to lower the vulnerability of your system.

Remove Exolock Ransomware from Windows

  1. Restart your computer.
  2. Press Win+E to launch File Explorer.
  3. Delete all suspicious files you have saved from e-mails or other questionable sources recently. Check all your default and preferred download locations, such as %Temp%, Downloads, and Desktop folders.
  4. Empty your Recycle Bin.
  5. Reboot your system. 100% FREE spyware scan and
    tested removal of Exolock Ransomware*
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