How to remove Black Ransomware and decrypt .black files

What is Black Ransomware

Black is the name of a ransomware infection that was discovered quite recently. It is developed to run data encryption and blackmail victims into paying money for its return. Victims may spot successful encryption simply by looking at their files – the majority of them will be changed using the .black extension and lose the original icons. To give an example, 1.pdf will be altered to 1.pdf.black, 1.png to 1.png.black, and so forth with the rest of the targetted files. Then, as soon as this part of encryption is done, the virus features decryption instructions inside of a text note (read_me.txt).

The note presents victims with information on successful encryption. In order to revert the changes, victims are said it is mandatory to pay 500$ in BTC. To let cybercriminals know you are interested in paying the ransom, it is necessary to contact swindlers at one of the given e-mail addresses (blackcat2021@onionmail.org or blackcat2021@keemail.me). It is also important to take your personal ID and write it in e-mail subject while sending a message. Additionally, infected users are offered to send one of the encrypted files and get it unlocked for free. This is a popular trick abused by many cybercriminals to push victims into raising their willingness to purchase decryption. Unfortunately, no third-party tools are usually sufficient to avoid the ransom and decrypt files for free – this is because many cybercriminals use strong encryption algorithms making intervention of third-party instruments fail to decrypt the files in most of the cases. The only best and most viable way to not spend money on decrypting the data is to use backup copies instead. Users infected with any ransomware virus can delete it and restore their encrypted data from external devices like USB flash cards, Cloud storage, etc. If there is no such option available, you can still give it a try using the third-party tools we talk about below. Note that it is important to get rid of the virus and only then try any of the recovery methods to regain your data.

How Black Ransomware infected your computer

As a rule, many ransomware infections are spread through e-mail spam messages. These spam letters are usually disguised as being sent by legitimate sources (e.g. delivery companies, lottery campaigns, sales offers, IRS letters, etc.). It is common to see such messages claiming to open attachments that are actually malicious. Such attachments are usually Word, Excel, PDF, EXE, or JavaScript files named in a click-bait way. They might say there is something “important” or “urgent” to view. Of course, it is a trick designed to fool victims into opening such files and letting them do what they are meant for – install malware and cause various security problems. Users should also beware of other channels like trojans, backdoors, keyloggers, web-injects, malicious ads, fake software updates/installers, and other dubious vectors. We recommend you read our guide below to learn more useful tips on protecting yourself against such threats in the future. There is plenty to capitalize on.

1. Download Black Ransomware Removal Tool
2. Get decryption tool for .black files
3. Recover encrypted files with Stellar Data Recovery Professional
4. Restore encrypted files with Windows Previous Versions
5. Restore files with Shadow Explorer
6. How to protect from threats like Black Ransomware

Black Ransomware files:


read_me.txt
{randomname}.exe


Black Ransomware registry keys:

no information

How to decrypt and restore .black files

Use automated decryptors

Download Kaspersky RakhniDecryptor

Use following tool from Kaspersky called Rakhni Decryptor, that can decrypt .black files. Download it here:

Download RakhniDecryptor

There is no purpose to pay the ransom because there is no guarantee you will receive the key, but you will put your bank credentials at risk.

Dr.Web Rescue Pack

Famous antivirus vendor Dr. Web provides free decryption service for the owners of its products: Dr.Web Security Space or Dr.Web Enterprise Security Suite. Other users can ask for help in the decryption of .black files by uploading samples to Dr. Web Ransomware Decryption Service. Analyzing files will be performed free of charge and if files are decryptable, all you need to do is purchase a 2-year license of Dr.Web Security Space worth $120 or less. Otherwise, you don’t have to pay.

If you are infected with Black Ransomware and removed from your computer you can try to decrypt your files. Antivirus vendors and individuals create free decryptors for some crypto-lockers. To attempt to decrypt them manually you can do the following:

Use Stellar Data Recovery Professional to restore .black files

1. Download Stellar Data Recovery Professional.
2. Click Recover Data button.
3. Select type of files you want to restore and click Next button.
4. Choose location where you would like to restore files from and click Scan button.
5. Preview found files, choose ones you will restore and click Recover.

Download Stellar Data Recovery Professional

Using Windows Previous Versions option:

1. Right-click on infected file and choose Properties.
2. Select Previous Versions tab.
3. Choose particular version of the file and click Copy.
4. To restore the selected file and replace the existing one, click on the Restore button.
5. In case there is no items in the list choose alternative method.

Using Shadow Explorer:

1. Download Shadow Explorer program.
2. Run it and you will see screen listing of all the drives and the dates that shadow copy was created.
3. Select the drive and date that you want to restore from.
4. Right-click on a folder name and select Export.
5. In case there are no other dates in the list, choose alternative method.

If you are using Dropbox:

1. Login to the DropBox website and go to the folder that contains encrypted files.
2. Right-click on the encrypted file and select Previous Versions.
3. Select the version of the file you wish to restore and click on the Restore button.

How to protect computer from viruses, like Black Ransomware, in future

1. Get special anti-ransomware software

Use ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware

Famous antivirus brand ZoneAlarm by Check Point released a comprehensive tool, that will help you with active anti-ransomware protection, as an additional shield to your current protection. The tool provides Zero-Day protection against ransomware and allows you to recover files. ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is compatible with all other antiviruses, firewalls, and security software except ZoneAlarm Extreme (already shipped with ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware) or Check Point Endpoint products. The killer features of this application are: automatic file recovery, overwrite protection that instantly and automatically recovers any encrypted files, file protection that detects and blocks even unknown encryptors.

Download ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware

2. Back up your files

As an additional way to save your files, we recommend online backup. Local storage, such as hard drives, SSDs, flash drives, or remote network storage can be instantly infected by the virus once plugged in or connected to. Black Ransomware uses some techniques to exploit this. One of the best services and programs for easy automatic online backup is iDrive. It has the most profitable terms and a simple interface. You can read more about iDrive cloud backup and storage here.

3. Do not open spam e-mails and protect your mailbox

Malicious attachments to spam or phishing e-mails are the most popular method of ransomware distribution. Using spam filters and creating anti-spam rules is good practice. One of the world leaders in anti-spam protection is MailWasher Pro. It works with various desktop applications and provides a very high level of anti-spam protection.

Download MailWasher Pro