Blitzkrieg Ransomware - How to remove

Blitzkrieg (“lightning war” in German), is the name of a new ransomware virus that affects Windows PCs. It looks and behaves like a lot of other file locking viruses, even though it has not been identified as related to any of them yet, meaning that free decryption of the locked files has not been developed yet.

Blitzkrieg is a fitting name for a cryptovirus, considering how destructive the attack can be if the victim isn’t ready for it. The best defense against Blitzkrieg ransomware is having backups of your files ready, being aware of how malware is distributed and how to avoid it, and keeping a level head when confronted with the message from the Blitzkrieg developer.

How ransomware spreads

Pirated files — filesharing can be used to distribute unsafe files. Scan your files before running them. You probably know that some files can be detected as malicious even when they aren’t, just because they have historically been associated with malware. But it’s still important to scan them and see what your antivirus program identifies them as. Still, it might be easy to detect ransomware before it starts encrypting, so be careful and don’t download a file at all if you’re suspicious of it.

A more common way that ransomware is distributed is by spam email, in the attached files. In order to be infected the recipient needs to open the attached files, sometimes to enable the macros before a virus can start acting. Usually, the emails are not personalised, not mentioning your name, and require you to either click a link, or open an attached document. Here are some examples of spam email — there is a lot of variety, but if you are familiar with them, you will notice the red flags.

What Blitzkrieg looks like

If you found your old, familiar files locked — that is, you can’s open them anymore — and they have a new suffix .bkc (for example, picture.jpg became picture.jpg.bkc), Blitzkrieg is probably the culprit. You can’t fix the files by renaming them, or in any way other than getting the decryption key and software, which are stored with the developers of this virus. This is the goal of the developer of Blitzkrieg — they want you to pay to get your files back.

In their note to the victims — HowToBackFiles.txt — Blitzkrieg developers tell you that the price of your files is rising with the time you spend ignoring them. That’s said in order to scare the victims and discourage them from spending time researching alternative solutions. Then they conveniently provide their email address — [email protected] — to get people to write to them, to ultimately get their money. Usually, online extortionists ask for one hundred dollars up to a thousand for one computer, but the prices are higher for businesses which have multiple computers — up to a few thousand dollars.

Attention !!!
All your files on this server have been encrypted.
Write this ID in the title of your message

To restore the files need to write to us on e-mail: [email protected]
The price for restoration depends on how quickly you write tous.
After payment we will send you a decryption tool that will decrypt all your files.

You can send us up to 3 files for free decryption.
-files should not contain important information
-and their total size should be less than 1 MB

IMPORTANT !!!
Do not rename encrypted files
Do not try to decrypt your data with a third-party software,this can lead to permanent data loss!
Your ID:

Blitzkrieg is similar to other ransomware, like DJVU, FilesLocker, and GandCrab. Interestingly, there is a new version of GlobeImposter 2.0 that uses the same file extension for the locked files as Blitzkrieg — .bkc. This shows how many ransomware variants there are out there. Developers of this malware often release new versions, which makes it difficult for antivirus programs to keep up and for the victims to find information. For example, if Blitzkrieg continues to be developed and distributed, it will likely show up with new email addresses and new file extensions.

How to remove Blitzkrieg

It’s a bad idea to contact the developers of Blitzkrieg. Even though it’s possible that you would get your files back after you pay, it’s also likely that due to the extortionists’ incompetence, their laziness (they could just take the money and ignore you), or technical difficulties you might not recover your files AND lose your money. Be aware of that and, if you pay, be ready for the worst.

Scan your computer with a reputable antivirus program, like Spyhunter. It’s possible that other malware has infected your machine with Blitzkrieg, too, and it’s important to remove it before restoring your files. When you’re sure that no Blitzkrieg or any other malware is left on your PC, copy your files on it from a backup. You can also follow the guide below to see if it’s possible to restore your files.

How to recover Blitzkrieg Ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Blitzkrieg Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Blitzkrieg Ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to Blitzkrieg Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Blitzkrieg Ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually Blitzkrieg Ransomware tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Blitzkrieg Ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.