CobraLocker Ransomware - How to remove

CobraLocker is a family of ransomware infections. It has a few variations, including Cobra, DaVinci, and LegionLocker. Like other ransomware, CobraLocker breaks files by encrypting them. It then asks victims to pay a ransom if they want to get their files back.

About CobraLocker:

Threat type	Ransomware, trojan.
How to recognize CobraLocker ransomware	CobraLocker encrypts files and changes their names, then creates a ransom note with the contacts of the extortionists, the email addresses given by CobraLocker might include the word “cobra”.
How the ransomware spreads	It attacks Windows PCs, it comes in pirated programs.
How to delete CobraLocker	Use antivirus programs (Spyhunter, others) to find and delete all malware, restore files from backups.

What CobraLocker ransomware looks like

CobraLocker infects Windows PCs

CobraLocker or (Cobra Locker) is a family of malicious programs that encrypt files and demand a payment in exchange for fixing them. This family includes Cobra, DaVinci, and LegionLocker ransomware. It also reminds me of Niros ransomware, although I don’t know that it and CobraLocker are related.

CobraLocker isn’t one of those ransomware infections that you hear about on the news for attacking hospitals and large companies. Instead, it targets Windows computers owned by individual users. And instead of attacking people individually, it spreads online and infects whoever is unlucky enough to download and open an infected file.

What prompted me to write this was seeing a post by Trendmicro about CobraLocker hiding in fake installations of the game Among Us. The malicious file was called AmongUsHorrorEdition.

It uses different extensions

CobraLocker encompasses a family of separate and slightly different versions of ransomware. These versions have different ransom notes and they ask for different extortions ranging from $30 to $300. Months ago, there was one that asked you to play a game and level up in order to unlock your files.

When a version of CobraLocker infects a computer, it encrypts files (scrambles their contents, making them unreadable) and then marks them with a second file type extension: cobra, IT, c0br4, DaVinci, etc.

It then shows a ransom note – a text or image that instructs the victim how to contact the extortionists and how to pay the ransom.

Ooops! All your important files are encrypted!

All your important files are encrypted with AES 256 algorithm. No one can help you to restore files without our special decryptor.
All repair tools are useless.
If you want to restore some your files for free write email and attach 2-3 encrypted files
(non-archived and your files should not contain valuable information like databases, backups, large excel sheets, etc.)
You have to pay $300 in bitcoin to decrypt other files.
As soon as we get bitcoins you’ll get all your decrypted data back.

P.S.
Remember we are not scammers

Contact:

1.Download tor browser (https://www.torproject.org/)
2.Create account on mail2tor (http://mail2tor2zyjdctd.onion/)
3.Write e-mail to us ([email protected])

That’s all
Good luck and have fun

How to fix your files

When CobraLocker encrypts files, it literally breaks them. Normally, there’s no way to reverse it without having the decryption key.

This is why backups are great – they’re the best defense against ransomware, hardware failure, theft, and other misfortunes. The important thing is to store your backups somewhere other than your PC.

So, if you lost your files to the CobraLocker attack, can you get them back?

You could pay the ransom, but it’s really not advised. Not just because it rewards criminals. It’s just not a good idea to talk to them, as they could be dangerous. If you must contact the extortionists, then take care to hide your identity from them.

You could keep the encrypted files and check Nomoreransom.org from time to time. It’s very unlikely that a free decryption method for CobraLocker will ever emerge, but anything is possible.

Finally, you could try a file recovery tool (EaseUS), but keep your expectations in check. The success of data recovery depends on many factors.

How to get rid of CobraLocker

CobraLocker ransomware is detected by antivirus programs. It gets flagged as Malware, Unsafe, Ransom, Filecoder, Trojan, and other names: Virustotal.com.

So, you can use antivirus programs (such as Spyhunter) to find and remove all malware. But you might need to do a few things first:

• You might need to start your computer in safe mode. This is to stop unnecessary processes (CobraLocker) from running and interfering with their own removal.
• You might need to enable your Task Manager in case CobraLocker disabled it.

Check out the instructions below for how to use safe mode to troubleshoot your PC and how to delete CobraLocker and other malware.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover CobraLocker 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 CobraLocker has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of CobraLocker 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 CobraLocker. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore CobraLocker 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 CobraLocker 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 CobraLocker 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.