Grod File-Locking Virus - How to remove

Grod ransomware is very similar to Peet, Lokf, Mosk, and other Djvu-type ransomware. It uses cryptography to lock up people’s files and only releases them when the victim pays the ransom of $480. This extortion scheme mostly targets people who use torrent sites and don’t check the programs they downloaded with an antivirus tool. Although there exists a decrypter for Grod’s family of ransomware, no decryption keys are known yet, so the “.grod” files are not decryptable for free at the moment.

How Grod infects computers

Grod ransomware is uploaded online for people to download. Of course, it’s disguised as something that people are interested in downloading, such as a cracking tool, some sort of a free program, a free media file. Files infected with Grod are be uploaded in torrent sites or one-off websites. People say that they got infected with various Djvu ransomware viruses after downloading KMSpico, other cracking tools, an Office suite, a textbook, Streaming software, a free browser, and similar files.

This affects people who can’t afford to buy commercial software thanks to circumstances like a lack of regional pricing or being unable to afford it. Students often fall victim to Grod and related ransomware because they seek out software that they can’t afford. Many of Grod’s victims lose important files, including university projects, job files, and personal creative works.

Businesses also get hit with Djvu sometimes, but individual PC users are the usual victims of Grod.

Grod short description:

Identifying Grod	Locked files have “.grod” in their names A ransom note “_readme.txt” is everywhere in the folders A VirusTotal analysis – link
How Grod spreads	Torrent sites Unofficial download sites
Dangers of the infection	Stolen online accounts Files broken by the virus
Restoring files	Data backup data recovery tools Extract data from some encrypted files Wait for a decryption solution

Grod runs regularly and encrypts new files that it finds. If it’s interrupted, some files might remain unencrypted. If you think you caught Grod running (it displays a fake Windows Update window) and aren’t sure how to stop it, best turn off the computer completely. No process will be able to run, including the ransomware. Then get the infected disk and connect it to another computer as a slave and remove Grod.

Most people don’t stop Grod in time, though, and all the files that can be affected are. Grod doesn’t discriminate what files it encrypts: documents, text files, spreadsheets, 3d models, drawings, audio recordings, code, etc. Only system files remain untouched. The files have their names changed – an extension “grod” is added after the real extension, for example, “book.pdf” becomes “book.pdf.grod”. These files usually can’t be opened because they were corrupted and they’re not dangerous. You can open them on a different computer without any worries.

By the way, Grod might install a spyware component, so be aware that your passwords may have been exposed to cybercriminals.

How to remove Grod

First, you need to recover the hosts file and then you can download antivirus programs to get rid of Grod. Most good-quality scanners will work, you can use a scanner like SpyHunter to find and remove all the malware.

Then, update and repair your software. For example, Grod probably broke your security program, so that needs repairing. Also, make sure to change your online passwords. If you don’t, the data that Azorult (the spyware that Grod might install) swiped might be used later to hack and steal your online accounts (especially accounts with a payment method saved).

In the future, always remember to scan the files that you download – not just executables, but also documents and pdfs.

As for recovering the files, if you don’t have backups, the recovery options are limited. It’s a good idea to make a backup of your encrypted files.

How to recover Grod files

Grod files are encrypted by the ransomware only partially, so big ones have sections that are untouched. This means that there’s a chance to recover some data:

• Try to repair audio and video files. Even if you succeed, you will lose some sections, though.
• Try to extract the encrypted archive files (like zip, rar, etc.). Just remove “.grod” from the name and open the archive. Some of the files in the archive should be okay.

You might also have some success using a data recovery program. Best results are when the computer hasn’t been used. More instructions are in the last section.

Eventually, Emsisoft’s decrypter for Djvu might be updated to support Grod. Run it on your files, Emsisoft released it for everyone for free. It’s not a complete solution but some people are able to recover a good number of files using it.

Paying Grod’s makers for a decrypter is risky and doesn’t completely guarantee successful recovery. But if you do pay, just make sure that your banking info and crypto wallet aren’t exposed to the ransomware. Otherwise, Grod’s developers might help themselves to your hard-earned money.

Important -- edit the hosts file to unblock security websites

TL DR : The hosts file is edited to block security sites Before the virus can be removed, it's necessary to fix the hosts file (the file which controls which addresses connect to which IPs). That is the reason the majority of security websites is inaccessible when infected with this particular parasite. This infection edits this file to stop certain websites, including anti-malware download sites, from being accessed from the infected computer, making browsers return the "This site can't be reached" error. Luckily, it's trivial to fix the file and remove the edits that were made to it.

Find and edit the hosts file

The hosts file can be found on C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts. If you don't see it, change the settings to see hidden files.

1. In the Start Menu, search for Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, find Appearance and Personalization.
3. Select Folder Options.
4. Open the View tab.
5. Open Advanced settings.
6. Select "Show hidden files...".
7. Select OK.

Open this file with administrator privileges.

1. Open the Start Menu and enter "notepad".
2. When Notepad shows up in the result, right-click on it.
3. In the menu, choose "Run as administrator"
4. File->Open and browse for the hosts file.

The hosts file should look like this: Delete additional lines that they connect various domain names to the wrong IP address. Save the file.

Download and run the antivirus program

After that, download antivirus programs and use them to remove the ransomware, the trojan, and other malware. Spyhunter (https://www.2-viruses.com/reviews/spyhunter/dwnld/).

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover Grod File-Locking Virus 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 Grod has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Grod File-Locking Virus

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 Grod. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Grod File-Locking Virus 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 Grod 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 Grod File-Locking Virus 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.