Wbxd Ransomware - How to remove

Wbxd is the malware infection that encrypts your files, making them impossible to open, and changes their names to include the extension “wbxd”. It attempts to get you to send hundreds of dollars to cybercriminals to get your data back.

In addition, other malicious infections come with this ransomware. They steal private data and display pop-up ads in your browser.

You can remove Wbxd and other malicious items from your PC, but getting back your data is another thing. Wbxd’s encryption can’t be broken, but you have a few options.

Wbxd in short:

Classification	Ransomware, trojan.
How Wbxd ransomware infects PCs	It spreads with pirated software, together with other types of malicious programs.
Can you restore your files?	Restore your files from a backup, check free decryption options, use data recovery software, repair the files that can be repaired.
How to remove Wbxd	Unblock websites that were blocked by the infection, remove Wbxd and other malicious programs with antivirus programs (Spyhunter, Malwarebytes, others), protect your data from spyware.

How Wbxd ransomware infects PCs

Wbxd ransomware spreads with pirated software and cracking tools. A malicious downloader is hidden in the pirated installer. It downloads Wbxd ransomware, as well as a spyware trojan and possibly an adware infection. As a result, the attack might not only break your files, but also steal your private information (such as passwords) and fill your screen with pop-up ads.

As for Wbxd ransomware, it begins by deleting your backups, shadow volume copies (previous file versions), and antivirus program updates. While Wbxd is working – scanning your files and editing them – your drive is busy and it slows down your computer. To make this seem less suspicious, Wbxd might show you a fake Windows Update prompt while it scans your files and encrypts them.

After Wbxd is done, you should see a few signs of the infection:

• files having changed their icons to blank pages,
• file names end with “.wbxd”,
• ransom notes called “_readme.txt” are placed in various folders,
• you can no longer open Task Manager.

The ransom notes created by Wbxd include instructions to contact the cybercriminals who are responsible for this attack. They ask victims to pay up to $980 in exchange for the decryption tools and the unique key required to restore your files back to their normal state. In other words, Wbxd is a tool for extortion.

How to restore your files

If you did not have a backup of your files before the Wbxd ransomware attacked, then you might have lost many precious files to the Wbxd infection: personal photos, ongoing projects, and even work files. There are a few ways in which it’s possible to get them back.

Decryption

Wbxd is ransomware that uses cryptography to lock files. Cryptography is a powerful tool that we use to hide private information. For instance, messaging apps like WhatsApp encrypt your messages so that only the participants of the conversation can read them. Search engines like Google encrypt your traffic so that no outsider can read them. Cryptography allows for safe online shopping and banking. And you can use it to password-protect files and folders (Support.microsoft.com).

That last use is how malicious actors misuse cryptography to encrypt the files on infected computers. They lock your files and then don’t give you the decryption code – the password required to reverse the encryption. For this, the criminals behind Wbxd ransomware want to be paid up to $980. It’s not recommended to pay the ransom as there’s no guarantee that the criminals will actually send you the decryption code.

You can check out the Emsisoft decryptor. Use it to scan some of your Wbxd-encrypted files and it will tell you if there’s any hope of free decryption thanks to shared decryption codes.

Other options

Without decryption, restoring the data that Wbxd broke is difficult and, sometimes, impossible. But some options do exist and they’re worth considering.

You might have uploaded some of your files to the cloud, sent them in emails, or put them on external drives. You might be able to get back a few files by redownloading them.

Some files might remain unencrypted, especially files nested deep in folders within folders. Check all of your folders to see if they have any untouched files.

Data recovery might be an option. The less you used your computer after the Wbxd attack, the better the chances of recovering data. There are many data recovery programs, such as EaseUS, that you can use to check your drives for potentially recoverable files. However, this process takes many hours and might require additional drive space to recover your files.

You might be able to repair your files as though they were corrupted (Disktuna.com). Partially repairing some of the files that Wbxd encrypted, especially media files like photos and audio and video recordings, is possible because these files are big and Wbxd ransomware only encrypts a portion of these files – enough to break them, but not enough to destroy all data.

How to remove Wbxd ransomware

You can get rid of the Wbxd ransomware infection by having an antivirus app remove it. Of course, the malware might have deleted important components of your antivirus scanner, so automatic removal might not work right away.

First, it’s important to check your hosts file, as Wbxd ransomware might edit it in order to block various websites. The instructions for fixing your hosts file are a bit below. It’s simple enough to do manually.

After that, you can start your computer in safe mode and scan it with an antivirus program (such as Spyhunter, Malwarebytes, and others) to find and remove Wbxd ransomware, as well as adware and spyware infections that likely came with it. Wbxd gets detected as Trojan, Malicious, Ransom, Kryptik, etc.

Removing Wbxd ransomware and other malware allows you to use your computer normally again, but you might also want to protect yourself from spyware. Reset the passwords for your online accounts so that if spyware stole them, they can’t be used.

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 Wbxd 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 Wbxd Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

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

Step 3. Restore Wbxd 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 Wbxd 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 Wbxd 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.