Foop File Virus - How to remove

Foop is a new ransomware infection from the Djvu family. It spreads in pirating sites, often together with other malware. Foop renames your files to have “.foop” as a second extension and encrypts those files, breaking their internal data. What Foop does to your files is reversible in theory, but the chances to fix it are low. Still, there are a few options that you can explore.

In shot about Foop ransomware:

Classification	Ransomware.
How Foop virus spreads	Downloaded from torrenting and pirating sites, hidden inside wanted programs.
Effects of a Foop infection	Files have “.foop” as a second extension, files refuse to open, adware appears on the computer.
Remove the Foop virus	Fix the hosts file, use an anti-malware tool (like Spyhunter) to remove malware, change your passwords.

How Foop operates

Foop infects files on pirating and torrenting sites. Cracking and activating tools and modified installers can carry Foop. People have reported getting Djvu from pirating a bunch of random programs, so there’s no predicting what you should avoid. Just try to scan every download and see if ransomware is found. Nppp, Rooe, Bboo, and other Djvu viruses also spread the same way, so this is a constant threat.

Once Foop starts working, you may see a bunch of console pop-ups, a fake Windows Update window, and your computer may even restart. The safest thing to do here is to immediately and completely shut off your computer. Just hold the power button.

Foop comes with adware and a spyware trojan. Adware may be downloaded on your computer and appear in the form of pop-ups and floating ads, changed browser settings, and a slower computer. Your passwords might be stolen by the spyware, which, in some cases, results in people’s online accounts being hacked. Also, some sites will refuse to load because Foop blocked them.

Foop breaks your files, but leaves the operating system alone, so your computer still works fine. You can find a few files called _readme.txt that include a message from Foop’s developers, the extortionists – they’re asking for $490 or, if you wait too long, $980. That’s the ransom they’re asking for your files.

How to restore Foop files

If you got attacked by Foop and didn’t have backups for your files, you might be interested in if you can restore the files somehow. The first thing to note is, before you make any edits to the encrypted “.foop” files, make copies of them. These files are not dangerous or harmful, so don’t worry about them spreading the infection.

The files broken by Foop have their data modified, scrambled into random numbers and letters. This is clearly visible if you just open an encrypted text file in a text editor. The same happens to your documents, photos, videos, and other files.

But Foop uses cryptography to break those files, and cryptography is designed to be reversible. In theory, you only need the correct decryption key to totally fix your files.

All of Foop’s decryption keys are only known by the cybercriminals who made Foop and all of them are unique, meaning that, without paying the ransom (which is not advised), there’s no way to decrypt the files. An exception is when Foop can’t download the unique encryption key, forcing it to use a non-unique key called “the Offline key”. These are collected by Emsisoft and shared with everyone for free using the Djvu decryptor. If your files were locked by the offline key, then once Emsisoft gets it, your files will be decrypted.

There are a few other options. You can use a data recovery program to restore deleted files. You can use shadow volume copies to restore old file versions. These options are described in a bit more detail in the last section of this post.

It’s possible to restore some archived files by simply opening Zip, Rar, and other files. It’s possible to somewhat fix Jpeg photos if you have the time and the tools. Some portions of sound files and video files may also be okay. Some data will be irrevocably lost, though.

How to remove Foop

You can remove malware from your computer by using an antivirus scanner, such as Spyhunter. You should make sure to delete the file that infected your computer originally and to note where you got it so that you can avoid infections in the future.

Afterward, change your passwords. That way, if the spyware installed by Foop stole them, they can’t be used anymore.

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 Foop File 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 Foop File Virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Foop File 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 Foop File Virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Foop File 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 Foop File Virus 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 Foop File 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.