Lockbit Ransomware - How to remove

Lockbit is file-encrypting ransomware that targets organizations that are seen as potentially lucrative targets. However, small businesses and even individual users suffer from this infection, as well.

Lockbit is file-encrypting ransomware, but it also steals data and threatens to release it, making it a double extortion threat.

For now, there is no way to decrypt the files that Lockbit locked for free.

About Lockbit:

Classification	Ransomware, data stealer.
How it spreads	Through remote desktop accounts, automatically in a network.
How Lockbit affects the infected computers	Disabled antivirus programs, deletes backups, steals data, encrypts files.
How to remove Lockbit	Remove all malware with antivirus tools (Spyhunter, others), reset VPN, RDP, and other passwords and use multi-factor authentication.

About Lockbit ransomware

Ransomware-as-a-service

Lockbit ransomware emerged in October 2019 and has become a global threat. It’s been known by the names Lockbit and Abcd. It may spread together with Dharma ransomware (the Roger variant). Even now, Lockbit is being updated and new features are being added to it. It appears that Lockbit is a lucrative business for its operators.

Lockbit is ransomware-as-a-service, which means that multiple different groups can rent this ransomware and modify it. This makes each case potentially unique.

Despite its similar name, Lock2bits is a separate piece of malware from Lockbit. It is also known as LuckyDay.

Double extortion

Criminal groups rent Lockbit and infect a target’s computer with it. Usually, Lockbit infects computers through vulnerable RDP and VPN logins and then spreads itself in the local network automatically.

Lockbit steals and encrypts the data on the infected network and creates a ransom note with the criminals’ contact information. Since the attack is targeted, the ransom price is decided by the criminals.

If the victim refuses to pay, the criminals behind Lockbit threaten to release the data that was stolen.

Even though Lockbit ransomware attacks manually selected targets, there appear to be a lot of victims who are neither large businesses nor organizations, but small businesses or even just individual users who certainly can’t afford Lockbit’s ransom payments.

How Lockbit works

It spreads through remote access

For Lockbit to infect a computer in the first place, it is likely through a remote desktop protocol or a VPN. If a user of the network has a weak username and password and no 2-factor verification when logging in, the network is vulnerable to this type of attack – not just to Lockbit, but to a lot of other ransomware. Remote desktop accounts are targeted automatically, after all.

There is no limit to how Lockbit can spread, of course. It could infect computers with the help of phishing emails, infected documents in the cloud, infected installers, etc.

It destroys backups

Once Lockbit is on the computer, it checks the language settings. If the current language is one of the CIS states, Lockbit does not work.

Otherwise, Lockbit makes a few changes to the system:

• It tries to stop your antivirus programs and backup software from running.
• It deletes shadow volumes and deletes the contents of the Recycle Bin.
• It schedules tasks so that it can resume after the computer is turned off and on.
• It hides the User Account Control prompts.
• It changes the victim’s desktop background image to one that instructs the victim to read the ransom note.

Once Lockbit is done, it creates a file called Restore-My-Files.txt (or similar) in which it instructs the victim to contact the ransomware “support” and threatens to release stolen data if the victim ignores the ransom note.

All your files are encrypted by LockBit

for more information see Restore-My-Files.txt that is located in every

encrypted folder

Finally, it deletes itself from the system.

Lockbit has been described in a lot of detail by McAfee and Sophos.

How to get your files back

Lockbit encrypts files – turns their data into almost random noise, making it impossible to read the affected files. Except for the largest files, which Lockbit encrypts only partially. These files are then marked with the “.lockbit” extension (for example, “document.doc.lockbit”). An early version of Lockbit used the “abcd” extension.

There’s no way to decrypt these files and restore them to a normal state, except to contact the criminals behind Lockbit and pay for the decryption keys. Of course, criminals can’t be trusted – they might scam you, they’re likely to run into various technical issues, and as a result, you might not get all of your files back even if you do pay. In addition, paying is risky because the criminals might note you as a paying victim.

Because Lockbit deletes shadow volume copies, previous file versions can’t be restored. And because Lockbit encrypts large files in portions, encrypting chunks in multiple parts of the files, it is very difficult or even impossible to repair the files by just removing the encrypted portions.

Even if you do have backups or are willing to lose your files, there’s the threat of your data being leaked.

I theory, it’s possible that you can decrypt the Lockbit files for free. But it is extremely unlikely:

• Someone could come up with a way to decrypt the files. This is very unlikely. In fact, if someone claims to have done it, check their reputation thoroughly to make sure they’re not a scammer.
• The criminals behind Lockbit could retire and release the master decryption keys. Even if this did happen, it could take years.

How to remove Lockbit

Lockbit deletes itself, but that does not mean that the computer is clean. It’s up to the criminals who spread it how they do it. They could have added spyware, backdoors, anything. So, if you don’t just reset your computer, it’s recommended to check the infected computer for malware with a good antivirus program (Spyhunter, others).

Lockbit is detected by antivirus scanners as Trojan, Ransom, Filecoder, Malware, and simply as Lockbit: Virustotal.com, Virustotal.com.

Remember to reset your passwords and make sure to use 2-factor authentication for remote connections.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Lockbit 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 Lockbit 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 Lockbit 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.