Free decryption of CryptoLocker files

The malicious program CryptoLocker belongs to the category of so-called ransomware. It encrypts files on the hard drive and requires a ransom payment before downloading a secret key to decrypt files from the server. However, from yesterday, users can do without payment: the anti-virus companies FireEye and Fox-IT jointly launched the DecryptCryptoLocker service for free decryption of files that are encrypted by CryptoLocker.

As a result of the operation, FireEye and Fox-IT were able to obtain a large number of secret keys that CryptoLocker uses to encrypt files. On the aforementioned site, users can use these keys to “free” their documents without paying ransomware.

The decryption procedure begins with the fact that the user must select some encrypted file that does not contain important information. It needs to be uploaded to the DecryptCryptoLocker server. In this case, you should specify the mailing address to which the secret key will be sent to decrypt the files.

Then you should download the utility Decryptolocker.exeand wait for the secret key by e-mail. After that, you need to run a command of the following form:

Decryptolocker.exe –key “<key>” <Lockedfile.doc>

Since there are a large number of CryptoLocker variants on the Internet, the new service cannot guarantee operability for all of them, but for most variants it still works.