Blank Ransomware

The Blank Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts an assortment of data types but focuses on video gaming software. Although the Blank Ransomware's design implies that it's only intended for educational or humorous purposes, and includes a free decryptor, malware experts recommend treating this Trojan as a potential threat to your media, regardless of its limitations. Like other, file-locking Trojans, having your anti-malware programs remove the Blank Ransomware as soon as possible is the best-case scenario for your PC.

Trojans Turning Your Games into Great, Big Blank

Besides being crafted for monetary reasons, or the purpose of a 'joke,' file-locking Trojans also are subjects of development for the sake of education, research, and self-set programming challenges. Trojans of the last, few categories, usually, are capable of damaging your files but may provide different ways of recovering them. The Blank Ransomware is one of the most generous cases, so far, by installing itself with a free decryption solution.

The apparently Polish-developed the Blank Ransomware uses a code that's very similar to some versions of Utku Sen's Hidden Tear. However, the Blank Ransomware locks a much higher range of files than HT or EDA2. Besides the conventional target data types of PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, etc., malware experts also verify the Blank Ransomware attacking dozens of kinds of gaming components that range from DayZ profiles to World of Warcraft configuration settings. The Trojan also targets some console gaming data.

The Blank Ransomware's payload includes an image-based message that identifies itself and gives the user their file-unlocking instructions. Unlike almost every other file-locking threat, the Blank Ransomware includes its decryption module without charging a price for it. While malware experts can't verify its working in all versions of the Blank Ransomware, any victims can consider backing up their 'locked' files before testing it.

Cleaning the Slate with the Blank Ransomware

Trojans created with even the best of intentions sometimes can suffer from subversion, which Hidden Tear demonstrates aptly. Third parties are theoretically capable of hijacking the Blank Ransomware and modifying it for demanding ransoms or causing other forms of harm to your PC. Users who don't store secure backups of their media are in danger of suffering from loss of data that isn't recoverable by any decryption solutions that Trojans like the Blank Ransomware might provide necessarily.

This 32-bit Trojan is specific to Windows PCs and shouldn't run on other environments, by default. Besides its damaging your files, the Blank Ransomware also handles some Windows components, which include the Kernel Security Device Driver. Any mishandled uninstall attempts could cause unanticipated side effects for your operating system, and malware analysts only can endorse the use of dedicated anti-malware applications for uninstalling the Blank Ransomware.

Besides its generous lack of any extortion, the Blank Ransomware is an equally bountiful example of how many media kinds that one Trojan can harm. With Trojans like the Blank Ransomware demonstrating such heavy-handed encryption methods, any gaming PC users may find new motivations for keeping their saved files safe.