Remove GAZE Ransomware Virus (+DECRYPT .gaze Files)

Gaze virus is a type of computer virus that infiltrates your computer, encrypts your documents, and then asks to pay the money for file decryption. Besides these bad activities, that virus also changes some important settings and can even stop your antivirus program.

Gaze malware – what is it?

Gaze virus can correctly be described as a STOP/Djvu ransomware family. That type of computer virus is aimed on single users. This feature supposes that Gaze does not carry any type of additional malware, which sometimes helps ransomware of various other families to take control of your computer. Because of the fact that the majority users do not have anything valuable on their PCs, there is no reason to carry additional malware that increases the risk of failure of the whole ransomware injection.

The common signs of that ransomware activity is the appearance of .gaze files in your folders, instead of the files you used to have. The photo.jpg turns into photo.jpg.gaze, report.xlsx – into report.xlsx.gaze and so on. You are not able to prevent this process, as well as can’t open these documents – they are ciphered with quite strong cipher.

You can also see various other signs of malware activity. Abruptly blocked Microsoft Defender and inability to open the popular anti-malware forums or sites, where the removal and decryption guides are published. You will see how it is conducted in the paragraph below. The removal and decryption guide are also available – check below how to delete Gaze virus and get the .gaze files back.

How did Gaze ransomware encrypt my files?

After the malware injection, the Gaze virus starts a connection with its command and control server. This server is controlled by virus maintainers – people who manage the spreading of this ransomware. Another activity which is done by those crooks is answering the emails of sufferers, who want to decrypt their files.

The documents are encrypted with one of the strongest encryption algorithm – AES-256. The digit in the name of this algorithms means the power of two – 2^256 for this case. 78-digit number of possible decryption keys variations – it is not real to brute force it. As analysts say, it will take more time than our planet can approximately exist, even if you use the most powerful computers. In each folder that contains the encrypted file(s), Gaze virus leaves the _readme.txt file with the following contents:

ATTENTION!

Don't worry, you can return all your files!

All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.

What guarantees you have?

You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.

You can get and look video overview decrypt tool:

https://we.tl/t-WJa63R98Ku

Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that's price for you is $490.

Please note that you'll never restore your data without payment.

Check your e-mail "Spam" or "Junk" folder if you don't get answer more than 6 hours.

To get this software you need write on our e-mail:

support@fishmail.top

Reserve e-mail address to contact us:

datarestorehelp@airmail.cc

Your personal ID:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nevertheless, you can still open some of your documents. The Gaze ransomware encrypts only the first 150 KB of each file, but the other piece of this file can be accessed. Primarily, it works best with audio/video files, which are definitely larger than 150 kilobytes. Not every media player is able to open these files – WinAmp is the best choice, since it is free and well-tested. First seconds of every recording will be missing – this part is encrypted – but the rest of the file will be accessible like nothing happened.

Is Gaze ransomware dangerous for my PC?

As it was described several paragraphs before, ransomware is not only about ciphering the files. Gaze malware makes the changes in your system in order to prevent looking for the virus removal and file decryption guides. Gaze virus does not establish the software barrier – it just modifies the system settings, primarily – networking and security configurations.

Among the networking configurations, the most damaged item is the HOSTS configuration file. This text file has the DNS-address instructions, which are used by the web browsers while requesting to the server. If you add a specific DNS-address for the certain site, your web browser will connect that page through this DNS next time. Ransomware edits this file, adding the unknown DNS, so any of the web browsers will show you the “Unable to resolve the DNS-address” error.

Other changes done by the ransomware are targeted on prevention of early detection of itself, and also disabling the installation of the majority of antivirus programs. Gaze malware implements several modifications in Group Policies – the system setting application which allows to change the abilities of each app. In such a way, malware stops the Microsoft Defender and different other anti-malware tools, as well as prevents the launch of anti-malware installation files.

How did I get infected?

Throughout the whole term while STOP/Djvu family is active, it was using questionable programs as the main way of ransomware injection. Under the term of questionable applications I mean apps that are already not supported by the maintainer and spread through the third-party websites. These applications may be hacked, to make them usable without buying any license. Another example of such a program class is different hacking tools – cheat engines, keygens, Windows activation tools and so on.

This kind of apps may be spread in different methods – through the web page that offers a downloading link, or through the seeding networks – ThePirateBay, eMule and so on. All these sources are well-known as the biggest computer piracy websites. Folks use these pages to get a wide range of apps or games for free, even if these programs must be purchased. No one can prevent the users who crack these apps from adding viruses of some type to the files of the hacked tool. Hacktools, however, are created for outlaw actions, so their developers can easily insert the virus under the guise of some program element.

These hacked apps, regardless of their source, are one of the most often sources for various viruses, and definitely the most widespread one for Gaze ransomware. The best solution is to avoid using of it, and not only because of malware installation risks. Avoiding the license buying is an illegal action, and both hackers and persons who use hacked programs fall under the charge of piracy.

How do I remove Gaze malware?

The Gaze ransomware is really hard to remove manually. Really, because of the amount of changes it makes into your computer, it is almost impossible to detect them all and repair. The best option is to use antivirus software. But which one to choose?

You may spectate the advices to make use of Microsoft Defender, that is already in your computer. Nonetheless, as it was mentioned earlier, most of STOP/Djvu malware examples stop it even before the ciphering process. Using the third-party program is the only option – and I can recommend you the GridinSoft Anti-Malware as a solution for that case. It has impressive detection abilities, so the malware will not be missed. It is also capable of system repairing, which is heavily demanded after the Gaze virus attack.

To remove Gaze malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software.

After the ransomware removal, you can go to file decryption. Virus removal is required to prevent the repeating encryption of your files: while Gaze ransomware is active, it will not pass any unencrypted file.

How to decrypt the .gaze files?

There are two ways to decrypt your files after a Gaze virus attack. First one and the most popular is file decryption. It is conducted with a special app, designed by Emsisoft, and called Emsisoft Decryptor for STOP/Djvu. This program is free. Analysts update its decryption keys databases as often as possible, so you will surely get your files back, sooner or later.

Another option to get your documents and photos back is to try to recover them from your physical disks. Since ransomware deletes them and substitutes with a ciphered copy, the residue of the files are still kept on the disk drive. After the removal, the information about them is wiped from the file system, but not from a disk. Special programs, like PhotoRec, are able to recover these files. It is free, too, and may also be used for file recovery in case when you have deleted something unintentionally.

Decrypting the .gaze files with Emsisoft Decrypter for STOP/Djvu

Download and install Emsisoft Decrypter tool. Agree with its EULA and continue to the interface.

The interface of this program is extremely easy. All you have to do is to select the folder where the encrypted files are stored, and wait. If the program has the decryption key which corresponds to your ransomware case – it will decrypt it.

During the use of Emsisoft Decrypter for STOP/Djvu, you may observe various error messages. Don’t worry, that does not mean that you did something wrong or a program does not work properly. Each of these errors refer to a specific case. Here is the explanation:

Error: Unable to decrypt file with ID: [your ID]

The program does not have a corresponding key for your case. You need to wait for some time until the key database will be updated.

No key for new variant online ID: [your ID]

Notice: this ID appears to be an online ID, decryption is impossible.

This error means that your files are encrypted with an online key. In such a case, the decryption key is unique and stored on the remote server, controlled by crooks. Unfortunately, the decryption is impossible.

Result: No key for new variant offline ID: [example ID]

This ID appears to be an offline ID. Decryption may be possible in the future.

Ransomware uses the offline key to encrypt your files. This key is not unique, so you likely have it in common with another victim. Since offline keys must be collected, too, it is important to keep calm and wait until the analysts team finds one which will fit your case.

Remote name could not be resolved

This error indicates that the program has problems with DNS on your computer. That’s a clear sign of malicious alterations in your HOSTS file. Reset it using the official Microsoft guide.

Recovering the .gaze files with PhotoRec tool

PhotoRec is an open-source tool, which is designed to recover the deleted or lost files from the disk drive. It checks each disk sector for the remains of deleted files, and then attempts to recover them. That app is able to recover the files of more than 400 different formats. Because of the described feature of ransomware encryption mechanism, it is possible to use this tool to get the original, unencrypted files back.

Download PhotoRec from the official website. It is absolutely free, however, its developer warns that he does not guarantee that this program will be 100% effective for file recovery purposes. Moreover, even paid apps can barely give you such a guarantee, because of the chain of random factors that can make the file recovery harder.

Unzip the downloaded archive to the folder you like. Don’t worry because of its name – TestDisk – this is the name of the utility developed by the same company. They decided to spread it together since PhotoRec and TestDisk are often used together. Among the unzipped files, search for qphotorec_win.exe file. Run this executable file.

Before you can start the recovery process, you need to specify several settings. In the drop-down list, choose the logic disk where the files were stored before the encryption.

Then, you need to specify the file formats you need to recover. It may be difficult to scroll all 400+ formats, luckily, they are sorted by alphabetical order.

Finally, name the folder you want to use as a container for recovered files. The program will likely dig out a lot of useless files, which were deleted intentionally, so desktop is a bad solution. The best option is to use the USB-drive.

After these easy manipulations, you may just press the “Search” button (it turns active if you specified all required parameters). The recovery process may take several hours, so keep patient. It is recommended not to use the computer during this term, since you may overwrite some files you are intending to recover.

Frequently Asked Questions