Vaze Virus Ransomware (.vaze File)

Spectating that your files have a strange .vaze extension means that you are infected with Vaze ransomware. This dangerous virus extorts your money, previously encrypting the files you have on your computer. Crooks, who manage the spreading of this malware, ask for almost $1000 for file decryption. Fortunately, there are several other ways to solve the problem.

The decryption process after the Vaze virus attack must be conducted with special software. Manual attempts (with brute force, for example) will take too much time - 2^256 keys exist for the cipher that Vaze malware uses. You will spend more time than our planet existed and will approximately exist. Meanwhile, tools that are designed specially to decrypt the files after the ransomware attack can do it just in an hour.

System repairing must be conducted with other applications. Ransomware makes different changes in your Windows settings, which are all targeted at weakening your system. Reverting these changes is vital because otherwise, you will struggle to install the programs or connect to various websites. GridinSoft Anti-Malware performs the system recovery during the ransomware removal process.

It is also important to mention how you get a virus. Almost all STOP/Djvu families (and Vaze ransomware is its member) use the programs from untrustworthy sites as the main distribution way. People often use such sources as eMule, or ThePirateBay, to get a certain application for free. However, while making the programs usable without purchasing, hackers can freely add any malware. Exactly, Vaze ransomware is just a case.

Encryption process

The Vaze ransomware uses the Salsa20 encryption algorithm. That is not the strongest method, but it still provides an overwhelming amount of possible decryption keys. To brute force the 78-digit number of keys, you need 3.5 unvigintillion years (1*10^65), even if you use the most powerful regular PC. Quantum computers can show a bit better results, but it is still too slow to get your files back while you are alive.

The exact algorithm of encryption is next: malware scans each folder for the files it is able to encrypt. Then, when it finds the target, it makes a copy of your file, removes the original one, encrypts the copy and leaves it instead of the removed original. Such a procedure is done to prevent the situation when you have already opened the file, so ransomware is not able to read it because of the Windows restrictions. To each encrypted copy, the virus adds the specific extension - ".vaze". Then, ransomware creates a _readme.txt file in the folder where the encrypted file is located, and goes to the next folder.

Such an encryption method can be exploited for file recovery. Since the original file is deleted, you may try to recover it using the file recovery tools. The less time is passed - the bigger the chance to get your files back, so hurry up!

Another specific moment that can help you to use the files even after the encryption is the fact that Vaze ransomware encrypts only the first 150KB of each file. Hence, you can try to run a big file, such as video or music, without the encryption. Similar feature also works with other ransomware families - Dharma, Conti and Makop encrypt the same 150KB.

Ransom note: _readme.txt

Ransom note is the same for the whole ransomware family. In fact, it is one of the main signs of to which family the certain ransomware belongs. Here is the typical note for STOP/Djvu family:

External Links:

🔗 HowToFix.Guide: How To Decrypt .vaze Files?

Indicators of Compromise(IOC)

File Name	MD5	File Size
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	e792ca26c9eab37b1d3054c92f916e31	771584
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	ffab12152cdea2b56bae6e1d43706c8f	770560
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	56034c1eccf10559d782824124da6354	771072
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	7980c1158bc3f43dfdd94e03ea3097d9	770560
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	663121580a87a9e099c2c3af229eef4c	770560
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	272ac9ac3892917caa95f9e9e46ec79e	774656
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	26e0efdaa25abb5432e0918b4dd0f7b1	765440
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	8e3d7f67302d62ce9b866f81da5926e9	775168
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	8b5b302f60a7450d29bc179eb432f672	774656
📜 SAMPLE.EXE	dcdfd1fe9acfd4bf325a851b87ec8f02	774656