MarioLocker Ransomware Removal Guide

If MarioLocker Ransomware has recently encrypted your personal files, you might be completely lost and confused as to what you should do next. The infection creates a file named “@Readme.txt” to deliver a message, but it might make no sense to you. If that is the case, you will want to read this report to understand what is going on. If you are almost ready to pay a ransom requested by the attackers, we want you to hold on for just a moment or two as well. Now, if you are ready to delete MarioLocker Ransomware from your operating system, and you care about nothing else, please check out the last paragraph. It is important to note that this ransomware is not one of those threats that have very clear removal instructions. That is because the file that dropped this malware could be anywhere, and we simply cannot guess where it is located on your operating system. Hopefully, a free malware scanner can help you along the way, but, first, read the report to understand the infection better.

There is no straight and narrow when it comes to MarioLocker Ransomware. Even the distribution of this threat can cause endless discussions. Essentially, there are thousands of ransomware infections (some of them include Odveta Ransomware, Afrodita Ransomware, and Mosk Ransomware), and most of them are controlled by different parties. That means that different methods of distribution could be employed too. In most cases, we see ransomware launchers being spread around attached to spam emails and unreliable downloaders, but they can be distributed by other infections or by silently exploiting unpatched system and software vulnerabilities. The creator of MarioLocker Ransomware could even use several different techniques to drop the infection without you realizing it. You might think that you would know when the infection got in and corrupted your files, but that is done silently, and you might not even know when exactly the attack occurred. After encryption, the “@Readme.txt” is dropped, and you should find all of the encrypted files renamed to “.wasted[number]” (the infection assigns a number starting with 1 for every file).

The .txt file dropped by MarioLocker Ransomware is part of the malware, and so we recommend deleting it, but note that opening it is safe, as it is just a harmless text file. The message inside instructs to open ‘WastedBitDecryptor’ and follow steps. What is ‘WastedBitDecryptor’? What steps do you need to follow? Our malware researchers inform that MarioLocker Ransomware used to use WastedBitDecryptor.exe to introduce victims to ransom demands, but when we analyzed the infection, it did not drop this file, and so victims could not launch it to understand what the attackers behind the threat wanted from them. This is all very confusing and hopeless. Of course, even if paying the ransom was possible, doing that would be too risky. Cybercriminals can make any promises, but they cannot be forced to keep them, and so we doubt that a decryptor would be presented to the victims if the ransom was paid. Whether or not clear ransom demands are made, if victims have copies of the corrupted files stored outside the infected computer, restoring them using the replacement technique should be easy enough.

As we mentioned right at the beginning of this article, the launcher of MarioLocker Ransomware could be anywhere, and even its name could be random. Due to this, we cannot know where this file is on your operating system. Can you find and delete it yourself? If you can, you should waste no more time to do it. You also should waste no time to secure your operating system. If you understand the importance of securing your operating system, and you are planning on installing anti-malware software, you do not need to worry about removing MarioLocker Ransomware yourself. The anti-malware program you install will perform removal automatically. Hopefully, once you have the threat deleted, you can replace the corrupted files. In the future, always remind yourself to backup files to protect them, and do not forget to stay away from unreliable downloaders and spam emails as well as to patch all vulnerabilities.

How to delete MarioLocker Ransomware

1. Locate the {random name}.exe launcher file.
2. Right-click the launcher and choose Delete.
3. Right-click and Delete the @Readme.txt file.
4. Empty Recycle Bin to complete the removal.
5. Install and run a trusted malware scanner.