Can Data Be Extracted from an Encrypted VMDK File? It Depends on How Much of the Flat Volume Is Overwritten

A virtual machine failing to boot does not mean all data is encrypted. This article explains the order for judging extractability after a VMDK is encrypted by ransomware: first isolate and make a read-only clone, then distinguish whether only the descriptor is encrypted, the flat volume header/intermittent encryption, or full-disk continuous encryption, and provides corresponding extraction paths, prohibited operations, and verification methods.