Remove .HAT file virus ransomware And Decrypt Locked Files

Tips To Delete .HAT file virus ransomware From PC

.HAT file virus ransomware is a destructive piece of software developed by potent cyber criminals to encrypt files on infected computers. It belongs to the family of well-known Dharma ransomware and generally penetrates the Windows systems by stealth using various illusive techniques. The purpose of this crypto-malware is to prohibit the affected users from accessing their important files and then force them to pay the demanded extortion fee. It employs a sophisticated encryption algorithm to lock files on the Windows PCs and makes them completely inaccessible or unusable. The precarious malware also leaves couple of ransom notes for victims to ask them for ransom in return of decryption key.

Depth Analysis of .HAT file virus ransomware:

.HAT file virus ransomware can compromise almost all types of data including images, documents, PDFs, videos, audios etc. and make victims unable to open them again. It also renames the infected data by adding victims’ unique ID, attackers’ email address and appending “.HAT” extension with the each of them as suffix. After that, opening those data becomes impossible for the affected users unless they use the decryption software. After successful encryption, this hazardous threat exhibits ransom notes in a pop-up window and “FILES ENCRYPTED.txt” file and informs victims regarding the unpleasant situation.

Users are instructed to contact the .HAT file virus ransomware authors via the provided email address to get more details. Ultimately, you might have to pay the attackers a huge ransom amount of ransom in order to get the decryption software and open the locked files. The ransom price is not listed in the note but the payment has to be made in BitCoins. It also includes warning message stating that renaming the infected files or trying to recover them using third-party tools may cause permanent data loss.

Text Presented In The Pop-up Window:

YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED

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

If you want to restore them, follow this link:email [email protected] YOUR ID –

If you have not been answered via the link within 12 hours, write to us by e-mail:[email protected]

Attention!

Do not rename encrypted files.

Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.

Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam.

Text Presented In the “FILES ENCRYPTED.txt” File:

all your data has been locked us

You want to return?

write email [email protected] or [email protected]

Should You Pay The Ransom?

Although, it’s true that decryption is impossible without using the proper decryption tool but still, you are strongly denied from dealing with the crooks. There are multiple occasions when victims didn’t receive the functional decryptor despite paying the extortion fee. People who fulfil criminals’ demands often experience financial loss and their vital files and documents remain encoded. And thus, never make any sort of payment to the attackers no matter what situation is and try other options for data recovery. For this, you can use a recently made backup or if you don’t have it, then you should try a powerful and effective file-recovery application.

Quick Glance

Name: .HAT file virus ransomware

Type: Ransomware, Crypto-virus

Description– Dangerous infection which encrypts users’ crucial files and then demands an amount of ransom to get the decryption software.

Extension– .HAT (files are also appended with a unique ID and attackers’ email address)

Ransom demanding message– Text presented in the pop-up and FILES ENCRYPTED.txt

Attackers’ Contact: [email protected] and [email protected]

Symptoms: Affected people cannot open files available on their device, previously functional files now have different extensions, A ransom demanding message is displayed on the desktop screen. Users are asked to pay an amount of ransom to unlock their encoded data and files.

Distribution methods: Spam emails, Torrent websites, peer to peer network sharing, unofficial activation and updating tools.

Damage: All files are encrypted and cannot be accessed without paying ransom, Additional password stealing Trojans and malware infections can be installed along with ransomware infections and other malware.

Removal: To remove this virus from the system, we advise you to use a reliable anti-malware tool. Once malware gets removed, you can recover your files by using existing backup or data-recovery software.

Intrusion of .HAT file virus ransomware:

The most common tactics used to propagate these file-encoding viruses are through spam campaigns and Trojans. The term “spam campaign” describes a large scale operation, during which a number of deceptive emails are sent by criminals. These mails are generally disguised as “important”, “official”, “urgent”. They have malicious files attached to them and also contain downloads links of vicious content. Infectious files can be in several formats (e.g. executables, archives, JavaScript, Microsoft Office and PDF documents, etc.) and once they get opened – the infection process of the virus is initiated. Trojans are hazardous software with a wide range of terrible features that can include the ability to cause chain infections (i.e. download and installation of other malware including crypto-virus).

How To Prevent Ransomware Attack?

To avoid the risk of being infected with such file-encrypting infections, security experts strongly deny users from opening emails coming from unknown source. Any attachments or links found in spiteful mails should never be opened, as doing so may cause crypto-malware penetration. It is highly important to have a trustworthy anti-virus suite installed. This application has to be kept up-to-date, employed to perform regular system scans and to remove detected malware and issues. But at the moment, you are strongly recommended to remove .HAT file virus ransomware from the computer without wasting any time.

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows

Click Here For Mac

Step 1: Remove .HAT file virus ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Delete .HAT file virus ransomware using “System Restore”

Step 1: Remove .HAT file virus ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

For Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Boot the PC in “Safe Mode”. Click on “Start” option and continuously press on F8 during the start process until the “Windows Advanced Option” menu appears on the screen. Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” from the list.

Now, a windows homescreen appears on the desktop and work-station is now working on “Safe mode with networking”.

For Windows 8 Users: Go to the “Start Screen”. In the search results select settings, type “Advanced”. In the “General PC Settings” option, choose “Advanced startup” option. Again, click on the “Restart Now” option. The work-station boots to “Advanced Startup Option Menu”. Press on “Troubleshoot” and then “Advanced options” button.  In the “Advanced Option Screen”, press on “Startup Settings”. Again, click on “Restart” button. The work-station will now restart in to the “Startup Setting” screen. Next is to press F5 to boot in Safe Mode in Networking.

For Windows 10 Users: Press on Windows logo and on the “Power” icon. In the newly opened menu, choose “Restart” while continuously holding “Shift” button on the keyboard. In the new open “Choose an option” window, click on “Troubleshoot” and then on the “Advanced Options”. Select “Startup Settings” and press on “Restart”. In the next window, click on “F5” button on the key-board.

Step 2: Delete .HAT file virus ransomware using “System Restore”

Log-in to the account infected with .HAT file virus ransomware. Open the browser and download a legitimate anti-malware tool. Do a full System scanning. Remove all the malicious detected entries.

In case if you cannot start the PC in “Safe Mode with Networking”, Try using “System Restore”

• During the “Startup”, continuously press on F8 key until the “Advanced Option” menu appears. From the list, choose “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” and then press “Enter”

• In the new opened command prompt, enter “cd restore” and then press “Enter”.

• Type: rstrui.exe and Press “ENTER”

• Click “Next” on the new windows

• Choose any of the “Restore Points” and click on “Next”. (This step will restore the work-station to its earlier time and date prior to .HAT file virus ransomware infiltration in the PC.

• In the newly opened windows, press on “Yes”.

Once your PC gets restored to its previous date and time, download the recommended anti-malware tool and perform a deep scanning in order to remove .HAT file virus ransomware files if they left in the work-station.

In order to restore the each (separate) file by this ransomware, use “Windows Previous Version” feature. This method is effective when “System Restore Function” is enabled in the work-station.

Important Note: Some variants of .HAT file virus ransomware delete the “Shadow Volume Copies” as well hence this feature may not work all the time and is applicable for selective computers only.

How to Restore Individual Encrypted File:

In order to restore a single file, right click on it and go to “Properties”. Select “Previous Version” tab. Select a “Restore Point” and click on “Restore” option.

In order to access the files encrypted by .HAT file virus ransomware, you can also try using “Shadow Explorer”. In order to get more information on this application, press here.

Important: Data Encryption Ransomware are highly dangerous and it is always better that you take precautions to avoid its attack on your work-station. It is advised to use a powerful anti-malware tool in order to get protection in real-time. With this help of “SpyHunter”, “group policy objects” are implanted in the registries in order to block harmful infections like .HAT file virus ransomware.

Also, In Windows 10, you get a very unique feature called “Fall Creators Update” that offer “Controlled Folder Access” feature in order to block any kind of encryption to the files. With the help of this feature, any files stored in the locations such as “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, “Videos”, “Favorites” and “Desktop” folders are safe by default.

It is very important that you install this “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update” in your PC to protect your important files and data from ransomware encryption. The more information on how to get this update and add an additional protection form rnasomware attack has been discussed here.

How to Recover the Files Encrypted by .HAT file virus ransomware?

Till now, you would have understood that what had happed to your personal files that got encrypted and how you can remove the scripts and payloads associated with .HAT file virus ransomware in order to protect your personal files that has not been damaged or encrypted until now. In order to retrieve the locked files, the depth information related to “System Restore” and “Shadow Volume Copies” has already been discussed earlier. However, in case if you are still unable to access the encrypted files then you can try using a data recovery tool.

Use of Data Recovery Tool

This step is for all those victims who have already tries all the above mentioned process but didn’t find any solution. Also it is important that you are able to access the PC and can install any software. The data recovery tool works on the basis of System scanning and recovery algorithm. It searches the System partitions in order to locate the original files which were deleted, corrupted or damaged by the malware. Remember that you must not re-install the Windows OS otherwise the “previous” copies will get deleted permanently. You have to clean the work-station at first and remove .HAT file virus ransomware infection. Leave the locked files as it is and follow the steps mentioned below.

Step1: Download the software in the work-station by clicking on the “Download” button below.

Step2: Execute the installer by clicking on downloaded files.

Step3: A license agreement page appears on the screen. Click on “Accept” to agree with its terms and use. Follow the on-screen instruction as mentioned and click on “Finish” button.

Step4: Once the installation gets completed, the program gets executed automatically. In the newly opened interface, select the file types that you want to recover and click on “Next”.

Step5: You can select the “Drives” on which you want the software to run and execute the recovery process. Next is to click on the “Scan” button.

Step6: Based on drive you select for scanning, the restore process begins. The whole process may take time depending on the volume of the selected drive and number of files. Once the process gets completed, a data explorer appears on the screen with preview of that data that is to be recovered. Select the files that you want to restore.

Step7. Next is to locate the location where you want to saver the recovered files.