What is HydraCrypt Ransomware?
HydraCrypt Ransomware can hide behind any spam email attachment, corrupted link, or malicious software bundle. This devious infection has been developed by experienced cyber criminals who know what they are doing, and you can expect them to employ different security backdoors for the distribution of this devious infection. Unfortunately, this threat is extremely clandestine it is initial stages. This infection can creep into your system and copy itself to a different location to initiate the encryption of your personal files. This way, even if you eliminate the original launcher of this malicious ransomware, it can still initiate malicious processes. According to our research, this ransomware can copy itself to %APPDATA%, %TEMP%, and %LOCALAPPDATA% directories. Note that this infection can create folders and hide within them. Unfortunately, it takes just 10 to 20 minutes for this ransomware to encrypt your personal files, and removing HydraCrypt Ransomware cannot solve this problem.
How does HydraCrypt Ransomware work?
Anti-Spyware-101.com researchers have tested HydraCrypt Ransomware and found that it can copy itself to one of the aforementioned directories using random file names that usually are constructed of random 7-10 letter combinations (e.g., abcdefgh.exe). If you do not delete these copies in time, they will initiate file encryption. It was found that this ransomware targets various different types of files, including .doc, .gif, .html, .jpeg, .jpg, .mp3, .mp4, .pdf, .txt, .wmv, etc. Unless you have backup copies of all of your private files, you will find the ransomware taking them hostage. Once this infection encrypts your files, it will not decrypt them unless you pay a ransom, and even then there are no guarantees that your files will be decrypted as promised. It will not be difficult for you identify which files were encrypted, as you will not be able to open them, and they will have an additional extension attached to them. This extension will be a combination of the ransomware name and 8 characters that represent your unique user ID provided by ransomware e.g., photo.jpg.hydracrypt_ID_a1234567).
HydraCrypt Ransomware creates a warning that is launched via a window you cannot exit. This warning provides your unique user ID and emails (XHELPER@DR.COM and AHELPER@DR.COM) that you allegedly need to contact in order to initiate file decryption. If you contact the crooks, you can expect further instructions on how to pay money serving as a ransom. Furthermore, the message informs that you have 72 hours to contact the creator of ransomware and that any attempts to decrypt files manually will result in their destruction. It is unlikely that this would happen, but when it comes to cyber criminals, you never know. There are no guarantees that they will decrypt your files, and there are also no guarantees that the email address you use to contact them will not be used to scam you in the future. In general, communicating with cyber crooks is always risky, and you need to be prepared for unpredictable activity. Of course, if you are willing to pay the ransom to retrieve your personal files, you might have no other option but to follow the demands. Needless to say, this is not what we recommend.
How to delete HydraCrypt Ransomware
You can install a reliable malware remover to eliminate this devious ransomware from your operating system. Considering how clandestine this infection can be and that it could have entered along with other dangerous infections, using a reliable remover is what we recommend. If you have already made up your mind about eliminating this infection manually, you have to be ready for a few challenging tasks. First of all, you have to find the copy of this malicious infection. As mentioned previously, the name of this copy is likely to have 7-10 letters, and it could be located in different directories and subfolders within them. A malware scanner might be a useful tool when detecting this malicious file. Note that the malicious file is likely to be found along with two image files representing the warning of the ransomware. Do not forget to go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and remove HydraCrypt Ransomware values as well. Although this will not help you decrypt files, eliminating this ransomware is crucial.
N.B. You might have to terminate a malicious process responsible for displaying the ransomware warning before you delete the image files associated with the infection.
Removal Instructions
Before you start the operation, scan your PC to identify malicious files or look in %APPDATA%, %TEMP%, and %LOCALAPPDATA% directories and folders in these directories to find malicious files.
- Launch RUN (Win+R).
- Type regedit.exe and click OK.
- Right-click and choose Run as administrator.
- Move to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
- Delete the values associated with ransomware.
- Launch Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
- Terminate malicious processes and exit Task Manager.
- Right-click and Delete the malicious files in %APPDATA%, %TEMP%, or %LOCALAPPDATA% directories.
- Empty the Recycle Bin and restart your computer.
tested removal of HydraCrypt Ransomware*
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