The 4agcf virus falls under the Babuk ransomware family. Malware of such sort encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, text files, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, leaving the How To Restore Your Files.txt files in each folder containing encrypted files.
4agcf virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A strictly correct description for the 4agcf is “a Babuk family ransomware-type infection”.
4agcf will append its own .4AGcf extension to the name of every encoded file. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.4AGcf”. In the same manner, the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will be changed to “table.xlsx.4AGcf”, and so forth.
In each directory that contains the encoded files, a How To Restore Your Files.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the 4agcf developers. That is it.
4agcf overview:
| Name | 4agcf Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Babuk ransomware |
| Extension | .4AGcf |
| Ransomware note | How To Restore Your Files.txt |
| Detection | Crytex.Virus.FileInfector.DDS, Win32/Filecoder.OLC, Malware-Cryptor.InstallCore.5 |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) have a .4AGcf extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by 4agcf virus |
In the picture below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the 4agcf looks like. Each filename has the “.4AGcf” extension added to it.
That is how encrypted “.4AGcf” files look.
How did my computer get infected with 4agcf ransomware?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most exploited ways for criminals to have the 4agcf virus acting in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open your inbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose mailer is unknown to you, beware of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a harmful item enclosed in them. Thus it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan virus scheme2. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something legal. For instance, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some service. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful agent that corrupts your data. Since the installation wizard can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the things you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like torrents or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is complete.
How do I get rid of the 4agcf virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the 4agcf virus will most likely install the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often criminals would unblock some of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption tool. Since 4agcf virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware developers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon arrive.
Of course, if the hackers do the job of encoding victim’s critical data, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. However, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports of racketeers just vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.
The optimal countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external drive. Surely, that might be not enough. The most important thing could be that one you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.
There are other ransomware products, besides 4agcf, that work similarly. For instance, Mppn, Uyit, Maos, and some others. The two major differences between them and the 4agcf are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes appear in each folder containing encoded files.
Some fortunate people were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decryption key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How сan I avert ransomware attack?
4agcf ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can protect yourself from ransomware infiltration taking several easy steps:
- Ignore any letters from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter with caution. A hoax letter will surely have a mistake.
- Avoid using cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked products, most likely under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. But untrusted programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such software.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a perfect shield for your PC.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft3
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft4.
Download Removal Tool.
You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:
Run the setup file.
When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your system.
An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
Press “Install” button.
Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.
Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your computer for 4agcf infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.
Click on “Clean Now”.
When the scan has finished, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.
FAQ
🤔 How can I open “.4AGcf” files?Are the “.4AGcf” files accessible?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.4AGcf” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
If the “.4AGcf” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the 4agcf virus?
Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your PC off the actual threats. The ransomware that has attacked your system is must be still active and running scans every so often to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has already been said, the 4agcf virus comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What actions should I take if the 4agcf ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.
If that happened, you need to prepare a flash memory card with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or imported into your machine. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right now?
Some of the blocked data can be located elsewhere.
- If you exchanged your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
- It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, cellphone, memory stick, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery programs5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the virus with an anti-malware program.
Also, you can contact the following official fraud and scam sites to report this attack:
- In the United States: On Guard Online;
- In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
- In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
- In Australia: SCAMwatch;
- In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
- In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
- In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
- In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;
To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.
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Brendan SmithHow to Remove 4AGCF Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: 4AGCF Virus
Description: 4AGCF Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .4AGcf extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here are Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
