ADFUHBAZI Ransomware 🔐 (.ADFUHBAZI File) — Removal Guide

The Adfuhbazi virus falls within the Snatch ransomware family. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, creating the HOW TO RESTORE YOUR ADFUHBAZI FILES.TXT text files in every directory which contains the encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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Adfuhbazi virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Adfuhbazi would be “a Snatch family ransomware-type malicious agent”.

Adfuhbazi will add its specific .adfuhbazi extension to every file’s name. For instance, a file named “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.adfuhbazi”. Just like the Excel file named “table.xlsx” will be changed to “table.xlsx.adfuhbazi”, and so forth.

In every directory with the encrypted files, a HOW TO RESTORE YOUR ADFUHBAZI FILES.TXT file will be found. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. That is pretty much the scheme of the malefaction.

Adfuhbazi summary:

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Adfuhbazi looks like. Each filename has the “.adfuhbazi” extension appended to it.

That is how encrypted “.adfuhbazi” files look.

How did my computer get infected with Adfuhbazi ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for evil-doers to have the Adfuhbazi virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is unknown to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a harmful file attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with emails like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse model. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your computer pretending to be something different. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some service. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that encodes your data. Since the update package can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of the Adfuhbazi virus?

It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Adfuhbazi virus will most likely deploy Vidar Stealer on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes criminals would decode some of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Adfuhbazi virus is a relatively new ransomware, anti-malware engineers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the criminals succeed in encrypting victim’s essential data, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. Nevertheless, paying to criminals does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports about hackers just vanishing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The optimal countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.

Adfuhbazi is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. Examples of those are Gatz, Foza, Coza, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Adfuhbazi are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encoded files.

Some lucky users were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a tamperers’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How to avoid ransomware attack?

Adfuhbazi ransomware has no endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can protect your system from ransomware infiltration within several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with 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 dubious email with caution. A fake letter will always contain a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a perfect defense for your system.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft³.

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 computer.

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 PC for Adfuhbazi 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 “.adfuhbazi” files?Are the “.adfuhbazi” files accessible?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.adfuhbazi” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. 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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Adfuhbazi virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Of course not. Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with actual viruses. The malware that has attacked your PC is must be still active and running scans from time to time to arrest any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has been mentioned above, the Adfuhbazi virus comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide malefactors with easy access to your system in the future.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Adfuhbazi malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

If that happened, you need to have a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the procedure. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or brought into your machine. To suppress this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the blocked data can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to send those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a portable device, mobile, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery programs⁴ to get your lost data back since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you kill 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.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
3. More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
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