The Fahoe virus belongs to the CONTI ransomware family. Ransomware of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (photos, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, leaving the readme.txt text files in each directory which contains the encrypted files.
What is Fahoe?
☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Fahoe is “a CONTI family ransomware-type infection”.
Fahoe will append its own .FAHOE extension to the title of every encrypted file. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.FAHOE”. In the same manner, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.FAHOE”, and so on.
In each folder containing the encoded files, a readme.txt notebook document will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is pretty much the scheme of the crime.
Fahoe outline:
| Name | Fahoe Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | CONTI ransomware |
| Extension | .FAHOE |
| Ransomware note | readme.txt |
| Detection | Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.PY!MTB, Trojan:Win32/Raccrypt.GI!MTB, Trojan:Win32/Nabucur.AA |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .FAHOE extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Fahoe virus |
In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Fahoe looks like. Each filename has the “.FAHOE” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .FAHOE files.
How did my machine catch Fahoe ransomware?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.
Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for hackers to have the Fahoe virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a ransomware file enclosed in them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan file model2. A Trojan is an object that gets into your machine disguised as something legal. For example, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some service. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful program that encrypts your data. Since the installation file can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat 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 reasonable to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.
How do I get rid of the Fahoe virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Fahoe virus will most likely install the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware3 can derive your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Often criminals would decode few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption program. Since Fahoe virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware developers have not yet found a method to undo its work. However, the anti-ransomware instruments are frequently upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the criminals do the job of encoding victim’s essential files, the desperate person will probably comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of racketeers simply vanishing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.
The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.
Fahoe is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Nnqp, Mljx, Hudf, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Fahoe are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in each folder containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate victims were able to decrypt the blocked files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How do I avert ransomware injection?
Fahoe ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can defend your system from ransomware attack taking three easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the questionable email with caution. A hoax email will always have a mistake.
- Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as a part of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. But dubious programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best solution is not to use such software.
- And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a perfect defense for your personal computer.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft4
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft5.
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 PC.
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 Fahoe 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 “.FAHOE” files?Are the “.FAHOE” files accessible?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.FAHOE” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?
If the “.FAHOE” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. All other solutions require time.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Fahoe virus?
Of course not. Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete active viruses from your PC. The virus that has infiltrated your PC is must be still functional and running scans every so often to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the attack. As it has already been said, the Fahoe ransomware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide malefactors with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What should I do if the Fahoe virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.
If that happened, you need to have a memory stick with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to execute the procedure. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or brought into your computer. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What can I do right 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 mail server.
- You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to send those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a notebook, cellphone, flash memory, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can employ file recovery programs6 to get your lost data back since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the authentic 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 remove the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.
Also, you can contact the following governmental 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 FAHOE Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: FAHOE Virus
Description: FAHOE Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .FAHOE 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.
- You can read more on spyware variants and nature in the respective 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 Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
