HARWARD Virus 🔐 (.HARWARD Files) — How to Remove?

The Harward virus belongs under the ransomware type of infection. Malware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the PC (photos, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, creating the FILE ENCRYPTED.txt text files in every folder with the encrypted files.

Harward virus: what is known so far?

The scheme of renaming is this: EMAIL[contact_email].ID=[xxxxx].harward. During the encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be turned into “report.docx.EMAIL[[email protected]]ID=[908D28930971C614].harward”.

In every folder with the encrypted files, a FILE ENCRYPTED.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the Harward developers. You can get this decryptor after contacting [email protected] via email. That is basically the scheme of the malefaction.

Harward Summary:

The FILE ENCRYPTED.txt file coming in package with the Harward malware states the following:

ATTENTION!
At the moment, your system is not protected.
We can fix itand restore files.
To get started, send a file to decrypt trial.
You can trust us after opening the test file.
To restore the system write to both : [email protected] and [email protected]
Your Decryption ID: -

In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Harward looks like. Each filename has the “.harward” extension added to it.

How did Harward ransomware end up on my PC?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for malefactors to have the Harward virus acting in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer networks.

• If you open your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a harmful item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with emails like these.
• Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse model. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your PC pretending to be something legal. For instance, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some program. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. Since the installation package can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the resource of the stuff you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
• As for the peer file transfer protocols like BitTorrent or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never guess 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 anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove ransomware?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your files, the Harward virus will probably deploy Vidar Stealer on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

How сan I avert ransomware attack?

Harward ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your system from its infiltration in three easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email with caution. A hoax letter will always have mistakes.
• Never use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked products, most likely under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable software, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try to find information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such programs at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Is it possible to open “.harward” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.harward” files are decrypted.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.harward” files ASAP. How can I do that?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Harward malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the blocked files might still be within your reach

• If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might 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 Internet, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery programs¹ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the virus with an antivirus program.

1. Here’s the list of Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.