The Hvzgbo virus falls under the Snatch ransomware family. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, creating the HOW TO RESTORE YOUR FILES.TXT text files in every folder with the encrypted files.
Hvzgbo virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A scientifically accurate description for the Hvzgbo would be “a Snatch family ransomware malicious agent”.
Hvzgbo appends its extra .hvzgbo extension to every file’s title. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.hvzgbo”. In the same manner, the Excel table named “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.hvzgbo”, and so on.
In every folder containing the encrypted files, a HOW TO RESTORE YOUR FILES.TXT file will be found. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information about 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 ransomware developers. That is it.
Hvzgbo summary:
| Name | Hvzgbo Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | Snatch ransomware |
| Extension | .hvzgbo |
| 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) get a .hvzgbo extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Hvzgbo virus |
In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Hvzgbo looks like. Each filename has the “.hvzgbo” extension added to it.
That is how encrypted “.hvzgbo” files look.
How did my machine catch Hvzgbo ransomware?
There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.
There are currently three most exploited methods for malefactors to have the Hvzgbo virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you open your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a harmful item attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus scheme2. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something legal. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some program. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful agent that encodes your data. As the update wizard can have any title and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer networks 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.
How to remove the Hvzgbo virus?
It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Hvzgbo virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often tamperers would unblock several of your files so you know that they do have the decryption tool. Since Hvzgbo virus is a relatively new ransomware, anti-malware engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.
Understandably, if the criminals succeed in encoding victim’s essential files, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about racketeers simply disappearing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.
The best solution against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external storage. Obviously, that might be not enough. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working on when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system is rolled back.
There are other ransomware products, besides Hvzgbo, that work similarly. For instance, Mppn, Uyit, Maos, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Hvzgbo are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: documents become blocked, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encoded files.
Some fortunate victims were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the user to restore the files. But obviously, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.
How сan I avoid ransomware injection?
Hvzgbo ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can armour your computer from its infiltration in three easy steps:
- Ignore any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious letter with caution. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
- Never use cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy software, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such software.
- And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful shield for your system.
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 Hvzgbo 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 completed, 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔 How can I open “.hvzgbo” files?Can I somehow access “.hvzgbo” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.hvzgbo” 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. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Hvzgbo virus?
Of course not. Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your PC off the actual threats. The virus that has infiltrated your system is most likely still active and launching checks every so often to encode any new files you might create on your PC after the infection. As it has been mentioned above, the Hvzgbo ransomware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide criminals with easy access to your computer after some time.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Hvzgbo 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 previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or brought into your computer. 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.
🤔 And what should I do now?
Many of the encrypted files might still be at your disposal
- If you exchanged your critical files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
- You might have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to post those pictures back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, cellphone, external storage, etc.
HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, 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 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 HVZGBO Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: HVZGBO Virus
Description: HVZGBO Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .hvzgbo 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’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
