The Nwgen virus falls under the ransomware type of malicious agent. Harmful software of this type encrypts all the data on your PC (images, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, leaving the How To Restore Your Files.txt files in each folder with the encrypted files.
What is Nwgen?
☝️ A strictly correct description for the Nwgen is “a ransomware infection”.
Nwgen adds its extra .nwgen extension to the name of each encoded file. For example, an image named “photo.jpg” will be turned into “photo.jpg.nwgen”. Just like the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will be altered to “table.xlsx.nwgen”, and so on.
In every folder containing the encrypted files, a How To Restore Your Files.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.
Nwgen overview:
| Name | Nwgen Virus |
| Extension | .nwgen |
| Ransomware note | How To Restore Your Files.txt |
| Detection | Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.PAT!MTB, Win32/Injector.AAQK, Win32/TrojanDownloader.Vespula.AY |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .nwgen extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Nwgen virus |
In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Nwgen looks like. Each filename has the “.nwgen” extension appended to it.
An example of encrypted .nwgen files.
How did my computer get infected with Nwgen ransomware?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for malefactors to have the Nwgen virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.
If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a harmful item attached to them. So it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus scheme1. A Trojan is a program that gets into your machine pretending to be something legal. For example, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some service. However, what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. As the installation file 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 optimal way is to trust the software developers’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger 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 a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Nwgen virus?
It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Nwgen virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware2 can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Sometimes racketeers would decrypt several of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. Since Nwgen virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the criminals succeed in encrypting victim’s essential files, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of hackers simply disappearing after getting the money without even writing back.
The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the OS restoration.
Nwgen 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 Bbbw, Maiv, Cuag, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Nwgen are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: documents become inaccessible, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in every directory containing encrypted files.
Some lucky people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decryption key to the victims in the ransom readme. 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 criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How to avert ransomware infection?
Nwgen ransomware has no endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can armour your system from ransomware injection within 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 (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the suspicious letter with caution. A fake letter will surely have mistakes.
- Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often shared as an element of cracked software, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware forums, but the best way 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 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 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 PC for Nwgen 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 “.nwgen” files?Is it possible to open“.nwgen” files?
Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.nwgen” files first. Then you will be able to open them.
🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?
Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. All other solutions require time.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Nwgen malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
Of course not. The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with active threats. The malware that has attacked your device is must be still active and launching checks every so often to arrest any new files you might create on your PC after the attack. As it has been said above, the Nwgen virus comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your PC after some time.
🤔 What to do if the Nwgen ransomware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.
If that happened, you need to have a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system launches and encodes any new files created or imported into your system. To suppress this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run upon system start. 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 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 give those pictures 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 storage might have all those files too.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, memory stick, etc.
USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery utilities5 to retrieve your lost information since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the virus 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 NWGEN Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: NWGEN Virus
Description: NWGEN Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .nwgen extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- 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.
