An infection with the dangerous .hacking Virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove .hacking Virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of .hacking Virus
The .hacking Virus is a new virus which has been sighted in a limited attack campaign. At the moment the security researchers cannot determine the primary infection strategy. We presume that the most widely used tactics are going to be employed.
Among them are the email messages created in an automated way and sent to large lists of potential victims. The .hacking Virus can be directly attached to the messages. This is one of the easiest way for the criminals to attempt the infection. However a lot of email hosting providers usually capture the signatures of the virus and as such discard such messages or label them as dangerous or spam. Other infection methods related to this one is the option of inserting hyperlinks in the body content of the messages. The links are usually labeled as leading to a familiar website or a file of user interest. Redirects can redirect to hacker-controlled sites, infected payloads or other instances that can lead to an .hacking Virus infection.
The computer criminals behind the malware can create malicious sites or download portals which distribute malware of different kinds, including the .hacking Virus. A popular option is the use of infected documents which may be of different types ‒ spreadsheets, rich text documents, presentations and databases. They are modified to initiate the virus once the built-in scripts are run. Usually when the files are opened a notification will ask the users to run the macros (scripts). If this is done the infection follows.
The hacker-controlled sites are specialist portals that have been created either manually or automatically by the criminals behind the .hacking Virus. They can either directly distribute the threat by initiating various scripts or automated operations or link to such instances. Redirects are usually caused by email interaction, ad networks or other browsing activity. However one of the main sources is the availability of browser hijackers. They are malicious addons made for the most popular web browsers ‒ Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Once installed they not only infect the users with the malware, but also redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled site. Depending on the configuration the browser hijackers can also steal sensitive information such as any stored passwords, account credentials, history, bookmarks, form data and settings.
Impact of .hacking Virus
A new wave of .hacking virus threats has been spotted by the security community. Like other Hidden Tear variants it is merely a customized version of the original code. This malware family is widely known to be among the easiest customizable ransomware forms as its code is open-source and widely available on the Internet. A lot of tutorials and guides are freely available on sites like Youtube.
.hacking Virus as a Hidden Tear representative uses the same infection patterns as those of the other similar threats. Depending on the hackers intentions and targets different commands can be executed. The recent campaign was identified as being set against French-speaking users and as such the .hacking virus code can choose to extract information about the system. Detailed data harvesting methods obtain information about the installed hardware components, applications and user settings on the compromised machines. This is used not only to obtain the unique infection ID (UID) but also to retrieve the regional settings and language options. Some of the Hidden Tear versions continue infection only when the language conditions are met.
The Hidden Tear family of threats, which includes the .hacking virus, has the capability of loading external modules which adds new features to the engines. Examples include the following:
- Trojan Module ‒ The criminals behind the .hacking virus can use this module to spy on the compromised machines at all times.
- Data Theft ‒ The dangerous instances can be used to hijack files before they are encrypted by the ransomware engine.
- Remote Control ‒ The hackers can take over control of the victim machine at any given time.
System modifications can be done to the victim computer if such instructions are bundled into the infection engine. As a result the users may experience performance issues, applications can fail and certain services will be unable to start. Other malware include Windows registry changes that can lead to a persistent installation. In such cases the .hacking virus constantly monitors the users actions and disables removal attempts. Such infections can only be removed by using a quality anti-spyware solution. The malware can also server as a secondary payload delivery mechanism by allowing the hackers to utilize it as a way to deliver Trojans and other related components.
When all conditions and processes have executed the ransomware component is started which starts to encrypt files based on a built-in list of target file type extensions. A typical list includes the following data: archives, documents, databases, backups, music, images and videos. All victim files receive the .hacking extension.
Depending on the version a ransomware note can be created which features generic messages blackmailing the victims to pay a Bitcoin ransomware fee. We recommend that all users abstain from communicating with the hackers and use our full .hacking Virus removal guide below to recover their data and delete the active infections.
Remove .hacking Virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the .hacking Virus requires being familiar with system files and registries. Removing important data accidentally can lead to permanent system damage. If you don’t feel comfortable with manual instructions, download a powerful anti-malware tool that will scan your system for malware and clean it safely for you.
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.hacking Virus – Manual Removal Steps
Start the PC in Safe Mode with Network
This will isolate all files and objects created by the ransomware so they will be removed efficiently. The steps bellow are applicable to all Windows versions.
1. Hit the WIN Key + R
2. A Run window will appear. In it, write msconfig and then press Enter
3. A Configuration box shall appear. In it Choose the tab named Boot
4. Mark Safe Boot option and then go to Network under it to tick it too
5. Apply -> OK
Remove .hacking from Windows
Here’s a way to remove the program. This method will work regardless if you’re on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP. Simply selecting the program and pressing delete won’t work, as it’ll leave a lot of small files. That’s bad because these leftovers can linger on and cause all sorts of problems. The best way to delete a program is to uninstall it. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Hold the “Windows” button (It’s between CTRL and Alt on most keyboards) and press “R”. You’ll see a pop-up window.
2. In the textbox, type “appwiz.cpl”, then press“ Enter ”.
3. The “Programs and features” menu should now appear. It’s a list of all the programs installed on the PC. Here you can find the program, select it, and press “Uninstall“.
Remove .hacking Virus From Your Browser
Before resetting your browser’s settings, you should know that this action will wipe out all your recorded usernames, passwords, and other types of data. Make sure to save them in some way.
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1. Start Mozilla Firefox. In the upper right corner, click on the Open menu icon and select “Add-ons“.
2. Inside the Add-ons Manager select “Extensions“. Search the list of extensions for suspicious entries. If you find any, select them and click “Remove“.
3. Click again on the Open menu icon, then click “Options“.
4. In the Options window, under “General” tab, click “Restore to Default“.
5. Select “Search” in the left menu, mark the unknown search engine and press “Remove”.
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1. Start Google Chrome. On the upper-right corner, there a “Customize and Control” menu icon. Click on it, then click on “Settings“.
2. Click “Extensions” in the left menu. Then click on the trash bin icon to remove the suspicious extension.
3. Again in the left menu, under Chrome, Click on “Settings“. Go under “On Startup” and set a new page.
4. Afterward, scroll down to “Search“, click on “Manage search engines“.
5. In the default search settings list, find the unknown search engine and click on “X“. Then select your search engine of choice and click “Make default“. When you are ready click “Done” button in the right bottom corner.
2. In the “Manage add-ons” window, bellow “Add-on Types“, select “Toolbars and Extensions“. If you see a suspicious toolbar, select it and click “Remove“.
3. Then again in the “Manage Add-ons” window, in “Add-on Types“, Select “Search Providers“. Chose a search engine and click “Set as default“. Select the unknown search engine and click “Remove and Close”.
4. Open the Tools menu, select “Internet Options”.
5. In the “General” tab, in “Home page”, enter your preferred page. Click “Apply” and “OK”.
Repair Windows Registry
1. Again type simultaneously the WIN Key + R key combination
2. In the box, write regedit and hit Enter
3. Type the CTRL+ F and then write the malicious name in the search type field to locate the malicious executable
4. In case you have discovered registry keys and values related to the name, you should delete them, but be careful not to delete legitimate keys
Click for more information about Windows Registry and further repair help
