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Hello Ransomware Removal Guide
Hello Ransomware may shock you for a moment when it shows its ransom note on your screen disguised as an error message since it claims that your most important files have been encrypted. Well, unfortunately, this is true of course, and most likely all your documents, photos, audios, videos, and archives have been rendered inaccessible by now. However, we still have good news for you. This vicious program was built on an older threat called Xorist Ransomware, which used the same “easy-to-break” algorithm; therefore, malware hunters have already found a way to crack it and uploaded a free tool to the web. In other words, it is possible to decrypt your encrypted files for free and you do not need to even consider transferring the ransom fee to these cyber criminals. We do not advise you though to download and use this free tool yourself if you are not an experienced computer user. It is better to find an IT savvy friend or a specialist who can help you with that. All in all, once you get your files back it is important that you remove Hello Ransomware immediately.
It is not yet known how this dangerous ransomware is distributed but it is most likely to hit you via spamming campaigns. This clearly means that you need to be more careful around your inbox and spam folder if you have been infected because you must have opened a spam and its attachment to initiate this attack. This spam is not that obvious to spot though. These crooks can be quite deceptive and use even existing name and e-mail address combination for this mail to appear to have come from government offices, the local police, or a well-known company. The subject matter is always something that you would consider important to check even if you do not understand how it may relate to you. This subject can be about an unsettled invoice, an issue with a flight booking, a problem with a parcel that did not get delivered, and so on. The most important thing to remember is never to open a mail or its attachment if you are in doubt. This ransomware can pose as an image or document attachment that is supposed to provide you with more information about the matter in question. However, when you click to view it, you would simply activate this threat. Unfortunately, when you delete Hello Ransomware, it will not resolve the main issue of the encryption. Thus, you need to take preventive actions if you want to avoid the next attack.
It is, of course, also a possibility that you get infected with this ransomware by landing on malicious webpages equipped with Exploit Kits. These kits can use outdated software bugs to drop infections like this onto your system without your permission or knowledge. It is enough for you to load such a page and it can trigger the drop right away. You may get redirected to such a page by clicking on unsafe third-party ads or links that can be introduced to you by malware on your system or by suspicious websites, including torrent, shareware, gaming, and betting pages. We advise you to keep all your browsers and drivers updated after your remove Hello Ransomware to make sure that no such attack can take place in the future.
This ransomware applies the TEA (Tiny Encryption Algorithm) to encrypt your personal files. All the infected files get a new “.HELLO” extension but the name remains unchanged. This threat also places a ransom note text file called “HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt” in every affected folder. In addition to that, it drops a ransom note text file in system startup locations as well to make sure that you see the note every time you restart your machine. This infection creates a random-named copy of itself in the %TEMP% folder, which could be named something like “C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\i92449jtMcCP2K0.exe.”
Once the operation is over, it displays an error pop-up window on your screen with the ransom note. You are told to transfer 0.05 BTC, which is around 190 US dollars, to this Bitcoin address: “17pXroP4MruitlzpTa88FAPAGD5q5QAPzb.” We do not advise you to comply with this demand; and, not only because there is a free file recovery tool already available on the web. Please note that paying money to cyber criminals only helps them to commit further online crimes. We recommend that you remove Hello Ransomware as soon as possible.
We suggest that first of all you apply the decryption tool to decode your files and then proceed to delete all the related files and registry entries. Please follow our instructions below if you want to tackle this dangerous threat yourself. If you want to feel safe in your virtual world, we believe that it is important that you defend your PC with a powerful anti-malware tool, such as SpyHunter. Of course, you can also find the security software that suits your needs the most but be aware of the myriad of rogue tools on the web.
How to remove Hello Ransomware from Windows
- Apply the downloaded decryption tool.
- Press Win+E to open File Explorer.
- Locate the Startup directories and delete the ransom note text files:
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\HOW TO DECRYPT FILES.txt - Bin the malicious, random-name executable file in your %Tempt% folder.
- Delete all ransom note files from the affected folders.
- Delete any suspicious file you have downloaded recently.
- Empty your Recycle Bin.
- Press Win+R and type regedit. Click OK.
- Locate and delete “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Alcmeter” value name.
- Exit the editor.
- Restart your computer.
