Tfudet Virus Ransomware Removal (+File Recovery)

How to Remove Tfudet Ransomware?

Tfudet is a nasty cyber threat, part of the ransomware category. Ransomware tools follow a well-established scheme. They slither into your system via trickery. Once inside, they use algorithms to encrypt your data. After they seize control over it, they extort you for money. Upon facing such a threat, you face a choice. You can decide whether to trust the promises of these cyber criminals, and pay. Or, trust experts, and deny hem payment. The best course of action is the latter. Don’t pay these people, and don’t even contact them. If you do so, the only thing you’ll ensure, is your regret. Compliance guarantees you nothing. That is, apart from losing money. What happens after you transfer the requested ransom? You hope the cyber criminals keep their word. And, you wait. You wait to receive the decryption key, they promised. What if they choose not to? Your files will remain encrypted, and you’ll have less money. Of course, there’s the possibility, they do send you key. But it being the wrong one. Yes, the cyber criminals behind Tfudet, can give you a key that doesn’t work. And, again, you’re left with less money and locked data. So, what’s your best-case scenario? Say, you pay up, and you receive the proper decryption key. You apply it, and unlock your files. But what then? You paid money to remove the encryption. And, the encryption is a mere symptom of the infection. The threat, you’re dealing with, still remains on your PC. Despite your compliance, and the transfer of the ransom payment. You did not get rid of the actual problem, which is Tfudet. Payment brings you no assurances of regaining your files. All, it brings you, is a depleted bank account.

How did I get infected with?

The Tfudet tool uses the old but gold invasive methods. It infiltrates your system via slyness and subtlety. The infection resorts to the usual antics. It hides behind freeware, and spam emails. Also, it uses corrupted links, sites or torrents, to conceal itself. It can even pretend to be a fake system or program updates. It has an array of methods, it can resort to. But neither one can prove successful without a key ingredient. An ingredient, which only you provide. Carelessness. The ransomware preys on it. It needs you to rush through terms and conditions, and not bother reading them. But to, instead, agree to everything, in blind faith. It needs you not to do any due diligence. To leave your fate to chance. It relies on you to throw caution to the wind, and not take the time to be thorough. Your distraction, haste, and gullibility, ease its infiltration. Carelessness helps it to slip by you, unnoticed. It opens the door to your PC. Don’t ease the infection’s infiltration. Always take the time to be thorough. Even a little extra attention can save you a ton of troubles. Remember that caution helps you to keep a PC free of threats. And, the lack thereof invites them in.

Why is Tfudet dangerous?

The Tfudet menace uses a special encryption algorithm to lock your data. It targets everything you keep on your computer. Videos, music, documents, pictures. It all falls under the tool’s control. To complete its process, it adds an extension at the end of each file. If you have a photo called ‘today.jpg,’ it becomes ‘today.jpg.tfudet.’ When the extension is in place, your data is inaccessible. You can no longer open it, and moving or renaming it does not help. The only solution for your problem, is a decryption key. But, to get it, you have to pay the requested ransom. The infection lays out its expectation in the ransom note, it leaves you. You can find it on your desktop. As well as, in each folder that contains locked files. The note urges you to pay. It claims that’s the only way to regain control of your files. But, even if that’s the case, it gives you no guarantees. All it does is make promises. And, promises are easy to break. Ask yourself the following. Can you truly put your faith into the hands of unknown individuals? Strangers with malicious agendas. Don’t be naive. These people are neither trustworthy nor reliable. Don’t make the mistake of trusting them. Don’t send them money. Instead of hoping for them to keep their word, put your faith into backups. Use external storage and cloud services to ensure your data is safe. Don’t pay cyber extortionists money for something that’s not guaranteed.

Tfudet Removal Instructions

STEP 1: Kill the Malicious Process

STEP 2: Reveal Hidden Files

STEP 3: Locate Startup Location

STEP 4: Recover Tfudet Encrypted Files

STEP 1: Stop the malicious process using Windows Task Manager

• Open your task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Locate the process of the ransomware. Have in mind that this is usually a random generated file.
• Before you kill the process, type the name on a text document for later reference.

• Locate any suspicious processes associated with Tfudet encryption Virus.
• Right click on the process
• Open File Location
• End Process
• Delete the directories with the suspicious files.
• Have in mind that the process can be hiding and very difficult to detect

STEP 2: Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

STEP 3: Locate Tfudet encryption Virus startup location

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”
• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to:

Navigate to your %appdata% folder and delete the executable.

You can alternatively use your msconfig windows program to double check the execution point of the virus. Please, have in mind that the names in your machine might be different as they might be generated randomly, that’s why you should run any professional scanner to identify malicious files.

STEP 4: How to recover encrypted files?

• Method 1: The first and best method is to restore your data from a recent backup, in case that you have one.

• Method 2: File Recovery Software – Usually when the ransomware encrypts a file it first makes a copy of it, encrypts the copy, and then deletes the original. Due to this you may try to use file recovery software to recover some of your original files.
• Method 3: Shadow Volume Copies – As a last resort, you can try to restore your files via Shadow Volume Copies. Open the Shadow Explorer part of the package and choose the Drive you want to recover. Right click on any file you want to restore and click Export on it.