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  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Ransomware
  • Windows
  • Verified · Apr 2021

How to remove HydraCrypt virus

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Jake Doevan · Computer technology expert

Computer security experts announce that computer users should beware of ransomware attacks as these viruses are actively spread every day. A rise of ransomware was noticed back in 2015, and it seems that these viruses will continue to thrive in 2016.

HydraCrypt overview:

HydraCrypt is a name of a dreadful computer virus, which is capable of finding and encrypting all victim’s personal files. Once this virus gets inside the victim’s PC, it starts searching for video, image, text, music files and locks them using a malicious encryption algorithm. You can recognize that your computer was infected with this particular virus by the file extensions that it adds to the encrypted files. It adds a .hydracrypt_ID_[8 symbol code] at the end of the filename.

What is more, this deadly virus is capable of encrypting settings of your programs, files stored in Recycle Bin and also in the System Restore folders. The files affected by ransomware virus become useless because you cannot access them anymore. You cannot open them or manipulate them in any way. Imagine what happens when this virus infects your computer – PC becomes almost worthless as you cannot access your files and programs. This virus then drops a ransom note (README_DECRYPT_HYDRA_ID[8 symbol code]) on your computer, which says that there are no chances to decrypt your files without a special decrypt key. It offers you to buy a special software which can encrypt your files, and it seems to be the only way to get them back.

Screenshot of HydraCrypt ransom note and infected files

However, we do not recommend paying the ransom. There is NO guarantee that the cyber-criminals who have created HydraCrypt ransomware will give you the decryption software, plus, it is not recommended to support these frauds in such way. We recommend removing HydraCrypt malware with a professional malware removal tool – FortectIntego.

What methods do cyber-criminals use to infect computers with HydraCrypt virus?

HydraCrypt, just like the most of other computer threats is spread like a Trojan horse. It means it can slither into your computer system pretending to be some safe file; it might be sent to you via email or it might enter your computer system in addition to other rogue apps you might download and install without realizing the danger. To avoid installing HydraCrypt, avoid opening suspicious e-mails from unfamiliar senders, do not browse on high-risk web pages and do not install any software from unreliable web sources. You have to be extremely cautious because the creators of HydraCrypt virus use various and creative ways to attack computer users. It is strongly recommended to keep your computer secured with a reputable computer security software in order to avoid virus attacks.

To learn how to remove HydraCrypt ransomware, continue reading on page 2.

HydraCrypt removal instructions

When speaking of ransomware, it is right to say that prevention is better than the cure. Unfortunately, HydraCrypt virus is a disastrous high-level computer threat that was professionally programmed to take your important files as hostages. At the moment of writing, there are no ways to decrypt the files that were encrypted by this virus. You can only recover the lost files if you had an external drive with backup copies of them. However, before you import the files from a backup drive, you MUST eliminate HydraCrypt threat; otherwise, it will reach the external drive once you plug it in and immediately encrypt the data copies as well. We STRONGLY recommend terminating HydraCrypt virus automatically, especially if you are an inexperienced computer user. You are dealing with a serious computer virus, so it is a must to deal with it in a proper way. However, if you want, you can try to remove this virus manually, too. Both manual and automatic HydraCrypt removal options are described below.

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