Omfl Ransomware - How to remove

Omfl is ransomware that breaks files by encrypting them. It also appends “.omfl” to the names of the encrypted files. These files are partially or fully broken. Your documents, photos, music, movies – any and all files are in danger of being broken by Omfl.

Omfl is used by cybercriminals to make money. It asks for hundreds of dollars in ransom in order to fix the files.

It’s important to remove Omfl and other malware that comes with it, to protect your personal information from being stolen, and to find ways to restore the data that’s been locked by Omfl.

About Omfl in short:

Threat type	Ransomware.
How ransomware infects PCs	It arrives in pirated installers, it gets installed with spyware, it changes PC settings and deletes backups.
How to fix the files that Omfl encrypted	Restore them from your backups, try the decryptor, repair some of the files manually.
How to remove Omfl	Use an antivirus program, such as Spyhunter, to find and remove all malware, reset your passwords.

How does Omfl ransomware work?

It spreads with pirated files

Omfl is the name of a ransomware infection that belongs to the Djvu family together with Igdm, Sglh, and others. “Omfl” is probably a random, meaningless name. But the ransomware variant is new.

Like other Djvu viruses, Omfl spreads in pirated software. Infected files are uploaded online by malicious actors. These files are disguised as free Microsoft Office installers and various other cracked programs.

It’s not just Omfl in those infected files – often, it’s also a spyware trojan Azorult. While Omfl encrypts your files, Azorult steals files and saved credentials. It can also install adware viruses.

It locks user files

Omfl is named that way because it changes file names on the computer that it infects. It adds “.omfl” to the end of your file names. For example, a file that used to be named “picture.jpg” before the infection becomes “picture.jpg.omfl” after the infection. Your computer thinks that these files are some sort of a new file type, OMFL.

However, the name change is just a label. Omfl ransomware does a lot worse: it encrypts the contents of the files. Encryption is a method of hiding information and it can be used to password-protect your files. Unfortunately, Omfl uses it to break your files – and it does not give you the password required to fix them.

Try opening one of your text files that has been encrypted by Omfl. If it’s encrypted, its contents should be replaced with random symbols.

Being ransomware, Omfl asks for a ransom in order to fix the files. This ransom costs a few hundred dollars, as described in the ransom notes that Omfl litters all over your folders.

Besides breaking your files, Omfl also deletes backups, antivirus updates, and changes some online settings.

Can you get your files back?

Omfl ransomware does break your files. If you had a backup, you’re fine – you can just replace your data. That is, once your computer is cleaned off of Omfl and other infections.

But what if you had no backups? Can the files that Omfl broke be fixed without paying the cybercriminals a ransom of hundreds of dollars?

Data recovery programs can be used to recover some of the data that Omfl deleted.

Also, the free decryptor that was released by Emsisoft might help you. It allows victims who share the decryption key to decrypt their files. Keep in mind that the chances of you sharing the decryption key with another victim (having the Offline version of Omfl) are tiny.

You can also look into repairing the encrypted files. This is complicated and difficult. It’s only possible because Omfl does not encrypt your larger files (such as audio recordings) completely; it only encrypts such files partially.

If you hope to fix the Omfl-encrypted files, put them on backup storage and don’t make any changes to them. Always have backups.

How to remove Omfl ransomware

Now that you know your options for recovering your files, you can plan your recovery. It’s necessary to delete Omfl and other malware in order to be able to use your computer. You can do this by turning on your computer and downloading antivirus software on it or repairing your old program (as Omfl may have deleted some important files necessary for your antivirus software to function). Or you can connect your drives to another computer and scan them as removable media.

Use antivirus software that you are comfortable using, such as Spyhunter or others. You might need to repair your hosts file in order to be able to download antivirus updates. The instructions are below.

Once all the malware is gone, go to your most important accounts and reset your passwords. If the spyware that was installed with Omfl stole your login credentials, you need to get ahead of the cybercriminals and to stop them from being able to steal your accounts. Make sure that 2-factor authentication is on so that if anyone tries to use your username to log in to your accounts, you’ll know.

Important -- edit the hosts file to unblock security websites

TL DR : The hosts file is edited to block security sites Before the virus can be removed, it's necessary to fix the hosts file (the file which controls which addresses connect to which IPs). That is the reason the majority of security websites is inaccessible when infected with this particular parasite. This infection edits this file to stop certain websites, including anti-malware download sites, from being accessed from the infected computer, making browsers return the "This site can't be reached" error. Luckily, it's trivial to fix the file and remove the edits that were made to it.

Find and edit the hosts file

The hosts file can be found on C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts. If you don't see it, change the settings to see hidden files.

1. In the Start Menu, search for Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, find Appearance and Personalization.
3. Select Folder Options.
4. Open the View tab.
5. Open Advanced settings.
6. Select "Show hidden files...".
7. Select OK.

Open this file with administrator privileges.

1. Open the Start Menu and enter "notepad".
2. When Notepad shows up in the result, right-click on it.
3. In the menu, choose "Run as administrator"
4. File->Open and browse for the hosts file.

The hosts file should look like this: Delete additional lines that they connect various domain names to the wrong IP address. Save the file.

Download and run the antivirus program

After that, download antivirus programs and use them to remove the ransomware, the trojan, and other malware. Spyhunter (https://www.2-viruses.com/reviews/spyhunter/dwnld/).

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover Omfl Ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Omfl Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Omfl Ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to Omfl Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Omfl Ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually Omfl Ransomware tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Omfl Ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.