Sglh Ransomware - How to remove

Sglh is ransomware that appends the “.sglh” extension to the files that it encrypts. It’s a malicious program that breaks files and demands money in exchange for fixing them – hundreds of dollars.

Sglh is part of a large ransomware family, Djvu. It is known that this ransomware infects computers together with spyware and, sometimes, adware infections.

While removing Sglh is important, this does not fix the files that it broke. Still, some recovery options are available for Sglh’s victims.

About Sglh ransomware:

Threat type	Ransomware, trojan.
How Sglh works	It encrypts files and renames them by appending the “.sglh” extension, it installs additional malware.
How ransomware infects computers	Included in pirated software and other files downloaded from the internet.
How to remove Sglh	Delete all malware with an antivirus tool (Spyhunter, others), make backups of your data, avoid websites that show malicious ads and spread infected files.

Sglh encrypts the files on the infected computer

Sglh misuses cryptography

Cryptography is great. It enables online banking and other sensitive operations to be secure against spies and attacks. It hides your passwords in websites’ databases (at least, that is how it should be). It can password-protect your files, making them unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the correct password.

It allows Sglh to password-protect your files, too. And only Sglh’s operators know the password.

Here’s what you might notice after an Sglh attack:

• Many of your files don’t open.
• Those files are renamed by adding a second extension, “.sglh”, to their names. Removing this extension does not fix most of the files.
• Task Manager might fail to open.
• Some websites refuse to load.
• Text files called “_readme.txt” are in many folders. They’re asking you to contact an email. They’re telling you to pay $480 to get your data back.

Once it’s on your computer, Sglh’s job is to break your files and then convince you to send your money to the criminals who are responsible for this infection.

Can you get your data back?

If you had recent data backups, that is amazing – ransomware attacks are no more than a waste of time to you. But if you didn’t have a backup, then what?

Dealing with criminals is a bad idea – they are not trustworthy. Besides throwing out hundreds of dollars for a chance to fix your files, what are your options?

• Decryption.
• Data recovery.
• Repair.

The decryption tool for Sglh is known and widely available. However, decryption is only possible with the correct decryption key. This is a unique key and impossible to crack.

Data recovery is the extraction of files that were deleted but not wiped from your drive. It’s a complicated and time-sensitive procedure. You can use a data recovery program yourself but it may be better to bring the affected drive to a specialist.

Repair is the procedure of fixing a broken or corrupted file. As this repair specialists says, encrypted data cannot be repaired. However, Sglh does not fully encrypt some files. It skips some data in the largest files, like photographs, leaving it unencrypted.

In fact, Sglh may skip over some folders, too. Check all of your files and folders – some of them may remain untouched. It has been noticed by the victims of a few other variants of Djvu. As there are dozens of these (including Epor, Vvoa, and others), we can make assumptions about Sglh based on the older variants.

Be careful. Scammers online may try to convince you that they can fix all of your files. But this is not possible without the decryption key, the best ransomware specialists have already tried. At best, scammers will pay the ransom for you and ask you to pay it back. At worst, they’ll take your money and disappear.

How to remove Sglh ransomware

Protect yourself from malware

Sglh spreads on pirating websites. It is included in free books and mods, cracking tools and installers, and other free files.

Usually, it is the uploaders of these files who are responsible for the infections. Thus, it’s uncommon for reliable and reputable people to spread Sglh ransomware (although, it’s not impossible).

If you’re an avid software pirate, then you’re living an online life of danger: malicious ads, scam websites, and infected installers should be familiar to you. Here are some ways you can protect yourself:

• Use a good antivirus program – one with real-time protection.
• Block malicious websites. An anti-malware tool can be helpful here, or perhaps an ad blocker.
• Make backups of your files regularly. If you’re using the cloud and syncing your files, make sure that versioning is enabled, else the backups could get encrypted. If you’re using external drives, keep them unplugged.
• If you find yourself in the middle of an attack, turn off the computer. Sglh and other malware can’t do anything while the computer is off.

Remove all malware

Though deleting Sglh doesn’t undo the harm that’s been done, it’s still necessary in order to protect your other files. Also, it is likely that, with Sglh, additional malware was installed: advertising malware that changes how your browsers work and a password stealer that looks for valuable data and sends it off to the criminals who are behind this.

Remove these infections, too. Use an antivirus program that you trust – Spyhunter or another tool.

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 Sglh 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 Sglh Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Sglh 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 Sglh Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Sglh 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 Sglh 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 Sglh 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.