Tfudeq Ransomware - How to remove

Tfudeq is a newly discovered, dangerous computer virus that can completely ruin your system and lock all of your personal files. In case you are wondering how this virus manages to lock files stored on a hard drive, it’s really simple – it employs unique cryptography and changes the structure of your files. That means they are not damaged for good – they can still be restored to the previous state. However, to do that, you have to have a special tool or at least a decryption key. To get this, you will be asked to pay a ransom – that’s how ransomware works.

So if you have been infected with Tfudeq, please continue reading the article. We will provide you with the instructions on how to remove the virus itself and also eliminate the damage it has done. Also, if your computer is infected with some other ransomware virus or you simply want to learn more about specific ways in which ransomware viruses operate, please stay with us.

Tfudeq Ransomware Description

One of the main features of ransomware infection is its’ extension. Almost every ransomware virus use some kind of unique extension to mark files that are already encrypted. Moreover, often times ransomware viruses are even named after those extensions. For instance, Rumba ransomware uses .rumba extension, and Ppam ransomware is named after .ppam extension. Tfudeq is not an exception – it employs .tfudeq extension, which is added to the end of all encrypted files.

So if you had a file named “myfile.txt”, after Tfudeq infects your computer and scans for files that can be locked, it will be renamed to “myfile.txt.tfudeq”. From this moment you won’t be able to open or use it in any other way.

It is suggested that Tfudeq locks files by using both AES and RSA encryption algorithms. That means it will be nearly impossible to decrypt those files by yourself. Cyber criminals behind this virus generate a unique decryption key, that is accessed to every single infected computer. Your goal, as a victim, is to get that key, because it can reverse the decryption process. Unfortunately, in order to do that, you will be forced to pay a ransom. You see, all those decryption keys are stored on a ’remote owned by developers of Tfudeq virus.

After the encryption process, the virus automatically leaves a little note to you with instructions on how to pay the ransom. It goes like this:

———————— ALL YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED ————————

Don’t worry, you can return all your files!
All your files documents, photos, databases and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
What guarantees do we give to you?
You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information
Don’t try to use third-party decrypt tools because it will destroy your files.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours.

——————————————————————————–

To get this software you need write on our e-mail:
[email protected]

Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
[email protected]

Your personal ID:
gn28J8jlD4HsFmWsC7ICtz5tvA4TWciOClMyzXacp9s1gW0

They want you to contact them via email [email protected] or [email protected] and you are encouraged to do that within first 72 hours after the infection, thus you should get 50% discount on the ransom. However, it’s not known how much you will be asked to pay.

Regardless of that, we do not recommend to do that. There are other, better methods to retrieve your files and remove the virus, so you should consider trying them first.

How To Remove Tfudeq And Recover Files

The easiest and fastest way to remove Tfudeq virus is to scan your system with either Spyhunter. Even though this won’t decrypt your locked files, you must do it before the file recovery. Also, you can use other anti-malware tools.

Now, when the ransomware itself is removed from your system, you can move on to restoring your lost files. There are two methods to do that – you can perform a system restore or use some kind of file recovery tool. The first option is only available if you have a valid copy of your hard drive that was made before your computer got infected. If you don’t have it, the only option left is a ’free that you can find for download on the Internet.

Automatic Malware removal tools

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Tfudeq 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 Tfudeq 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 Tfudeq 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.