Wwka Ransomware - How to remove

Wwka is a dangerous malware infection that attacks Windows computers. It changes the names of files and encrypts their contents, then asks for money to fix the files.

To delete Wwka, you can use an antivirus tool. But for many of Wwka’s victims, there’s no easy way to fix the broken files. It is important to regularly backup your data.

Wwka ransomware is a variant of Djvu, the same as Zqqw, Ddsg, Zzla, and hundreds of others.

About Wwka ransomware:

Type of threat	Ransomware, trojan.
How Wwka ransomware works	It spreads with unofficial and pirated programs, it deletes backups
Can you get your data back?	Restore files from a backup, use Emsisoft’s decryptor, look into file repair.
How to remove Wwka ransomware	Use antivirus programs (Spyhunter, others) to find and delete malware, if needed, keep the encrypted files, consider resetting your passwords.

How does Wwka ransomware work?

Wwka is a very dangerous malicious program. Its goal is to break user files and then get the victim to reach out to the attackers and send them money. In exchange, the extortionists promise to fix the files.

Wwka spreads on the internet

Wwka ransomware spreads online on pirating websites and on certain file download sites. People who download free software from unofficial sites risk encountering Wwka ransomware.

Antivirus tools should detect Wwka and stop it before it can do harm, but this doesn’t always happen.

• Some users who engage in piracy or cheating disable their antivirus tools. This is to stop security programs from interfering with cracking software and cheats. If the downloaded software is infected with malware, now antivirus cannot help.
• Wwka is a very new version of the Djvu ransomware. As a new and never before seen variant, it’s difficult to recognize for some security programs.

Wwka encrypts files

Once Wwk is on a computer, it deletes file backups and disables Task Manager. This makes it harder to stop malicious processes and to recover from the attack.

Next, the ransomware may show a fake Windows Update pop-up while it begins to scan the computer and encrypt files.

Encrypted files basically have their data scrambled. To unscramble them, you need the password – the decryption key. But only the criminals behind the Wwka malware have the decryption keys of all the victims.

Wwka encrypts documents, photos, text files, databases, and various other files. It encrypts all of them very quickly, thanks to the efficiency of hybrid cryptography.

Afterward, Wwka changes the names of all the encrypted files to end with “.wwka” – a sort of second file extension. Renaming the encrypted files to remove the Wwk extension doesn’t undo their encryption.

Finally, Wwk creates text files – ransom notes called _readme.txt. In them, Wwk’s developers ask to be paid a ransom of $490 to $980 for fixing your files.

Data recovery options

The people behind the Wwka ransomware want your money in exchange for fixing the files that they broke.

What can you do to get your files back without having to give hundreds of dollars to these criminals? Especially if you didn’t have a backup of your files?

• It’s possible that Wwka didn’t encrypt all of your files. Occasionally, victims of Djvu report that some folders remain unencrypted.
• The Emsisoft decryptor. If you have the decryption key, this program can decrypt your files. While all victims of Wwka are supposed to have unique decryption keys, making this decryption tool useless, there are some rare cases where the keys repeat. Read Emsisoft’s site for more info and run this decryptor on a few of your files to learn more.
• Some of the files encrypted by Wwka – archives, media files, and other big files – may still have some unencrypted data. They might open and it may even be possible to partially repair them.

How to delete Wwka ransomware

Wwka ransomware can be found and deleted by antivirus tools, like Spyhunter and others. In fact, Wwka is likely not the only malware infection that was installed. An antivirus scan should find and delete all the threats.

Alternatively, you could reset your Windows.

Either way, a couple of problems still remain.

First, deleting Wwka doesn’t fix the files that this ransomware encrypted. The files remain broken.

If you don’t have backups, then you may want to keep the files. They’re not dangerous and above are described a few ways in which it might be possible to fix some of them, maybe.

Another issue is that spyware may have been installed together with Wwka (AZORult is known to have been paired with Djvu ransomware). Spyware can steal usernames, passwords,  crypto wallet credentials, and other important information. Even when the spyware is deleted, it might have already sent out the stolen data.

If you suspect or if antivirus scans showed spyware on your device, reset the passwords for all of your important accounts and make sure that you’re using multi-factor authentication. Only do this on a computer free of malware.

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

 

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

Step 3. Restore Wwka 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 Wwka 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 Wwka 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.