Hog Ransomware [.hog File Virus] – Remove & Restore Data | CFOC.ORG

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04:50 am
03 December 2024

Hog Ransomware [.hog File Virus] – Remove & Restore Data

What Is Hog Virus

Hog virus is the name of a ransomware infection, whose main goal is to get users to pay its developers ransom money. This nasty virus aims to get in your computer and encrypt the files you have, adding the Hog file extension to them. The main idea of this is to convince you that you must follow the instructions this virus gives in the DECRYPT-MY-FILES.exe ransom note it drops on your computer after infection. Read this article if you want to learn how you can fully remove Hog virus from your computer and try to restore .hog encrypted files.

Threat Name Hog
Category Ransomware/Cryptovirus.
Main Activity Infects the computer after which encrypts important documents and holds them hostage until a ransom is paid.
Signs of Presence Files are encrypted with a custom file extension and users are extorted to pay ransom to get the data to work again..
Spread Via malicious e-mail spam and set of infection tools.
Detection+Removal For Windows:
DOWNLOAD WINDOWS REMOVAL TOOL FOR Hog

For Mac:
DOWNLOAD MAC REMOVAL TOOL FOR Hog

What Will Be the Consequences After Hog Ransomware Enters?

But how does a virus, like Hog find its way on your computer. Well, the answer to that may be in two possible scenarios. One of them is if Hog virus gets sent to you via various different e-mail spam letters. There the infection file may pretend to be a legitimate form of invoice, receipt, ticket or other document. Once downloaded and ran, infection with Hog is immediate.

Another scenario of infection by the Hog virus includes if this nasty threat gets uploaded online, where it may pretend to be a program of some sort, such as:

  • Patch.
  • Crack.
  • Software activator.
  • Keygen.
  • Update.
  • Portable program.

Once Hog virus infects your computer, it may drop several files in the system directories of Windows. These folders are usually:

  • %Temp%
  • %Local%
  • %LocalLow%
  • %Roaming%
  • %AppData%

The main idea of those files being on your computer is for the virus to be able to successfully run active tasks as administrator. Among the files dropped is the ransom note of Hog ransomware, which has the following message towards victims:

Attention!
Your personal files have been encrypted by the Hog Ransomware.
They have been encrypted using unbreakable AES-256 encryption.
A “.hog” file extension has been appended to the encrypted files.
Please do not remove it, as it is needed to locate and decrypt them.
Attempting to modify the encrypted files can result in irreversible data loss.

In order to decrypt your files, you will need to join our Discord server.
Once you hav ejoined, enter your Discord account token in the box below.
Press “Decrypt My Files!” and if you have joined, your files will be decrypted.
Have a nice day!

Hide Token
Your token:

Discord Server
How do I get my token?
[Decrypt My Files!]

.hog Files

When Hog ransomware is in your computer, its first and most important task is to scan for and encrypt your important data. The malware carefully skips encrypting files in the important folders of Windows while at the same time encrypts all files that you use often. These files are detected based on their file extension (.jpg,.doc, etc.) and are usually the follwoing types:

  • Pictures.
  • Video files.
  • Documents.
  • Archives.
  • Databases.
  • Virtual drive files.
  • Virtual image files.

After the virus encrypts files files, it leaves them looking like the image below shows:

What to and Not to Do After You Lose Your Files Due to Hog Ransomware?

To remove Hog virus, we strongly recommend that you follow the removal instructions we have set up beneath this article. They are specifically made to help you detect and get rid of this ransomware step by step. For the most effective removal we urge you to download and run a scan of your computer while using anti-malware software. Cyber-security experts often recommend scanning your computer with such a software, since it will professionally erase all virus files, belonging to this ransomware.

If you want to try and restore .hog files, please see the alternative methods below, if there is no free Hog decryptor available just yet. They may not be a 100% effective, but with their aid, you could restore at least some of your files.

To REMOVE and TRY TO RESTORE files, please follow the instructions underneath


Preparation before removal of Hog:

1.Make sure to backup your files.
2.Make sure to have this instructions page always open so that you can follow the steps.
3.Be patient as the removal may take some time.

Step 1: Reboot your computer in Safe Mode:


1) Hold Windows Key and R
2) A run Window will appear, in it type “msconfig” and hit Enter
3) After the Window appears go to the Boot tab and select Safe Boot

Step 2: Cut out Hog in Task Manager

1) Press CTRL+ESC+SHIFT at the same time.
2)Locate the “Details” tab and find malicious process of Hog. Right-click on it and click on “End Process”.

Step 3: Eliminate Hog‘s Malicious Registries.

For most Windows variants:

1) Hold Windows Button and R. In the “Run” box type “regedit” and hit “Enter”.
2) Hold CTRL+F keys and type Hog or the file name of the malicious executable of the virus which is usually located in %AppData%, %Temp%, %Local%, %Roaming% or %SystemDrive%. Usually, most viruses tend to set entries with random names in the “Run” and “RunOnce” sub-keys.
3) You can also find the virus’s malicious files by right-clicking on the value and seeing it’s data. After having located malicious registry objects, some of which are usually in the Run and RunOnce subkeys delete them permanently and restart your computer. Here is how to find and delete keys for different versions.

Step 4: Scan for and remove all virus files, related to Hog and secure your system.

If you are in Safe Mode, boot back into normal mode and follow the steps below

DOWNLOAD FREE SCANNER FOR Hog
1)Click on the button to download SpyHunter’s installer.
It is advisable to run a free scan before committing to the full version. You should make sure that the malware is detected by SpyHunter first.

The free version of SpyHunter will only scan your computer to detect any possible threats. To remove them permanently from your computer, purchase its full version. Spy Hunter malware removal tool additional information/SpyHunter Uninstall Instructions

2) Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.


3) After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for the program to update.

4) If the program does not start to scan automatically, click on the “Start Scan” button.

5) After SpyHunter has completed with your system`s scan, click on the “Next” button to clear it.

6) Once your computer is clean, it is advisable to restart it.

Step 5:Recover files encrypted by the Hog Ransomware.

Method 1: Using Shadow Explorer. In case you have enabled File history on your Windows Machine one thing you can do is to use Shadow Explorer to get your files back. Unfortunately some ransomware viruses may delete those shadow volume copies with an administrative command to prevent you from doing just that.

Method 2: If you try to decrypt your files using third-party decryption tools. There are many antivirus providers who have decrypted multiple ransomware viruses the last couple of years and posted decryptors for them. Chances are if your ransomware virus uses the same encryption code used by a decryptable virus, you may get the files back. However, this is also not a guarantee, so you might want to try this method with copies of the original encrypted files, because if a third-party program tampers with their encrypted structure, they may be damaged permanently. Most of the currently available decryptors for ransomware viruses can be seen if you visit the NoMoreRansom project – a project that is the result of combined efforts of researchers worldwide to create decryption software for all ransomware viruses. Simply go there by clicking on the following LINK and find your ransomware version decrypter and try it, but always remember to do a BACKUP first.

Method 3: Using Data Recovery tools. This method is suggested by multiple experts in the field. It can be used to scan your hard drive’s sectors and hence scramble the encrypted files anew as if they were deleted. Most ransomware viruses usually delete a file and create an encrypted copy to prevent such programs for restoring the files, but not all are this sophisticated. So you may have a chance of restoring some of your files with this method. Here are several data recovery programs which you can try and restore at least some of your files:

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