Malware

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Is this a dangerous malware

HAM ransomware is a piece of malicious software that will locks your data and lead to serious damage. Infecting a device with ransomware could have very serious consequences, which is why it’s believed to be such a harmful threat. A data encryption process will be immediately launched as soon as you open the file that has been infected. Commonly, it wants to encrypt files such as photos, videos, documents, essentially all files people would be prone to paying money for. Files cannot be opened so easily, you will need to decrypt them using a specialized key, which is in the hands of the criminals behind this malware. A free decryption program may become available after some time if malware researchers can crack the ransomware. If backup is not available and you have no other option, you may as well wait for that free decryptor.

You will notice a ransom note put on your OS after the encryption process has been completed. The note will clarify what happened to your files and how you might get them back. Paying for a decryption utility is not advised due to a couple of factors. A much more likely scenario is cyber criminals taking your money while not giving a decryptor in exchange. And naturally that the money will encourage them to make more malicious software. Maybe investing into backup would be a better decision. Just terminate HAM ransomware if you do have backup.

If you carry on reading, we’ll discuss how the malware managed to get into your OS, but in short, it was likely spread via spam emails and bogus updates. Such methods are favored by cyber criminals since superior ability isn’t needed.

Download Removal Toolto remove HAM ransomware

How does ransomware spread

Even though your operating system could get infected in many ways, the most likely way you acquired it was via spam email or bogus update. Because of how frequent spam campaigns are, you need to learn what malicious spam look like. Before opening an attached file, you need to carefully check the email. Senders of malicious spam oftentimes pretend to be from notable companies to create trust and make people lower their guard. For example, the sender could say to be Amazon and that they’re emailing you because of a weird transaction made by your account. If the sender is who they say they are, checking that shouldn’t be hard. Research the company the sender says to be from, check their used email addresses and see if your sender’s is among them. We also advise scanning the file that has been attached with a malicious software scanner just to be sure that it’s safe.

If you recently installed some type of program update via dubious sources, that might have also been how the malware got in. Alerts that promote bogus program updates are typically encountered when you visit dubious pages. It’s also pretty common for those false update notifications to appear through advertisements or banners. However, for those who knows that real updates are never offered this way, it will immediately be clear as to what is going on. If you want to have a clean system, you should never download anything from adverts or other questionable sources. When software of yours needs to be updated, you’ll either be notified about it via the software, or it’ll automatically update.

What does HAM ransomware do

In case you haven’t noticed yet, your files are now encrypted. Soon after you opened the contaminated file, the encryption process, which you might have missed, began. All affected files will be marked with an unusual extension, so you’ll know which files were affected. If your files have been locked, you won’t be able to open them so easily as a powerful encryption algorithm was used. Details about how your files could be restored will be provided in the ransom note. Ordinarily, ransom notes follow a specific pattern, they use scare tactics to intimidate victims, request payments and threaten with permanent file deletion. It is possible that criminals behind this ransomware have the only way to restore files but even if that is true, it’s not recommended to give into the requests. What’s there there to guarantee that files will be recovered after you pay. If you pay this time, crooks might believe you would pay again, thus you may become a target again.

Your first course of action ought to be to try and recall whether you’ve stored any of your files somewhere. Because malware researchers can sometimes make free decryptors, if one isn’t currently available, back up your locked files for when/if it is. Delete HAM ransomware as quickly as possible, no matter what you choose to do.

We hope you’ll take this experience as a lesson and begin regularly backing up your files. Since the risk of losing your files is always there, take our advice. There is a variety of backup options available, some more costly than others but if you have files that you value it’s worth buying one.

HAM ransomware removal

We wouldn’t advise manually elimination if you aren’t an advanced user. Instead, acquire malicious software removal program to deal with the infection. If anti-malware program can’t be initiated, you have to load your computer in Safe Mode. As soon as your computer is in in Safe Mode, launch the malware removal program, scan your system and eliminate HAM ransomware. We ought to note that malicious software removal program does not decrypt encrypted files, its intention is to erase the infection.

Download Removal Toolto remove HAM ransomware

Learn how to remove HAM ransomware from your computer

Step 1. Remove HAM ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.

a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking.

For Windows 7/Vista/XP
  1. Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK. win-xp-restart Remove HAM ransomware
  2. Press and keep pressing F8 until Advanced Boot Options appears.
  3. Choose Safe Mode with Networking win-xp-safe-mode Remove HAM ransomware
For Windows 8/10 users
  1. Press the power button that appears at the Windows login screen. Press and hold Shift. Click Restart. win-10-restart Remove HAM ransomware
  2. Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. win-10-options Remove HAM ransomware
  3. Choose Enable Safe Mode with Networking. win-10-boot-menu Remove HAM ransomware

b) Step 2. Remove HAM ransomware.

You will now need to open your browser and download some kind of anti-malware software. Choose a trustworthy one, install it and have it scan your computer for malicious threats. When the ransomware is found, remove it. If, for some reason, you can't access Safe Mode with Networking, go with another option.

Step 2. Remove HAM ransomware using System Restore

a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

For Windows 7/Vista/XP
  1. Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK. win-xp-restart Remove HAM ransomware
  2. Press and keep pressing F8 until Advanced Boot Options appears.
  3. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt. win-xp-safe-mode Remove HAM ransomware
For Windows 8/10 users
  1. Press the power button that appears at the Windows login screen. Press and hold Shift. Click Restart. win-10-restart Remove HAM ransomware
  2. Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. win-10-options Remove HAM ransomware
  3. Choose Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt. win-10-boot-menu Remove HAM ransomware

b) Step 2. Restore files and settings.

  1. You will need to type in cd restore in the window that appears. Press Enter.
  2. Type in rstrui.exe and again, press Enter. command-promt-restore Remove HAM ransomware
  3. A window will pop-up and you should press Next. Choose a restore point and press Next again. windows-restore-point Remove HAM ransomware
  4. Press Yes.
While this should have taken care of the ransomware, you might want to download anti-malware just to be sure no other threats are lurking.  

Step 3. Recover your data

While backup is essential, there is still quite a few users who do not have it. If you are one of them, you can try the below provided methods and you just might be able to recover files.

a) Using Data Recovery Pro to recover encrypted files.

  1. Download Data Recovery Pro, preferably from a trustworthy website.
  2. Scan your device for recoverable files. data-recovery-pro Remove HAM ransomware
  3. Recover them.

b) Restore files through Windows Previous Versions

If you had System Restore enabled, you can recover files through Windows Previous Versions.
  1. Find a file you want to recover.
  2. Right-click on it.
  3. Select Properties and then Previous versions. windows-previous-version Remove HAM ransomware
  4. Pick the version of the file you want to recover and press Restore.

c) Using Shadow Explorer to recover files

If you are lucky, the ransomware did not delete your shadow copies. They are made by your system automatically for when system crashes.
  1. Go to the official website (shadowexplorer.com) and acquire the Shadow Explorer application.
  2. Set up and open it.
  3. Press on the drop down menu and pick the disk you want. shadow-explorer Remove HAM ransomware
  4. If folders are recoverable, they will appear there. Press on the folder and then Export.

* SpyHunter scanner, published on this site, is intended to be used only as a detection tool. More info on SpyHunter. To use the removal functionality, you will need to purchase the full version of SpyHunter. If you wish to uninstall SpyHunter, click here.

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