The .Gehad Virus in Depth
Losing access to your personal files can be a huge problem if some of those files have been important to your work, education or private life. Unfortunately, you can lose data in a lot of ways: a hard drive failure, a stolen laptop, or data corruption. However, one of the nastiest ways to lose access to your most valuable information is if you get attacked by a Ransomware such as Gehad, Berosuce or Adage. This type of malware is extremely dreaded for its ability to secretly sneak inside the system and apply complex encryption to all the files that are stored on the computer. What is even worse is the fact that the infection places a ransom-demanding notification on the screen of its victims, asking for a ransom to be paid in exchange for the full liberation of the encrypted files. The specific thing about Ransomware infections like this one is that the crooks don’t really take your data or damage it – they just make it inaccessible without a special key, which they offer to send you in exchange for a certain amount of money.
Paying the hackers behind Gehad, however, is not a guarantee that everything will be back to normal. Besides, giving them your money does not mean that you will automatically receive the decryption key for your files. In fact, paying them only sponsors their criminal scheme and encourages them to blackmail you even more.
Therefore, on this page, our “How to remove” team will provide you with some alternative solutions which don’t involve paying a ransom, as well as a detailed Gehad removal guide that will help you detect and delete the Ransomware from your computer.
Though at first those cryptoviruses stay hidden and operate in silence, once they have already placed their encryption on the targeted files, noticing them is almost guaranteed since they place a ransom-demanding notification on your screen immediately after the files have become inaccessible. Yet, in order to correctly detect it and remove it permanently, you may need to follow certain removal steps or use the assistance of a professional removal tool. If you have a recent full backup, you can recover from the attack of Gehad with almost no consequences, except for the time lost to restore your files. In case you don’t have a backup, however, our suggestion is to give a try to the instructions in the file-recovery section from the guide or seek some professional assistance.
How to reduce your chances of having an encrypted .Gehad file
The cybercriminals who create malware are using various techniques to distribute their harmful pieces of software all around the Internet. Yet, there are a few things you could do to minimize the chances of a future infection:
- Maintain regular backups of important files. If possible, keep backup copies offline, for example, in an external drive, where they cannot be affected in case of an attack. The backup copies will be useless if they are encrypted by Gehad along with the main copies of the files on the infected computer so never connect your backup if you are not sure whether or not there’s a Ransomware in the machine.
- Use a strong antivirus program and keep it updated. In many cases, the infection with Ransomware is just a result of a previous infection with a Trojan Horse or another malware that has secretly invited more malware in the system.
- Keep your operating system and software updated with the latest security patches. This decreases the possibility of any malware sneaking into your computer unnoticed through security holes.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Gehad |
| Type | Ransomware |
| Danger Level | High (Ransomware is by far the worst threat you can encounter) |
| Symptoms | Very few and unnoticeable ones before the ransom notification comes up. |
| Distribution Method | From fake ads and fake system requests to spam emails and contagious web pages. |
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Remove .Gehad Ransomware
1: Preparations
Note: Before you go any further, we advise you to bookmark this page or have it open on a separate device such as your smartphone or another PC. Some of the steps might require you to exit your browser on this PC.
2: Task Manager
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to enter the Task Manager. Go to the Tab labeled Processes (Details for Win 8/10). Carefully look through the list of processes that are currently active on you PC.
If any of them seems shady, consumes too much RAM/CPU or has some strange description or no description at all, right-click on it, select Open File Location and delete everything there.
Also, even if you do not delete the files, be sure to stop the process by right-clicking on it and selecting End Process.
3: IP related to Gehad
Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open the hosts file with notepad.
Find where it says Localhost and take a look below that.
If you see any IP addresses there (below Localhost) send them to us here, in the comments since they might be coming from the Gehad.
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4: Disable Startup programs
Re-open the Start Menu and type msconfig.
Click on the first search result. In the next window, go to the Startup tab. If you are on Win 10, it will send you to the Startup part of the task manager instead, as in the picture:
If you see any sketchy/shady looking entries in the list with an unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer name that looks suspicious as there could be a link between them and Gehad , disable those programs and select OK.
5: Registry Editor
Press Windows key + R and in the resulting window type regedit.
Now, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus.
Delete everything that gets found. If you are not sure about whether to delete something, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments. Keep in mind that if you delete the wrong thing, you might cause all sorts of issues to your PC.
6: Deleting potentially malicious data – Gehad
Type each of the following locations in the Windows search box and hit enter to open the locations:
%AppData%
%LocalAppData%
%ProgramData%
%WinDir%
%Temp%
Delete everything you see in Temp linked to Gehad Ransomware. About the other folders, sort their contents by date and delete only the most recent entries. As always, if you are not sure about something, write to us in the comment section.
7: Gehad Decryption
The previous steps were all aimed at removing the Gehad Ransomware from your PC. However, in order to regain access to your files, you will also need to decrypt them or restore them. For that, we have a separate article with detailed instructions on what you have to do in order to unlock your data. Here is a link to that guide.
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