About .Tabufa
A new Ransomware infection known as .Tabufa File Virus Ransomware has recently been reported to the team of “How to remove guide”. This infection has the ability to secretly sneak inside the computer and encrypt the users’ personal files in order to later demand a ransom for their decryption. Most Ransomware-based threats like .Etols and .NamPoHyu, this one has also been created with the idea to extort money from unsuspecting online users and uses a very powerful and complex encryption algorithm to render nearly all data found on the machine inaccessible. .Tabufa typically targets files like images, videos, audios, different documents, presentations, excel sheets, archives and many more and turns them into unreadable and unusable pieces of data. Unfortunately, the entire encryption process usually goes under the radar of the security program that’s on the computer (unless you have a really good and advanced antivirus with ransomware protection) and by the time you actually realize what has happened, it is too late to save anything. Once the secret encryption process has been completed, .Tabufa typically displays a scary ransom-demanding notification on the victims’ screen to inform them about the effects of the attack and to give them the following ultimatum: pay a certain amount of money or never get to access the encrypted data again. A special decryption key is offered to those who agree to send their money to a cryptocurrency wallet provided in the ransom-demanding message.
Removing .Tabufa manually
If you’ve landed on this page because you have been greeted by such a message but you don’t want to give your money to the crooks behind .Tabufa , then you may be interested in learning about some alternative solutions to this Ransomware infection. That’s why, in the next lines, we have prepared a guide which can help you remove .Tabufa Ransomware from your PC and a section with some file-recovery suggestions which don’t involve paying the ransom to the hackers. We suggest you take a look at them and carefully decide what the best course of action for you would be because dealing with this type of malware can be very challenging and not always hundred percent successful.
Risks of .Tabufa
.Tabufa is a malicious infection mainly created to extort money from the unsuspecting web users. That’s why you should not really believe the hackers behind it no matter how hard they may try to convince you that all you have to do is just send them your money and you will get your files back immediately.
In many cases, what happens is the crooks disappear with the money and never bother to about send you a decryption key or help you decrypt your files and regain your access to them. That’s why, even if you fulfill all of their ransom demands, there is still no guarantee about what will happen to your data and to your computer. One of the options that you may like to consider if you don’t want to pay a ransom and leave yourself to the hackers’ mercy is to remove the Ransomware infection from your system and to try to recover your files from backups. Another option is to contact a professional and ask for their assistance but before that, we suggest you give a try to the removal guide from this page and see if it can help you.
SUMMARY:
| Name | .Tabufa |
| 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. |
Remove .Tabufa File Virus 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 .Tabufa
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 .Tabufa .
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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 .Tabufa , 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 – .Tabufa
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 .Tabufa 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: .Tabufa Decryption
The previous steps were all aimed at removing the .Tabufa 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.