Hakuna Matata Virus Ransomware Removal (+File Recovery)

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Welcome to our Hakuna Matata Virus removal guide. The following instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.

You have probably already noticed a dreadful ransom note your screen, revealing the presence of Ransomware named Hakuna Matata Virus, which has encrypted your files and is now asking you to pay a huge amount of money (most probably in Bitcoins) to get them back. This is really nasty malware and if you are looking for an effective way to deal with it, then this guide may have the solution you are seeking for. In the next lines, you are going to read more about the specifics of this harmful Ransomware, its cunning nature, the tricks that the crooks behind it use to get your money and the possible ways to remove the infection from your system. We will also give you a few good tips on how to try to restore some of your encrypted files. Unfortunately, we can’t promise you 100% success in that, since the Hakuna Matata Virus encryption is a very sophisticated one, but you won’t lose anything if you try. So, let’s begin.

Hakuna Matata Virus – its specifics and infection methods.

If you’ve recently come across some cyber security news, it is almost impossible that you’ve not seen titles pointing to the infamous Ransomware and its dreadfulness. Hakuna Matata Virus is one of its latest versions, and in case that you have been compromised by it, you probably already have an idea of how evil this malicious piece of software can be. Its harmful effects on your computer are closely related to a malicious encryption, which practically locks all of your files (such as images, videos, documents, music, projects, system files, etc.) and then asks you to pay ransom to return them to their previous state. This is a very popular criminal practice nowadays, and unfortunately, more and more businesses and online users become victims of it.

To ensure that they can infect as many people as possible, the crooks behind Ransomware use various distribution methods, some of which are very sophisticated and pose a real challenge to security experts and their antivirus software, let alone the regular online users, who aren’t paying much attention to their online safety. An infection usually happens when least expected. One wrong click on a well-camouflaged transmitter such as a spam email or attachment, fake ad, misleading link or compromised web page, malicious installer, exploit kit or a drive-by download, is enough to activate the malware and let it find its way through your system. In most of the cases, this happens thanks to a Trojan horse, which uses various system vulnerabilities, outdated software or security holes to silently deliver the Ransomware inside the machine and lets it perform its harmful encryption undetected. 

The ransom demands and the possible options.

Once the encryption is completed, the crooks place a ransom note on the victim’s screen. What they basically aim with that note is to panic the victim and make them act impulsively by quickly submitting to their ransom demands. They promise to send a decryption key, which is supposed to decrypt the encrypted data, but you will get it only if you pay the required amount. To ensure that you don’t have much time to think, the crooks may give you a short deadline, after which either your files will get deleted or the required ransom will double. All this is a form of psychological pressure,  the main goal of which is not to let you look at other options that may be available.

Generally, if you take your time and think, you will quickly realize how tricky and risky paying the required ransom is. Ransomware does not play fairly and nobody gives any guarantees. Whether you decide to pay the ransom or you decide to remove Hakuna Matata Virus and restore your files by other means, there is one thing you should keep in mind – you are dealing with ruthless cyber criminals, who have heavily compromised your computer, and keeping their malware on your system is not a good idea at all. How can you ever trust these criminals? It is far more realistic for them to disappear the moment they get your payment rather than send you a decryption key. This means that you may still not be able to recover your files from the encryption, even if you pay. Unfortunately, removing Hakuna Matata Virus will also not guarantee you will be able to get them back. So, in case of a Ransomware attack, it’s best if you keep a backup of all your important data on an external drive or a cloud. This way, you can easily restore it from the copy, once you remove the malware. You can also try to extract some files from your system with the help of the instructions in the removal guide below. But before that, you make sure that no traces from Hakuna Matata Virus have remained on your system.

Hakuna Matata Virus Ransomware Removal

 Here is what you need to do in order to remove a Ransomware virus from you computer.

I – Reveal Hidden files and folders and utilize the task manager

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1. Use the Folder Options in order to reveal the hidden files and folders on your PC. If you do not know how to do that, follow this link.
2. Open the Start Menu and in the search field type Task Manager.
   
3. Open the first result and in the Processes tab, carefully look through the list of Processes.
4. If you notice with the virus name or any other suspicious-looking or that seems to consume large amounts of memory, right-click on it and open its file location. Delete everything in there.
   

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• Make sure that the hidden files and folders on your PC are visible, else you might not be able to see everything.

5. Go back to the Task Manager and end the shady process.

II – Boot to Safe Mode

• Boot your PC into Safe Mode. If you do not know how to do it, use this guide/linked/.

III – Identify the threat

1. Go to the ID Ransomware website. Here is a direct link.
2. Follow there in order to identify the specific virus you are dealing with.

IV – Decrypt your files

1. Once you have identified the virus that has encrypted your files, you must acquire the respective tool to unlock your data.
2. Open your browser and search for how to decrypt ransomware, look for the name of the one that has infected your system.
3. With any luck, you’d be able to find a decryptor tool for your ransomware. If that doesn’t happen try Step V as a last ditch effort to save your files.

V – Use Recuva to restore files deleted by the virus

1. Download the Recuva tool. This will help you restore your original files so that you won’t need to actually decrypt the locked ones.
2. Once you’ve downloaded the program, open it and select Next.
   
3. Now choose the type of files you are seeking to restore and continue to the next page.
4. When asked where your files were, before they got deleted, either use the option In a specific location and provide that location or choose the opt for the I am not sure alternative – this will make the program look everywhere on your PC.
   
5. Click on Next and for best results, enable the Deep Scan option (note that this might take some time).
   
6. Wait for the search to finish and then select which of the listed files you want to restore.

• Keep in mind it is possible that not all files might be fully recovered. You can check in what condition the files are from the State column in the list of deleted files.