SIGARETA Virus

SIGARETA

SIGARETA belongs to the category of malicious code commonly known as ransomware. Ransomware like SIGARETA is considered to be among the most harmful and dangerous types of malware out there.

This is because as a result of this malware’s action, individual, business and organizations alike may forever lose access to invaluable data. And as we well know, information is one of our most precious resources these days.

How can this happen? Variants like SIGARETA are actually also called cryptoviruses, which is a specific type of ransomware that specializes is encrypting data stored on victims’ computers. And by encrypting said data, the virus actually blocks you from being able to access it in any way. After this, the hackers behind the ransomware will try and blackmail you for money and promise to send you a decryption solution in exchange for whatever amount of money they name. In turn, the decryption solution they offer will typically come in the form of a special key that is unique for each and every ransomware attack.

Hence, the key that you receive will not match the key that any other SIGARETA victim gets. This is where mishaps can often take place, as there’s no guarantee you will always receive the correct key. And given that this is cybercriminals we’re talking about, who is to say that they will even send you a decryption key to begin with. For this reason we do not recommend negotiating with the hackers behind ransomware viruses like SIGARETA, Nefilim or Nemty and sending them your hard-earned money.

Instead, we would encourage you to try and seek alternative solutions, because there are those as well. As a matter of fact, we have listed several of them in the second part of the removal guide below. But no matter how you decide to approach the recovery of your files, it is vital that you implement the first part of the removal guide before you do anything else, so that you have cleaned your system of SIGARETA and it cannot cause any further harm.

The SIGARETA virus

The SIGARETA virus and others like it are notoriously sneaky and quiet. Variants such as the SIGARETA virus have the ability to work stealthily right under the noses of most antivirus programs.

There are even ransomware variants out there that can flat out disable your antivirus system to ensure their malicious processes can run uninterrupted. But the real ingenious part of this whole scheme is that the encryption process itself is not an act that does real damage to the files it is applied to. It is merely a form of data protection that is used to shield information from prying eyes. Thus, even if your antivirus software hasn’t been disabled, there’s a big chance it won’t recognize the ongoing encryption process as harmful.  

The SIGARETA file distribution

The SIGARETA file distribution often occurs via spam messages and so-called malvertisements. And commonly there is also a backdoor Trojan horse virus involved in the SIGARETA file distribution.

Therefore, it may be a good idea to scan your system for other malware after you have already dealt with SIGARETA.

SUMMARY:

Name	SIGARETA
Type	Ransomware
Detection Tool

SIGARETA Ransomware Removal

Search Marquis is a high-profile hijacker – you might want to see if you’re not infected with it as well.

You can find the removal guide here.