Geek's Advice

RIVD ransomware is a malicious file-encrypting virus

RIVD ransomware is a computer virus that is recognised as a new variant of STOP/DJVU ransomware family. This virus encrypts all files on the compromised computer and appends .rivd extension to filenames. For example, a file originally called 1.jpg gets renamed to 1.jpg.rivd and so on. During the attack, this ransomware also drops ransom notes called _readme.txt in every folder. These notes contain a message from cybercriminals and explains how to contact them and pay a ransom to get RIVD decryption tool.

As explained in the ransom note, RIVD ransomware virus has encrypted all files including pictures, documents, databases and other important data using strongest encryption and unique key. The note then suggests that the only possible way to decrypt infected files is to pay a ransom for cybercriminals. The message includes two email addresses which the victim can write to for further instructions: manager@mailtemp.ch and supporthelp@airmail.cc.

The note also includes decryption service prices. According to the criminals, the price of it depends on how quickly the victim writes to the attackers. If the computer user writes to them within 72 hours (3 days), the attackers promise to provide a 50% discount, which means the decryption would cost $490. After 3 days, the victim will be asked to pay full amount which is $980.

Once contacted via email, the attackers will explain that the only way the victim can pay up is to purchase cryptocurrency worth the amount in USD and transfer it to their wallet address. This helps to keep the transaction untraceable so that the legal enforcement agencies could not track the criminals down. To prove that the attackers can actually restore your files, they suggest sending one file for test decryption, however, this file should not contain any valuable information.

Cybersecurity experts from our team recommend following FBI’s guidelines regarding ransom payments, and the general advice is NOT TO PAY the ransom. Paying does not guarantee data recovery in most cases, besides, you should not support malware developers as this only helps them to create more malware and employ more software developers and distributors. Each year, ransomware operators earn millions from victims who accidentally get their computers infected with similar file-encrypting viruses.

Moreover, this virus often drops information-stealing Trojans such as AZORULT or VIDAR on infected hosts and these can silently steal your software account login credentials, banking details, cryptocurrency wallets, browsing history, browser-saved passwords and more. This can lead to even more problems and potentially further blackmailing.

If you have been infected with this STOP/DJVU variant, it is important to remove RIVD ransomware virus from your computer quickly. Running an up-to-date antivirus software while in Safe Mode with Networking can help you to detect and remove existing malware infections safely. You can use antivirus of your choice or the one recommended by our team – INTEGO Antivirus. Additionally, we suggest downloading RESTORO to repair virus damage on Windows OS files.

Ransomware Summary

REMOVE MALWARE & REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE

Ransomware distribution techniques to be aware of

Computer users typically get infected with STOP/DJVU ransomware variants like RIVD virus after downloading malicious torrents. These threats tend to hide in pirated software copies, so opening a fake crack or key generator can immediately lead to a severe computer infection. Victims who have been affected by this ransomware strain report several software names that the criminals use to compose deceptive cracks or other illegal license activation tools. These downloads are then uploaded to various torrent libraries online:

• Adobe Photoshop;
• Fifa 20;
• Tenorshare 4ukey;
• AutoCad;
• Opera browser;
• Corel Draw;
• VMware Workstation;
• Cubase;
• Adobe Illustrator;
• League of Legends;
• Internet Download Manager;
• KMSPico (illegal Windows activation tool).

If you have a tendency to look for software torrents online, try to drop this habit as soon as possible. Cybercriminals prey on users who try to activate paid software or game versions for free. By doing so, you risk getting infected with severe malware. Besides, downloading such files is an act of copyright infringement and is subject to civil and criminal penalties. Our suggestion is to support legitimate software developers by getting their products from official developer sites or those of confirmed partners/affiliates only. The price of license fees is always lower than insane ransom amounts demanded by cybercriminals. Looking for legitimate software copies also poses no risk to your personal files or sensitive data.

Ransomware distribution also relies on malicious email attachments. For this matter, cybercriminals may compose extremely convincing messages and attach specifically crafted documents (most popular formats being DOCX, PDF, XLS). These documents allow macro functions or JavaScript, and both can be used to download the payload from an external source and running it on your computer.

It can be hard to identify these emails because the crooks may pretend to be someone from your work or a well-known and legitimate company such as eBay, Amazon or parcel delivery companies such as DHL or UPS. Moreover, they tend to name the attached files as somewhat ordinary, such as Invoice, Order Summary, Tracking Details and similar. The criminals may even use email spoofing techniques to obfuscate their real sender’s email address. Our advice is to trust your common sense and if you feel that there was no reason for you to receive such email and it came unexpectedly, avoid opening it solely out of curiosity.

Finally, victims of STOP/DJVU ransomware should stay away from suspicious websites offering miracle decryption solutions as these simply do not exist. The only trustworthy STOP/DJVU decryption or file repair tools are offered by Emsisoft and DiskTuna and you can find an explanation how to use them here. Please beware that crooks tend to distribute other ransomware family versions such as ZORAB via fake STOP/DJVU decryptors. Downloading such tool can result in double file encryption.

More details about the infection

If you’re looking for more information on what exactly was done to your computer during RIVD ransomware attack, you can read this section which covers more technical details about the virus. First of all, the malware launches a set of build.exe or build2.exe executables and winupdate.exe (displays fake Windows update screen). The virus connects to https[:]//api.2ip.ua/geo.json and saves this response to information.txt file. The malware gathers information about your computer’s geolocation, zip code, latitude and longitude, time zone and hardware/software related details and sends it to its Command&Control server.

Additionally, the virus compares the obtained country code to the list of encryption-exception countries (Russian Federation, Syria, Armenia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Kazachstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus). In case the virus detects that the infected computer is from one of these countries, it ceases its operations immediately.

If computer’s geolocation passes this initial test, the ransomware then fetches online encryption key from its server as well as victim’s ID and saves them to bowsakkdestx.txt file and to PersonalID.txt file. You can see an example of these files below.

If the virus fails to get an online encryption ID, it uses an offline encryption ID, which is the same per all victims subject to offline encryption per one virus’ variant. An indication of offline key used is t1 characters at the ending of your personal ID, and it means you can hope to decrypt .rivd files one day. See more information about it below this article.

The ransomware then proceeds to begin data encryption procedure. It scans all folders and encrypts files with Salsa20 and locks the encryption key with RSA-2048 key. During this process, the virus marks files with additional extensions.

You can also see a screenshot of the _readme.txt ransom note left in each folder as shown in the image below.

Next, the virus deletes Volume Shadow Copies with a help of Command Prompt task shown below:

^{vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All /Quiet}

Finally, the virus adds a list of domains to Windows HOSTS file and maps them to localhost IP, thus preventing victim’s access to these websites. The victim might see DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error when attempting to open one of the blocked websites. The reason behind this is that the criminals are trying to stop you from visiting online ransomware victim support forums and malware removal guides.

The virus then drops additional malware on victim’s system such as previously mentioned AZORULT or VIDAR Trojan.

Remove RIVD Ransomware Virus and Recover Your Files

If your files were encrypted by the described malware variant, we recommend you to report cybercrime incident (you can find guidance on it below this article) and remove RIVD ransomware virus as soon as you can. The guide given below explains how to boot your computer in Safe Mode with Networking. Once you boot your computer in this environment that uses limited set of Windows functions, you can remove the ransomware and related malware using antivirus software. If you do not have AV yet, consider using INTEGO Antivirus, which is a robust security solution that scores excellent malware detection rates in independent lab tests. Additionally, we recommend you to download RESTORO to identify and repair virus damage caused on Windows system files.

Once RIVD ransomware virus removal is done, check these recommendations by our team:

• Do not forget to let your local law enforcement agency know about this cyber attack case.
• Use data backup to recover your files. Ensure that malware is completely gone before plugging the storage drive to your computer.
• Learn how you can decrypt or repair files affected by STOP/DJVU versions.
• Change your passwords for as many accounts as you used on your computer, including browser saved ones, also Steam, Telegram and other apps.

OUR GEEKS RECOMMEND

Our team recommends a two-step rescue plan to remove ransomware and other remaining malware from your computer, plus repair caused virus damage to the system:

STEP 1. REMOVE AUTOMATICALLY WITH ROBUST ANTIVIRUS

REMOVE & PROTECT WITH INTEGO

Get INTEGO ANTIVIRUS for Windows to remove ransomware, Trojans, adware and other spyware and malware variants and protect your PC and network drives 24/7.. This VB100-certified security software uses state-of-art technology to provide protection against ransomware, Zero-Day attacks and advanced threats, Intego Web Shield blocks dangerous websites, phishing attacks, malicious downloads and installation of potentially unwanted programs.

Use INTEGO Antivirus to remove detected threats from your computer.

Read full review here.

STEP 2. REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER

DOWNLOAD RESTORO

RESTORO provides a free scan that helps to identify hardware, security and stability issues and presents a comprehensive report which can help you to locate and fix detected issues manually. It is a great PC repair software to use after you remove malware with professional antivirus. The full version of software will fix detected issues and repair virus damage caused to your Windows OS files automatically.

RESTORO uses AVIRA scanning engine to detect existing spyware and malware. If any are found, the software will eliminate them.

Read full review here.

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Norbert Webb

Norbert Webb is the head of Geek’s Advice team. He is the chief editor of the website who controls the quality of content published. The man also loves reading cybersecurity news, testing new software and sharing his insights on them. Norbert says that following his passion for information technology was one of the best decisions he has ever made. “I don’t feel like working while I’m doing something I love.” However, the geek has other interests, such as snowboarding and traveling.