Geek's Advice

ROBM ransomware is a malicious file-encrypting virus

ROBM ransomware is a new computer virus that emerged from the STOP/DJVU ransomware group. This malicious virus functions by encrypting all files contained in any computer it infects and equally attaches .robm extension to each file name. For instance, a file originally saved as 1.jpg gets renamed to 1.jpg.robm and same is applicable to others. While the attack is still ongoing, the virus will simultaneously release a ransom note known as _readme.txt in all folders respectively. Contained in these ransom notes are pieces of information from the cybercriminals notifying their victim on how to reach them and also pay ransom in exchange for ROBM decryption tool.  

They will claim that ROBM ransomware has encrypted the entire database of the compromised computer and made them unreadable, including important documents, pictures, and other vital information. They will further point out that since they used tough encryption algorithm and custom key, the victim will not be able to have access to the files again unless they pay a particular amount of money so they could be issued the decryption tool. Two emails will also be made available to the victim for communication purposes with the cybercriminals: manager@mailtemp.ch, helprestoremanager@airmail.cc.

They will also provide a breakdown of the prices as well as the condition attached with the ransom payment. The victim will be entitled to 50% discount if they can meet up with the ransom demand within 72 hours i.e. 3 days, thus bringing the ransom down to $490. However, if they fail to pay within that period, they will mandate the victim to pay the total ransom fee of $980. 

If the victim decides to get in touch with them through the email address, he will be informed that payment can only be made through cryptocurrency i.e. they would have to pay the equivalent amount in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency of their choice, directly into their wallet address. They use this medium obviously to avoid being tracked down. As a way of convincing the victim, they may request for excerpts of encrypted file for them to decrypt. However, they will emphasize that such excerpt must not have any information that could be perceived as valuable. 

Our team of cybersecurity experts strongly recommends FBI guidelines as a template every victim should follow when dealing with cybercriminals and the bottom-line is that victims should avoid paying ransom at all costs. There are various reasons why victims are advised not to pay ransom and they include:

• There is no guarantee you will retrieve your encrypted files even after paying.
• When you pay, you’re encouraging cybercriminals since they would find it profitable. According to statistics, they earn millions annually already.
• Paying enables them to increase their network and potentials to defraud even more victims.

In addition, the virus is known to drop certain Trojans like VIDAR with the aim of passively stealing very important personal information such as banking details, passwords saved on your browser, cryptocurrency wallets, account login details etc. With such sensitive information in the wrong hands, there would be room for possible blackmails. 

If you’re unfortunate to be a victim of this variant of STOP/DJVU virus, it is important that you must remove ROBM ransomware virus as soon as you can. You can do this with the help of a reliable antivirus that would scan your system while it’s in Safe Mode with Networking. This option is recommended to enable the antivirus do a thorough job of detecting and removing any trace of the virus. You can make use of any antivirus you’re sure is absolutely reliable, but we recommend INTEGO Antivirus as it as excellent malware detection rates and also provides robust real-time protection. As additional measure, we typically recommend scanning with RESTORO to repair virus damage inflicted on Windows OS files.

Ransomware Summary

REMOVE MALWARE & REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE

Dangerous ransomware distribution channels you should avoid

Generally, the most prolific channels that expose users to STOP/DJVU ransomware variants, including ROBM virus, is when they download malicious torrents. The virus often hides in such illegal software copies only to become active once they’re downloaded to any computer. Such dangerous software copies could be in the form of fake “crack,” illegal key generators or fake activation tools, among others. Also, note that these contents are often deceptively uploaded to torrent platforms as the real deal, and include the following:  

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

Computer users that often visit such dangerous platforms are strongly advised to immediately desist from doing so. Such sites can only expose individuals to cybercriminals who may be lying in wait to prey on them. In addition to the risks of infection, making use of copyright contents illegally and without the permission of the original producers can lead to lawsuits and criminal charges when discovered. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage original content creators by patronizing them strictly through their official platforms or authorized affiliates or partners. Whatever amount it may cost to do so is very little compared to the outrageous ransom fees cybercriminals will demand when you become their victim. Likewise, there won’t be risk of your personal sensitive data getting into the wrong hands.  

Another medium cybercriminals often use to spread ransomware is by hiding them in email attachments. They may decide to compose fake but genuine looking messages using platforms like XLS, DOCX and PDF among others that support JavaScript or macro functions. Through these platforms, the virus can be exported to any computer. 

The worrying part is that it could be quite hard to identify real emails from fake malware-carrying ones. This is because they may use decoys and email spoofing techniques to camouflage their real identity while pretending to be from a trusted source such as parcel delivery or online marketing companies. They may name such file as Tracking Details, Invoice or Order Summary to deceive their target victim that it’s actually coming from genuine brands like UPS, eBay or Amazon as the case may be. In situations like this, you may have to apply common sense and ask yourself, is there any reason why I should receive such emails in my inbox? If there isn’t any cogent reason then it should be a red flag. 

Victims of ransomware should avoid any website or platform that claims to offer decryption services because such bogus claims are usually fake and cybercriminals often use the so-called STOP/DJVU decryptors to spread other variants of ransomware like ZORAB. At the moment, only Emsisoft and DiskTuna have reliable STOP/DJVU decryption/repair tools. 

More information about ROBM virus

This section provides technical details and would help you to know more about the extent your computer was compromised during ROBM ransomware attack. The first thing the virus does after infiltrating a computer system is to establish build.exe or build2.exe algorithm as well as winupdate.exe (which simulate fake window update display). It then makes a connection with https[:]//api.2ip.ua/geo.json, before saving the result in geo.json file. Thereafter, the malware begins to extract all vital details about the computer such as its geolocation, time zone, zip code, latitude and longitude and all other software and hardware details it deems important. These details are then forwarded to the control server. 

Shown below is a display of geo.json file contents.

From the extracted information, the malware will profile the country code against their database to ascertain if the location is in any of their encryption exempted countries, particularly; Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Kazachstan, Tajikistan and Armenia. If it matches with any of the listed countries, they will automatically stop any further action. However, if it doesn’t match, it will proceed and create an online encryption key along with the victim’s ID and then save them both on the bowsakkdestx.txt file and the ID separately to PersonalID.txt file. 

An image of these files is displayed below.

However, the malware will make use of an offline encryption ID peradventure it fails to obtain an online one. The major difference between an online and offline key is that the latter is uniform for all victims. You can distinguish if an offline key was used if the individual ID has t1 characters at the end of it. It may interest you to note that the use of offline key brightens your chance of decrypting .robm files.

Moreover, the ransomware takes a screenshot of the victim’s desktop and collects information regarding installed software, active processes and hardware details into information.txt file. The virus then sends the screenshot and the text file to its server as well. A screenshot of the information.txt file is shown below.

The next stage of the malware compromising process is the data encryption proper by scanning the entire folders. It then encrypts them using Salsa20 before using the RSA-2048 key to lock the encryption. While this is going on, it will identify each file with additional extension.

The image below shows _readme.txt ransom note dropped in each folder.

At this point, all Volume Shadow Copies will be deleted by the malware with the aid of Command Prompt task as displayed below; 

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

In concluding the process, the virus will send certain domain names to the Windows HOSTS file and connects them to the localhost IP. This move effectively prevents the victim from having access to any of the websites in the list. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error message may appear each time an attempt to access them is made. They do this in order to prevent the user from getting possible help online. At this juncture, the virus may increase the malware load on the victim’s computer through VIDAR Trojan. 

Remove ROBM Ransomware Virus and Recover Your Files

Like we stated earlier, victims of this variant of malware should report to relevant local authorities as soon as they can and also remove ROBM ransomware virus ASAP (you can follow the guideline provided below). You can equally follow the explanation below on how you can start your computer using the Safe Mode with Networking. This option will enable the antivirus to optimally remove all traces of the malware. If you have any reliable antivirus that is capable of doing this perfectly, you can go ahead and make use of it. Otherwise, we recommend INTEGO Antivirus because it has been proven to be absolutely effective. 

Once you remove the ransomware, you may want to download RESTORO to scan your computer for free. This software can identify virus damage to the system and repair it without the need to reinstall the operating system.

Post ROBM ransomware virus removal guide as recommended by our experts: 

• Get in touch with relevant local authorities and inform them about the cyber-attack.
• Restore your data with a backup device (ensure your computer is 100% free of the virus before doing this).
• Study how to decrypt STOP/DJVU-encrypted files.
• Change all passwords associated with the compromised computer.

Not sure of what antivirus to use? Then we strongly advise you to go for INTEGO Antivirus, it is a top notch antivirus that will give your computer system all-round protection.

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.