Jormungand Ransomware - How to remove

Jormungand is a malicious ransomware program. Jormungand encrypts user files and gives them a new file extension, “glock”. It then tells the victim that, if they want to get their data back, they have to contact the people behind Jormungand and pay a ransom. If your computer got infected with Jormungand, it’s safest to avoid contacting the extortionists and consider other ways of restoring your data.

About Jormungand ransomware:

Threat type	Ransomware.
How Jormungand ransomware works	It locks documents, media, and other files, it changes the names of the locked files, it creates ransom notes to encourage the victim to contact the extortionists.
Options for getting your data back	Restore your files from backups, use data recovery programs to undelete files, repair corrupted files.
How to remove Jormungand ransomware	Use antivirus programs, such as Spyhunter, to delete Jormungand.

How does Jormungand ransomware work?

Jormungand ransomware was discovered by a malware researcher at the beginning of April. So far, it’s unclear if this malware is related to any other ransomware family.

Since Jormungand is so new, not everything is yet known about it. But here are a few basic facts:

• It locks user files, such as documents, media files (photos, music, etc.), archives, text and code files, and other files.
• It changes the names of the locked files, giving them the suffix “glock”.
• After that, Jormungand creates ransom notes called READ-ME-NOW.txt.
• In the ransom notes, Jormungand’s creators threaten that they downloaded files from the infected computer. They threaten that they’ll expose those files if the victim doesn’t pay the ransom.
• Jormungand’s creators want the victim to contact them via email ([email protected]) to find out how they can get their data back (how much money it’ll cost).

Jormungand ransomware is so far just a one-off ransomware threat, similar to DEcovid19 or JoJoCrypt. Hopefully, it’ll fade away and won’t appear again.

Apparently, there’s also an anime called Jormungand. I wonder if the authors of this malware are fans.

Options for getting back your data

Needless to say, if Jormungand infected your computer, it’s not advised to contact the criminals. Since this ransomware is so new and unpopular, there’s no way to know if the extortionists can be trusted to keep their promise and help you get your data back. And even if the extortionists do keep their promise, who knows what kinds of bugs their decryption software has.

If you do decide to contact the people behind Jormungand, remember to stay anonymous. Do not let the criminals know anything about yourself.

If you have backups of your data, then you only need to remove Jormungand and other malware before restoring your data.

But even if you don’t have backups of your files, there might still be a few options available to you. For example, file recovery programs (such as EaseUS) can undelete files and may be able to bring some of them back. In addition, file repair tools might help you restore some (definitely not all) data from some of the Jormungand-encrypted files.

You might also keep the data that Jormungand locked and check Nomoreransom.org from time to time. It’s possible, although unlikely, that Jormungand will get a decryptor.

Could Jormungand really have stolen some of your data? It’s possible, but it’s also likely to be an empty threat.

How to remove Jormungand ransomware

Use antivirus programs to find and delete Jormungand and other malware. You can use Spyhunter or any other good quality antivirus program.

The researcher who discovered Jormungand shared a sample and you can find its scan results on this Virustotal.com page. Jormungand gets labeled a Trojan, Malware, Malicious, Ransom, and Filecoder by various antivirus scanners.

The files that Jormungand encrypted – the ones marked with the Glock extension – are not dangerous, so you don’t have to delete them.

Finally, it’s important to consider how Jormungand infected your device so that you can stop more infections from happening. Ransomware spreads in spam email, through vulnerable RDP connections, through malicious ads, among other ways.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover Jormungand Ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Glock/Jormungand Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Jormungand Ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to Glock/Jormungand Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Jormungand Ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually Glock/Jormungand Ransomware tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Jormungand Ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.