Nvetud Cryptovirus - How to remove

Nvetud cryptovirus has been noticed by ransomware researchers recently. This infection is familiar to them — it’s a new incarnation of the STOP virus — and is not to be taken lightly. Nvetud corrupts most of the data on the computer, potentially costing the victims all of their personal files and even infecting their computer with spyware.

Nvetud has a lot of similarities with other file-encrypting viruses, such as V6cye,  Adame, and Eris. The goal of Nvetud’s and the other viruses’ developers is to make money, which they do by spreading their infection and then telling the victims that they will restore the files for the price of a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars. The STOP cryptovirus family has been active since December of 2017, so this scheme must be profitable enough for the extortionists to keep it going and to keep releasing new versions. And while it would be great if law enforcement went after these people, their victims are small, individual people with not much power. We must be careful and ready for ransomware and take our security into our own hands. But you might also consider reporting this incident to law enforcement in your country.

Features and dangers of Nvetud

Nvetud is a dangerous computer virus that can block certain websites on the infected machine and even disable your installed antivirus program. The infection relies on locking your files before it’s caught, which means that it needs to be fast. Nvetud contacts the criminals’ server to receive an encryption key and uses it for the cryptographic algorithm. If it can’t receive the key (for example, your or the criminals’ internet isn’t working), it still locks the files — but using a hardcoded key. The researcher known as Demonslay335 (he has dedicated a lot of effort to fighting STOP) sometimes finds this hardcoded key and updates his tool, STOPDecrypter, to decrypt those files. Read his post about it. Nvetud isn’t yet supported, but it might be in the near future.

If you noticed Nvetud while it’s running, it’s best to shut down the computer — that way, the virus can’t continue to do any harm. But it’s too fast in most cases to catch it. While Nvetud is working, you might notice your files getting the “.nvetud” extension appended to their names.

picture.jpg.nvetud

Possibly, a Windows Update pop-up window shows up to justify the computer resources suddenly being used. You might also notice the ransom note in your folders, something like “_readme”. This file is safe to open, as are all the encrypted files — just don’t edit those files before making backups if you plan on waiting for a decryption solution.

While the criminals promise that they can undo the damage that Nvetud did, the amount of money that they ask for is very high ($490 or $980), there are no refunds, and the criminals are not trustworthy (lots of crypto extortionists fail to send the decryption tools even after they’re paid —  they might demand more money or just not have the time to keep their promise). No way to save all the other victims because the decryption keys are unique to each one. Not to mention, paying Nvetud’s developers would be funding their illegal and harmful activity. So, please, avoid contacting them unless you absolutely have to.

Whether or not you have backups of your files (and if you do, you don’t need to worry about how to decrypt your data), it’s still worth worrying about keeping it private. A password stealer — known as AZORult — has been noticed installed together with some STOP variants. After you remove this trojan, make sure that you have 2-step verification protecting all the important accounts. You might also want to change your passwords. Just remember to do that on a clean device.

Remove Nvetud

Those who have file backups only need to worry about deleting the viruses before they can use their computer safely again. Others should try using STOPDecrypter, system restore, or data recovery.

Detecting and deleting Nvetud and the other malware can be done using a professional antivirus program, like Spyhunter, or another one on your infected computer.

In the future, avoid downloading files and programs carelessly. Be especially suspicious of cracks and keygens. While STOP used to use Remote Desktop to make it onto people’s devices, Nvetud likely infects cracks and pirated software. If that’s an option to you, look for legally free alternatives — there is no shortage of them online.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover Nvetud Cryptovirus 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 Nvetud Cryptovirus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Nvetud Cryptovirus

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 Nvetud Cryptovirus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Nvetud Cryptovirus 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 Nvetud Cryptovirus 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 Nvetud Cryptovirus 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.