This ransomware mainly attacks computer users who end to download pirated software versions through torrents. Additionally, the malicious executables can be found in password-protected archives presented as compressed software setup files.

The ransom note demands money for the criminals

Also, while the above changes are taking place, those behind the attack would equally forward notifications called _readme.txt to different files. These are ransom-demanding messages informing the victim about the situation and why they would have to pay certain fees as ransom before they could be given decryption tools. To scare the victim the more, they would claim that a powerful algorithm was used in the process, which means the victim can’t reverse the process except with their help. At this point, they would also drop two email addresses through which they could be reached i.e. support@bestyourmail.ch, datarestorehelp@airmail.cc. Some victims, especially those with no backup to their essential files may become alarmed and desperate to do whatever it takes to recover them. This may prompt them to write the cybercriminals using any of the emails provided. The cybercriminals would respond by stating the amount that has to be paid as ransom, which they often put at $980 but with a caveat that victims willing to pay within 3 days of being asked to pay would benefit from their 50% ransom fee slash, thus bringing it down to $490. The reason why they make this offer is to influence the victim to pay without delay. Worse still, they would insist that payment can only be made via use of cryptocurrency. This payment option is most convenient for them because it protects their identity. Nevertheless, cyber-attack victims are warned not to communicate with cybercriminals and neither should they comply with any of their demands. This was contained in a memo passed around by the FBI and is equally supported by other reputable cyber security agencies across the globe. From what we understand, the reasons why they maintain such stance are due to the following issues:

There is no guarantee that encrypted files would be recovered even after paying huge sums of money as ransom fees.Those that pay a ransom are usually targeted again in the future, unlike those that don’t.When you pay a ransom, you’re directly funding their criminal activities as it will enable them to expand their operations, thereby putting an increased number of people at risk.

Beware of additional risks involved

Regardless of the fact that more awareness is being focused on the primary malware, it is equally necessary to state that there are other risk factors associated with CCEO ransomware virus. The cybercriminals also attach secondary malware to it, and they’re known as RATs, an acronym that stands for Remote Access Trojans. This particular malware is used for a slightly different purpose, mainly to steal sensitive personal information such as passwords, banking details, and software login details, among others. Once these details get into the wrong hands, they could be used to perpetrate other criminal acts against the victim. It is quite essential to protect your computer against both primary and secondary malware, and in cases where the infection has already taken place, you should remove it as quickly as possible. There are a couple of ways you can remove CCEO ransomware virus, but we strongly recommend the option of Safe Mode with Networking because it is the most efficient. After login in through this option, you can then activate a genuine antivirus. Ensure that the antivirus you’re using has a track record of excellence. In addition to that, you may also consider whether to download RESTORO, especially if you realize that Windows operating system files were affected during the ransomware attack.

Ransomware Summary

REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE See an example of how encrypted files look like in a folder.

Proactive Measures You Can Take To Avoid STOP/DJVU Ransomware Virus

Although it could be stated that every computer is at risk of ransomware attack, but what determines whether a computer remains safe or not depends largely on the activities of the user. Those that indulge in risky activities like visiting online torrent platforms with the aim of downloading cloned software, use of P2P for sharing software, and careless opening of random emails and attachments, mainly when you’re not entirely convinced about its origin, are some of the risky things computer users do that expose them to a ransomware attack. Computer users that visit online torrent platforms should desist from doing so because most ransomware attacks emanate from the use of cloned/pirated software contents. Cybercriminals have realized that some people don’t like paying the official fee for original software contents, so they now pirate the popular ones and embed them with malware before uploading to online torrents. When such unsafe contents are downloaded, the user ends up infecting their computer with malware. The list below shows some of the highly demanded software contents cybercriminals often clone and use as bait:

AutoCad;Adobe Photoshop;Corel Draw;Cubase;Fifa/PES 22;Adobe Illustrator;MS Office;VMware Workstation;League of Legends;Need For Speed;Adobe Premiere Pro;Tenorshare 4ukey;Internet Download Manager.

Instead of making use of these dangerous platforms in downloading needed software, you should rather go to the official web pages of the copyright owners, pay the appropriate fee and download it safely. You should also avoid opening emails and attachments from unknown or spoofed sources. By so doing, your computer would be safe from a ransomware attack, and you won’t lose important files or be asked to pay vast sums of money as ransom fees. Also, note that PDF, DOCX, and XLS have become handy files typically used by cybercriminals. The reason is due to the macro function available in them that makes it convenient for them to attach malware and have it triggered once clicked externally. For STOP/DJVU ransomware victims, you’re advised to stay from any website that makes bogus claims of having decryption tools that work. Most of these claims are false, and they intend to further distribute other types of Trojans. Only a couple of data restoration/decryption tools have shown promising results, and they were developed by DiskTuna and Emsisoft.

Remove CCEO Ransomware Virus & Take Decisive Steps

As we stated earlier, set up the infected computer using Safe Mode with Networking option before scanning your newly activated antivirus software. After you remove CCEO ransomware virus, the steps outlined below should also be taken:

Make use of any available backup device to recover lost files.If the above step is not feasible, then you can research other possible ways STOP/DJVU ransomware corrupted files could be restored.Change all passwords instantly.Inform the police or any other relevant government agency authorized to handle such issues.Consider downloading to repair virus damage to Windows OS files.

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: GeeksAdvice.com editors select recommended products based on their effectiveness. We may earn a commission from affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. Learn more. 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. 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.

Method 1. Enter Safe Mode with Networking

Before you try to remove CCEO Ransomware Virus virus, you must start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking. Below, we provide the easiest ways to boot PC in the said mode, but you can find additional ones in this in-depth tutorial on our website – How to Start Windows in Safe Mode. Also, if you prefer a video version of the tutorial, check our guide How to Start Windows in Safe Mode on Youtube. Instructions for Windows XP/Vista/7 users Instructions for Windows 8/8.1/10/11 users Now, you can search for and remove CCEO Ransomware Virus files. It is very hard to identify files and registry keys that belong to the ransomware virus, Besides, malware creators tend to rename and change them repeatedly. Therefore, the easiest way to uninstall such type of a computer virus is to use a reliable security program such as INTEGO Antivirus. For virus damage repair, consider using RESTORO.

Method 2. Use System Restore

In order to use System Restore, you must have a system restore point, created either manually or automatically. Instructions for Windows XP/Vista/7 users Instructions for Windows 8/8.1/10/11 users After restoring the system, we recommend scanning the system with antivirus or anti-malware software. In most cases, there won’t be any malware remains, but it never hurts to double-check. In addition, we highly recommend checking ransomware prevention guidelines provided by our experts in order to protect your PC against similar viruses in the future.

Alternative software recommendations

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Removing spyware and malware is one step towards cybersecurity. To protect yourself against ever-evolving threats, we strongly recommend purchasing a Premium version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which provides security based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Includes ransomware protection. See pricing options and protect yourself now.

System Mechanic Ultimate Defense If you’re looking for an all-in-one system maintenance suite that has 7 core components providing powerful real-time protection, on-demand malware removal, system optimization, data recovery, password manager, online privacy protection and secure driver wiping technology. Therefore, due to its wide-range of capabilities, System Mechanic Ultimate Defense deserves Geek’s Advice approval. Get it now for 50% off. You may also be interested in its full review.

Disclaimer. This site includes affiliate links. We may earn a small commission by recommending certain products, at no additional cost for you. We only choose quality software and services to recommend.

Decrypt CCEO files

Fix and open large CCEO files easily:

It is reported that STOP/DJVU ransomware versions encrypt only the beginning 150 KB of each file to ensure that the virus manages to affect all files on the system. In some cases, the malicious program might skip some files at all. That said, we recommend testing this method on several big (>1GB) files first.

STOP/DJVU decryption tool usage guide

STOP/DJVU ransomware versions are grouped into old and new variants. CCEO Ransomware Virus is considered the new STOP/DJVU variant, just like BPTO, ISWR, ISZA, BPSM, ZOUU, MBTF, ZNSM (find full list here). This means full data decryption is now possible only if you have been affected by offline encryption key. To decrypt your files, you will have to download Emsisoft Decryptor for STOP DJVU, a tool created and maintained by a genius security researcher Michael Gillespie. Note! Please do not spam the security researcher with questions whether he can recover your files encrypted with online key - it is not possible. In order to test the tool and see if it can decrypt CCEO files, follow the given tutorial.

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The CCEO decryption tool might display several different messages after failed attempt to restore your files. You might receive one of the following messages: Error: Unable to decrypt file with ID: [example ID] This message typically means that there is no corresponding decryption key in the decryptor’s database. No key for New Variant online ID: [example ID]Notice: this ID appears to be an online ID, decryption is impossible This message informs that your files were encrypted with online key, meaning no one else has the same encryption/decryption key pair, therefore data recovery without paying the criminals is impossible. Result: No key for new variant offline ID: [example ID]This ID appears to be an offline ID. Decryption may be possible in the future. If you were informed that an offline key was used, but files could not be restored, it means that the offline decryption key isn’t available yet. However, receiving this message is extremely good news, meaning that it might be possible to restore your CCEO extension files in the future. It can take a few months until the decryption key gets found and uploaded to the decryptor. We recommend you to follow updates regarding the decryptable DJVU versions here. We strongly recommend backing up your encrypted data and waiting.

Victims of CCEO Ransomware Virus should report the Internet crime incident to the official government fraud and scam website according to their country:

In the United States, go to the On Guard Online website.In Australia, go to the SCAMwatch website.In Germany, go to the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik website.In Ireland, go to the An Garda Síochána website.In New Zealand, go to the Consumer Affairs Scams website.In the United Kingdom, go to the Action Fraud website.In Canada, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.In India, go to Indian National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.In France, go to the Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information.

If you can’t find an authority corresponding to your location on this list, we recommend using any search engine to look up “[your country name] report cyber crime”. This should lead you to the right authority website. We also recommend staying away from third-party crime report services that are often paid. It costs nothing to report Internet crime to official authorities. Another recommendation is to contact your country’s or region’s federal police or communications authority.