The cybercriminals will notify the victim that FUTM ransomware virus has totally encrypted their entire database, including vital documents, pictures, etc. Only when the victim fulfills their ransom demand would decrypt the files so it can be useful to them once again. Contained in the message are two email addresses (manager@mailtemp.ch and helprestoremanager@airmail.cc.) they purposely attached to communicate between both parties. They will also give a breakdown of the strict payment condition they must abide to. The ransom has to be paid within 72 hours if the victim wants to experience a 50% ransom fee slash which will bring down the cost to $490, but if they fail to pay within 3 days, they would have to pay the maximum fee of $980. If the victim reaches out to them, he would be told to pay the exact fee in cryptocurrency into a particular wallet address that would be made available to him. They use this medium in order to remain anonymous and evade arrest. They will suggest to the victim to forward any portion of the files to them for decryption as a way of convincing him of their expertise in restoring the encrypted data. However, they will still emphasize that such a portion must not contain any important data. Our cybersecurity department announced that following the FBI’s guidelines is the right thing to do, and ransom demands from the cyber criminals should never be consented to. Paying the ransom is a big gamble, and it’s not worth it since there is no guarantee that they will restore the files even after receiving payment. Also, when you pay them, you are inadvertently encouraging them to continue in their criminal activities, considering they will have more funds to expand their nefarious activities. Another factor to consider is that the virus can release data-stealing Trojans like AZORULT or VIDAR as a secondary attack on the already compromised computer, and it will covertly extract important personal information such as banking details, various passwords saved in your browser, software login details, cryptocurrency wallets, and browsing history etc. Such vital details in the hands of cybercriminals can lead to blackmails and other crimes aimed at extorting more money from the victim. If you’re already a victim to this STOP/DJVU variant malware attack, endeavor to remove FUTM ransomware virus ASAP. Scanning a strong and genuine antivirus while your computer is in “Safe Mode with Networking” would enable it to detect and remove any malware virus found within it. You can make use of any antivirus you deem fit but always ensure it is genuine and reliable. Our team recommends INTEGO Antivirus which has excellent malware detection rate and provides robust computer and network traffic protection. Additionally, we recommend victims to download RESTORO to repair damage caused for Windows OS files.

Ransomware Summary

REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE

All you need to know about ransomware distribution

STOP/DJVU ransomware variants such as FUTM virus are spread through malicious torrents. They often hibernate in pirated license activation tools and crack/key generators as well as in pirated software copies but will become active and infect computers when users try to upload those harmful contents they downloaded from malicious torrents. Various victims have reported diverse classes of software used by cybercriminals to spread this malware and they include the following:

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

Certain users often seek for software torrents online because they don’t want to pay for such software content or tools, but this is a dangerous thing to do and absolutely not worth the trouble. Each time they get involved in such activity, they end up putting their computer systems at risk of ransomware attack. In addition, it also puts the users at risk of possible prosecutions for copyright violations. Aside the negative consequences attached to it, it also comes with moral baggage. Obtaining products of software developers without paying for it is unfair and negatively affects the industry. Always remember that whatever amount you spend to obtain software products legitimately through their official channels pales to insignificance compared to the obscene amounts you will be asked to pay if you become a victim to ransomware attack. Another avenue cybercriminals use is spreading malware is through malicious email attachments. They will create “real” looking but unsolicited email messages with attachments in PDF, DOCX or XLS formats. Why they mostly use these platforms is because they enable JavaScript and other macro functions which they can use to attach the malware. STOP/DJVU ransomware attack can be a painful experience, but victims should be wary of any website that claims to have the ability to decrypt files. Some of these sites were established by cybercriminals who equally take advantage of victims desperate to retrieve their files by releasing other STOP/DJVU ransomware variants such as ZORAB. At the moment, there is no reliable solution to encrypted files except the repair tools from Emsisoft and DiskTuna.

Further information about FUTM Ransomware Virus

To know more about the extent your computer was compromised by the FUTM ransomware attack, you can go through the information here. The first thing the malware does is to mount a set of build.exe or build2.exe as well as winupdate.exe. Afterwards, it links up with https[:]//api.2ip.ua/geo.json before saving the response to a geo.json file. Ultimately, the malware picks every relevant information computer such as its geolocation, time zone, longitude and latitude, and zip code, etc. This information is forwarded to their server. The image below depicts how geo.json file looks like. One striking thing the virus does is to profile the country code where the computer is domiciled to know if it falls among their list of exempted countries. Note that the following countries are encryption-exempted: Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazachstan. If the virus realizes that the victim resides in any of the countries in their list, it will automatically stop the attack. However, suppose the victim’s geolocation is not exempted. In that case, the ransomware will extract a random encryption key from their remote database and will join it to the victim’s ID before saving them on the bowsakkdestx.txt file and also to PersonalID.txt file. Below is a screenshot of these files. If the virus couldn’t create any online encryption ID for any reason, it will resort to an offline one. However, this offline encryption ID will be uniform for all victims affected by that malware variant. When t1 characters are appended at the end of the victim’s personal ID, it shows that computer was affected by an offline key. The good thing about this is that with offline key, you can possibly decrypt .futm files in the future. The data encryption now commences fully by scanning all folders and encrypting them with Salsa20; afterward, it uses RSA-2048 to lock the encryption key. The image below shows a folder containing encrypted files. You can also see a screenshot of the _readme.txt ransom note left in each folder, as shown in the image below. Making use of the Command Prompt task: vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All/Quiet, the virus will delete Volume Shadow Copies. Additionally, the virus collects hardware specifications, installed software list and active processes and saves them to information.txt file, plus sends it to the attacker’s Command&Control server. Lastly, the malware will add an additional number of domains to the Windows Hosts file and associate them to a localhost IP. This move will automatically prevent the victim from having access to any of the denylisted websites. When they make an attempt to access them, a DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error message may appear on the screen. The aim of the cybercriminals is to preempt any attempt by the victim to seek any help online. Additional malware such as AZORULT Trojan could be dropped at this point. You can learn how to boot your system in Safe Mode with Networking. Note that once you put your computer in this setup, it hibernates most other Windows functions, thereby enabling the antivirus to penetrate and effectively get rid of the malware.

Remove FUTM Ransomware Virus and Recover Your Files

Victims of this malware variant should remove the FUTM ransomware without delay and equally report the incident to relevant local authorities. You can follow the steps outlined below as a guide. We also want to emphasize how important it is to armor your computer with a robust antivirus to avoid computer infections. If you do not have one yet, our team suggests you to use INTEGO Antivirus for cleansing your computer from malware. It is tested and trusted and has proven reliable in removing all traces of viruses that may linger in your computer and can also prevent future malware attacks as well. Additionally, we recommend downloading RESTORO for virus damage repair on Windows OS files. Once you have prepared the security software and other tools, we recommend running them in Safe Mode with Networking to ensure that viruses won’t interfere the FUTM virus removal process. Here are additional recommendations for victim of ransomware. Please follow them accordingly:

Inform relevant local authorities about the attack as soon as you can.You can restore your lost files with the help of a backup, but make sure there is no trace of malware left in your computer before plugging in any external device.Go for tutorials so you can understand how to decrypt/repair STOP/DJVU encrypted files.Replace all old passwords associated with the computer with new ones.

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 FUTM 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 FUTM 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 FUTM files

Fix and open large FUTM 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. FUTM 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 FUTM files, follow the given tutorial.

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The FUTM 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 FUTM 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 FUTM 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.