The _readme.txt note informs that all personal files, such as photos, videos, archives, databases and music files were encrypted with the strongest algorithm, and that the only way of restoring files is paying the ransom for cybercriminals. The note suggests that victim should rush to contact the attackers via provided emails within 3 days, which guarantees lower URNB file decryption software price – $490 in Bitcoin. Otherwise, the price bounces back to full, $980 in Bitcoin. The attackers even suggest testing the decryption tool – they ask to send them one small file for test decryption and promise to send back restored file version. This trick is used by many ransomware operators to convince the victim transfer the money for them. However, paying cybercriminals is a strict no (according to cyber security specialists and FBI). Some reasons not to pay up include:

Paying the ransom doesn’t necessarily mean you will recover your files. The criminals might start asking for more money, claim they have stolen your files and threaten to publish them online if you won’t transfer more money.Listening to cybercriminals’ demands and transferring money to them means encourages them to continue their activities and target more people. In addition, the amounts ransomware operators extort from victims each year tempts other people join this crime industry as well.Ransom payments might be illegal in your country.This ransomware silently installs information stealer on your computer (AZORULT Trojan), which can steal various sensitive data including passwords, cryptocurrency wallets and other private details. This can lead to serious problems, including financial losses.

More interesting details about this ransomware

URNB ransomware virus not only encrypts your personal files, but performs a list of other unwanted activities on the system. To prevent the victim from restoring files easily, it executes Command prompt commands to delete Volume Shadow Copies from the system. Next, it modifies Windows HOSTS file to block certain domains (IPs) so that the victim couldn’t access them via web browser. Most of these domains are computer-help related, meaning that the ransomware operators are trying to block sources of cyberattack-related information. Finally, variants of STOP/DJVU ransomware tend to drop information-stealing Trojan on compromised computers. The name of malware used is AZORULT. This malicious Trojan has a lengthy list of functionalities and is capable of stealing information including, but not limited to:

Telegram and Steam login credentials;Browsing history and cookies;Cryptocurrency wallets;Skype chat history;Browser-saved passwords.

In addition to this, the said malware can be used as a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) to execute various commands on the compromised system, such as deleting or downloading files and more. For your security and privacy, we strongly recommend you to remove URNB ransomware virus along with all malware present on your computer and take actions to recover your data today. For virus removal, consider using your security software, then finish the cleaning and repair virus damage on Windows OS files using RESTORO.

Ransomware Details

Avoid ransomware infections easily: common distribution tricks

URBN ransomware’s most commonly used distribution method is closely tied to illegal online downloads. This technique has been long used for distribution of other STOP/DJVU variants. It appears that the ransomware operators hide malware payloads in illegal torrents, mostly copyright-protected software or game versions. These can be found on various file sharing websites and downloaded via torrent clients. Unfortunately, users who look for cracked software versions are also willing to ignore their security software warnings about potential malware, thinking these are simply false alarms. Unfortunately, cracked software is a well-known and popular malware distribution tool. If you’re looking for a specific software or a movie online, make sure you access it using legitimate sources only. If you come across websites that offer paid products for free, it is either a scam or most likely malicious. Please, stay away from such downloads if you want to keep your data secure and avoid having to deal with financial or private data losses. Another common way to spread malware is distributing it over email spam. The criminals typically create emails suggesting there is an important document or invoice that the user needs to review and reply as soon as possible. Using well-known and reputable company names and logos is also a technique that is used to convince the victim the email is legit. Besides, with techniques like email address spoofing, it is getting harder and harder to identify deceptive emails. Our recommendation is to stick with emails that you actually waited and communicate with on a regular basis. Do not let your curiosity trick you into opening a highly infectious email attachment or link sent by crooks. Finally, criminals tend to distribute malware via fake online ads. That said, you can come across Adobe Flash Player or Java update suggestions that’ll simply drop malware on your computer. These ads can pop-up when visiting highly untrustworthy websites, typically adult-only or gambling related. Additionally, be careful when looking for ransomware decryptors online. Cybercriminals know that ransomware victims search for these tools desperately, so they might set up another trap to infect the victim with even more malware. For example, Zorab ransomware operators were advertising a fake STOP/DJVU decryption tool to spread their own malware via it.

Remove URNB ransomware virus as soon as possible

You should remove URNB ransomware virus as quickly as you can, because keeping it and related malware on your computer leaves it vulnerable to other cyberattacks. The easiest way to remove such kind of virus is deleting it in Safe Mode with Networking as explained below. After URNB ransomware virus removal, do not forget to report cybercrime incident to a corresponding authority in your country. For your own security, we recommend changing all of your passwords for social media, emails and other accounts (due to possibility of Azorult’s installation). Finally, start testing file recovery/repair methods explained below. 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 URNB ransomware 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 URNB ransomware 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 URNB files

Fix and open large URNB 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. URNB ransomware 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 URNB files, follow the given tutorial.

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The URNB 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 URNB 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 URNB ransomware 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.