This article aims to help you remove the MOON DECRYPTOR ransomware virus from your computer and restore files that have been encrypted with the .fmoon file extension added.
A new ransomware virus, calling itself MOON or MOON DECRYPTOR has been detected by malware researchers to encrypt files on computers it infects, adding the .fmoon file extension. The virus aims to use the AES and RSA ciphers in order to generate unique decryption keys stored in a decrypter for which the user must pay a hefty ransom to receive. If you are one of the victims of MOON DECRYPTOR ransomware, we strongly advise you to read this article and learn how to remove it and get your files back without having to pay anything.
Threat Summary
| Name | .fmoon Virus |
| Type | Ransomware, Cryptovirus |
| Short Description | Virus from the file encryption kind. Renders your files temporarily useless until you pay a hefty ransom fee to get them back. |
| Symptoms | The files are no longer openable with an added .fmoon file extension to them. A “decryptor” pops up with instructions how to pay a ransom fee to get the files back. |
| Distribution Method | Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files |
| Detection Tool |
See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware
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Malware Removal Tool
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss .fmoon Virus. |
| Data Recovery Tool | Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive. |
How Does MOON DECRYPTOR Spread
In order for this ransomware virus to infect unsuspecting users, the cyber-crooks may trick them into opening an infection file or a web link. Such objects may be spread into multiple different methods, the most often used of which is to infect computers via e-mail spam. Such infection process is usually conducted with the classic social engineering technique – deceiving potential victims that they have received an important file, like an invoice, letter of confirmation, bank account statement, hijacked account report or other type of important file. The messages accompanying the file are also deceptive, for example:
Besides via e-mail, this ransomware virus may also be spread via multiple different methods, for instance if it has been uploaded online as a fake setup of software, game patch, crack or any other seemingly legitimate type of program.
MOON DECRYPTOR – Analysis
Once this virus has been activated on your computer system, it may immediately drop it’s malicious files on the user’s computer. As soon as it drops those virus, the ransomware may immediately focus on modifying your computer system, more particularly insert processes in Windows Task Manager, the usage of which may result in MOON DECRYPTOR to obtaind administrative permissions on your computer. The virus may also modify the Windows Registry Editor of the infected computer, more specifically attack the Run and RunOnce registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
In addition to this, MOON DECRYPTOR ransomware may also delete your shadow volume copy backed up files, by using a batch file which it executes without your knowledge. The commands it may insert in the background are the following:
In addition to this, the virus also sets a ransom note, named MOON DECRYPTOR which appears like the following:
Image Source: id-ransomware.blogspot.bg
Text from the image:
MOON DECRYPTOR
WHAT HAPPENED ???
Oops all your data are encrypted !!
This is a ransomware AES 256 + RS A 1024!! Look at Wikipedia for morę informations
Please pay before 20 minutes oryour datalll be lost forever. I’ll delete a file per minutę after!
Copy and past this link in Internet Explorer or Firefox :
https://10.10.3.1/panel/decipher.php
and enter your informations :
Your UUID :
Encrypted key iBtSvjYAVWaJslcc4Hn/nMIMrg+bUgA0W4g***
If you obtain your passord, take it here and click on RECOVER
button {RECOVER}
MOON DECRYPTOR – Encryption Process
For the file encryption, MOON ENCRYPTOR uses a strong combination of the following encryption algorithms:
- AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).
- RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman).
The AES cipher is used by this virus to encrypt the data in the files themselves. But no all the data of the files is encrypted, only blocks of it. The AES cipher generates decryption keys which are in turn encrypted with the RSA cipher, generating unique private and public keys, that are required for the decryption of the files.
The MOON DECRYPTOR virus targets primarily important files on your computer, such as documents, videos, audio files and other types of files. The file extensions targeted may be most of the following:
→ “PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG ..CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG”Source:fileinfo.com
To the files locked by MOON DECRYPTOR, the file extenson .fmoon is added, making them appear like the example below:
→ New Text Document.txt.fmoon
Remove MOON Ransomware and Restore .fmoon Encrypted Files
In order to remove this ransomware from your computer, we strongly suggest that you focus on backing your files beforehand. After doing so, you can go ahead and follow the instructions for the removal below. They are divided in manual and automatic and for maximum effectiveness, security experts always recommend removing viruses, like MOON automatically using the specific removal software for this purpose.
If you want to restore your files, in the event that they have been encrypted by MOON DECRYPTOR virus, you can go ahead and follow the alternative file recovery methods below in step “2. Restore files encrypted by .fmoon Virus.” They are specifically designed to help you recover as many files as possible without having to pay any form of ransom.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
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Attention! SensorsTechForum strongly recommends that all malware victims should look for assistance only by reputable sources. Many guides out there claim to offer free recovery and decryption for files encrypted by ransomware viruses. Be advised that some of them may only be after your money.
As a site that has been dedicated to providing free removal instructions for ransomware and malware since 2014, SensorsTechForum’s recommendation is to only pay attention to trustworthy sources.
How to recognize trustworthy sources:
- Always check "About Us" web page.
- Profile of the content creator.
- Make sure that real people are behind the site and not fake names and profiles.
- Verify Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter personal profiles.
How to Remove .fmoon Virus from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove .fmoon Virus
Step 2: Uninstall .fmoon Virus and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by .fmoon Virus on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by .fmoon Virus there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Step 4: Scan for .fmoon Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Step 5 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by .fmoon Virus.
Ransomware infections and .fmoon Virus aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
Get rid of .fmoon Virus from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall .fmoon Virus and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove .fmoon Virus via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 3 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by .fmoon Virus.
Ransomware infections and .fmoon Virus aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
.fmoon Virus FAQ
What is .fmoon Virus ransomware and how does it work?
.fmoon Virus is a ransomware infection - the malicious software that enters your computer silently and blocks either access to the computer itself or encrypt your files.
Many ransomware viruses use sophisticated encryption algorithm how to make your files inaccessible. The goal of ransomware infections is to demand that you pay a ransom payment to get access to your files back.
How does .fmoon Virus ransomware infect my computer?
Via several ways..fmoon Virus Ransomware infects computers by being sent via phishing e-mails, containing virus attachment.
This attachment is usually masked as an important document, like an invoice, bank document or even a plane ticket and it looks very convincing to users.
After you download and execute this attachment, a drive-by download occurs and your computer is infected with the ransomware virus.
Another way, you may become a victim of .fmoon Virus is if you download a fake installer, crack or patch from a low reputation website or if you click on a virus link. Many users report getting a ransomware infection by downloading torrents.
How to open ..fmoon Virus files?
You can't. At this point the ..fmoon Virus files are encrypted. You can only open them once they are decrypted.
Decryptor did not decrypt my data. What now?
Do not panic and backup the files. If a decryptor did not decrypt your ..fmoon Virus files successfully, then do not despair, because this virus is still new.
One way to restore files, encrypted by .fmoon Virus ransomware is to use a decryptor for it. But since it's a new virus, advised that the decryption keys for it may not be out yet and available to the public. We will update this article and keep you posted as soon as this decryptor is released.
How Do I restore "..fmoon Virus" files (Other Methods)?
Yes, sometimes files can be restored. We have suggested several file recovery methods that could work if you want to restore ..fmoon Virus files.
These methods are in no way 100% guarantee that you will be able to get your files back. But if you have a backup, your chances of success are much greater.
How do I get rid of .fmoon Virus ransomware virus?
The safest way and the most efficient one for the removal of this ransomware infection is the use a professional anti malware software. It will scan for and locate .fmoon Virus ransomware and then remove it without causing any additional harm to your important ..fmoon Virus files.
Also, keep in mind that viruses like .fmoon Virus ransomware also install Trojans and keyloggers that can steal your passwords and accounts. Scanning your computer with an anti-malware software will make sure that all of these virus components are removed and your computer is protected in the future.
What to Do If nothing works?
There is still a lot you can do. If none of the above methods seem to work for you, then try these methods:
- Try to find a safe computer from where you can can login on your own line accounts like One Drive, iDrive, Google Drive and so on.
- Try to contact your friends, relatives and other people so that they can check if they have some of your important photos or documents just in case you sent them.
- Also, check if some of the files that were encrypted it can be re-downloaded from the web.
- Another clever way to get back some of your files is to find another old computer, a flash drive or even a CD or a DVD where you may have saved your older documents. You might be surprised what will turn up.
- You can also go to your email account to check if you can send any attachments to other people. Usually what is sent the email is saved on your account and you can re-download it. But most importantly, make sure that this is done from a safe computer and make sure to remove the virus first.
More tips you can find on our forums, where you can also asks any questions about your ransomware problem.
