This article has been created in order to help you by explaining how to remove the .NMCRYPT file ransomware from your computer and how to restore .NMCRYPT encrypted files without having to pay ransom.
Another sub-variant of the previously detected .NM4 ransomware (Nmoreira) infection has been detected out in the wild, using the .NMCRYPT file extension. The virus is believed to be a variant of a previously known virus as the “R Cryptovirus”, which is believed to derive from the NMoreira ransomware. It is from the file encryption kind, meaning that the infection aims to encrypt the files on your computer after which set the .NMCRYPT file extension to them and asks the victim to pay a hefty ransom fee to get them to work again. If your computer has been infected by the .NMCRYPT files virus, we recommend that you read this article to learn how to cope with this infection and remove it from your PC plus try to recover your encrypted files afterwards.
Threat Summary
| Name | .NMCRYPT Files Virus |
| Type | Ransomware, Cryptovirus |
| Short Description | Encrypts the files on your computer and asks that you pay around 7000 USD in BitCoin to get your files to work again. |
| Symptoms | The .NMCRYPT files virus leaves behind it’s distinctive file extension and a ransom note, called “Recovers your files.html” which takes the victim to a TOR payment site. |
| Distribution Method | Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files |
| Detection Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by .NMCRYPT Files Virus Download Malware Removal Tool | User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss .NMCRYPT Files 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. |
.NMCRYPT Ransomware – How Does It Infect
The main method of infection, used by the .NMCRYPT ransomware has been reported to be via a malicious file posing as the file svchost.exe, reported in VirusTotal by malware researchers to be with the following parameters:
→ SHA-256 – e192995a42b91bd86aa0c5fe5d4e4aaff1b921bdb10946b1ea67565b5d3164da
Name – scvhost.exe
Size – 1.48 MB
The file may come as a result of multiple different types of tactics used by the criminals to result in a successful infection. They may be more aggressive methods, such as spreading the malicious file as a part of e-mail spam messages, whose primary goal is to trick you into opening the e-mail attachment, which is usually a fake Microsoft Word document or another type of file, posing as a legitimate one. These type of e-mails often pretend that they come from important companies, like PayPal, eBay, LinkedIn, Amazon, DHL, FedEx, etc. Once the victim opens the malicious attachment, it uses an infection script that extracts the malicious file on the victim’s computer. The file which may be extracted by such payload droppers is named svchost.exe and it imitates the legitimate svhost.exe process by Windows in order to evade detection.
.NTCRYPT Files Virus – Analysis
The .NTCRYPT files virus is believed to be a variant of the AiraCrop ransomware, likely the 5th iteration, since the 4th one used the extension NM4 (Nmoreira 4).
Once an infection with this virus occurs, it may start to read different information from the infected computer, such as:
- Computer’s name.
- Current registries.
- Volume shadow service’s settings.
- Current computer security settings.
The virus then obtains administrative permissions my taking control of key Windows processes as a result of injecting malicious code in them. It runs the following commands in Windows Shell as an administrator:
→ /c wevtutil cl Application” on {date and time}
/c wevtutil cl security” on {date and time}
/c wevtutil cl setup” on {date and time}
/c wevtutil cl system” on {date and time}
/c vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows \/All \/Quiet” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%Firebird%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%MSSQL%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%SQL%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%Exchange%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%wsbex%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%postgresql%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%BACKP%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
/c WMIC SERVICE WHERE ‘caption LIKE ‘%tomcat%” CALL STOPSERVICE” on {date and time}
As soon as this is done, the ransomware opens the following services in a control manager
- sc.exe
- net1.exe
Then, the .NMCRYPT ransomware spawns the following Windows processes:
- cmd.exe
- wevtutil.exe
The virus manipulates those processes by injecting the following types of scripted commands within them:
→ /c wevtutil cl Application
/c wevtutil cl security
/c wevtutil cl setup
/c wevtutil cl system
These commands are likely a prerequisite to what the .NMCRYPT ransomware does next, which is to drop it’s malicious payload on the victim’s computer. The payload files are colled as follows:
- ProPlusWW.xml.NMCRYPT
- pkeyconfig-office.xrm-ms.NMCRYPT
- OWOW32WW.cab.NMCRYPT
- ProPsWW.cab.NMCRYPT
- Office32WW.xml.NMCRYPT
- ProPsWW2.cab.NMCRYPT
The files, which pretend to be legitimate Microsoft office data files, are actually the malicious modules of the ransomware. As soon as this is done, the ransomware may touch key files within the Windows’s system directory, in order to change settings of Windows by modifying their structure. The files touched by this infection are reported to be the following:
→ %Windows%\SysWOW64\rsaenh.dll”
%Windows%\Globalization\Sorting\SortDefault.nls
%Windows%\AppPatch\sysmain.sdb
%Windows%\SysWOW64\cmd.exe
%Windows%\Globalization\Sorting\SortDefault.nls”
%Windows%\AppPatch\sysmain.sdb”
%Windows%\SysWOW64\wevtutil.exe”
%Windows%\SysWOW64\en-US\wevtutil.exe.mui”
%Windows%\Globalization\Sorting\SortDefault.nls”
The virus then begins to use the WMIC.exe process for remote access-related activities. It does this by taking advantage of the process, to read the following running services and processes:
- Firebird
- MSSQL
- SQL
- Exchange
- Wsbeex
- Posgresql
- Backup
- Tomcat
- SharePoint
- SBS
If the .NMCRYPT ransomware detects those processes, the virus immediately stops them from running, by using the WMIC.exe with the command “WMIC SERVICE WHERE {NAME} CALL STOPSERVICE”.
The malware does not stop there and it then corrupts the vssadin.exe file in order to delete the shadow volume copies of the infected computer by directly modifying it with the following bytes written directly into the .exe:
→ 7111d9017a3bd801ab8b02007f950200fc8c0200729602006cc805001ecdd5017d26d501
When the virus finishes this, it also drops it’s ransom note file, which is named “Recovers your files.html” and looks like the following image:
The creators of this virus instruct the victim within the ransom note to visit a login page where after they have entered their unique key, they may enter only to see more instructions on how to pay an extremely large sum of money to get their files back:
The difference with the older version of the virus, is that now the crooks want more money (around 7000 USD), suggesting that the virus may target institutions, like government or private organizations’ facilities. And to further stress the importance of paying, they have even added support for the victim via live chat, where they do not reply immediately, but after several hours of writing to them.
.NMCRYPT Ransomware – How Does It Encrypt
The .NMRCRYPT ransomware is believed to scan for the most widely used types of files, like documents, videos, images, audio files and even database files and archives. The ransomware DOES NOT attack files that belong to Windows and also files that have the following file extensions:
→ .bat, .dll, .exe, .ini, .lnk, .msi, .scf
The .NMCRYPT files virus also excludes the following folders or files from encryption:
AppData AVAST Software AVG AVIRA Atheros CONFIG.SYS ESET HakunaMatata IO.SYS MSDOS.SYS NTUSER.DAT NTDETECT.COM Atheros Realtek Recovers files yako.html Recovers your files.html TeamViewer Winrar lntemet Explorer Chrome Firefox Opera Windows boot bootmgr java
The .NMCRYPT ransomware is believed to use the strongest combination of encryption algorithms to encipher files, known as RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) and AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), where the virus uses AES to encrypt the files, resulting in an asymmetric key being generated and the malware also uses the RSA cipher to encode the AES decryption keys. After the encryption has finished, the files appear like the following:
Remove .NMCRYPT Files Virus and Try Restoring Your Data
In order to remove this ransomware infection from your computer, it is advisable to follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They have been created with the primary purpose to help you delete the malicious files and objects of this malware either manually or automatically, based on what you prefer doing. Be advised that an advanced anti-malware tool is recommended for automatic removal by security researchers as the more effective method which will not only remove this virus, but will also completely secure your computer in the future too.
If you want to restore files that have been encrypted by this version of NMoreira ransomware, we advise you to follow the alternative file recovery steps underneath this article In step “2. Restore files, encrypted by .NMCRYPT Files Virus”. They may not be 100% solution to your problem, but may help you to recover as many files as possible.
To remove .NMCRYPT Files Virus follow these steps:
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7.
2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
Before starting the Automatic Removal below, 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.
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for .NMCRYPT Files Virus and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
