Just like any other typical ransomware, NUHB virus seeks to extort the computer user by locking personal or work files stored on it and offering a solution – purchase the suggested decryption tool and a dedicated decryption key or lose files for good. The ransom note recommends writing to the criminals via provided email addresses which are support@sysmail.ch and supportsys@airmail.cc, respectively. The _readme.txt note also contains conditions regarding the ransom payment. According to the message, the criminals are willing to provide a 50% discount on the initial ransom and settle for $490, but only in case the victim pays the ransom within 72 hours of being infected. If the victim fails to fit into this timeframe, the criminals will demand paying the full amount which is $980. In both cases, the criminals will ask you to purchase cryptocurrency worth the said amount and transfer it to the virtual wallet address they will provide. This transaction method prevents law enforcement agencies such as FBI from tracking them down. On top of that, the ransomware operators introduce their “test decryption service” which the victim can use. They suggest attaching one encrypted file (preferably one that doesn’t contain valuable information) to the email and sending it along victim’s personal ID to the provided email addresses. They promise to reply with a decrypted file version attached. The reason behind this test decryption service is to encourage the victim to pay up. FBI and the community of cybersecurity experts strongly advise against ransom payments because it doesn’t guarantee data recovery and helps the attackers to create even more malware. Besides, evaluate the risk of becoming a target again, because cybercriminals often tend to target those who are willing to pay up. Analysis of this ransomware revealed that it has a tendency to avoid encrypting files in computers located in specific countries, including Russia, Belarus, Syria, Armenia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Kazachstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. To find out the infected computer’s location, the virus requests a response from https[:]//api.2ip.ua/geo.json and saves the outcome to the geo.json file. It contains IP address, city, country, zip code, longitude and latitude of the computer. Speaking of additional damages inflicted by this ransomware, we must mention that it typically travels along VIDAR and AZORULT, both known for being dangerous Trojans capable of stealing private information from victim’s computer. For example, their functionalities include allowing remote access to victim’s computer, stealth of login credentials, banking information, browsing history and cookies and more. With their hands on such data, crooks can continue to blackmail you via email. Computer users who have been hit by this malware are recommended to run a full system scan using a trustworthy antivirus to remove NUHB ransomware virus safely. Before doing so, do not forget to boot your PC in Safe Mode with Networking first. After the malware removal is complete, consider our recommendation to download RESTORO (secure download link) to scan, identify and repair virus damage to Windows OS files.

Ransomware Summary

REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE Screenshot of files encrypted by this ransomware is provided below. Contents of _readme.txt ransom note are shown below.

Ransomware distribution explained

Computer viruses that fall into ransomware category are mostly pushed via drive-by downloads, fake software updates, malicious email attachments, pirated software versions and similar channels. When inspecting distribution methods used to spread STOP/DJVU ransomware including NUHB virus, we have noticed that the majority of victims report noticing their files encrypted after downloading a pirated software version via torrents or rogue websites online. You should be very careful when choosing a place to download a desired computer program from. Our team advises you to avoid shady websites offering “100% free full and safe” software versions that are typically premium products that can only be activated using unique license keys. These keys should be purchased via the official software developer’s website. If you try to activate such programs using software cracks or keygens, there is a great chance that your computer will get contaminated with unwanted programs that can inflict severe damage to your personal information or files. Victims who were previously infected with STOP/DJVU versions report being tricked by the ransomware which was hidden in pirated versions of these popular programs:

Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop/Premiere Pro;AutoCad;Cubase;Virtual DJ Pro;VMware Workstation;Tenorshare 4ukey;Corel Draw;League of Legends;Internet Download Manager.

That said, we strongly recommend that you download your programs from trustworthy websites only. The same can be said about software updates – you should never trust aggressive online ads suggesting that your programs are outdated. If you’re unsure, head to the official software developer’s website and check for secure updates here. Fake software update tools pushed via malicious ads are a very common source of malware infections. Another ransomware distribution method that cybercriminals actively use is distributing malware through malicious email spam. They compose convincing documents named as Invoice, Order Summary, Payment Details or similar and inject some malicious script into it. Such documents typically arrive in DOCX, PDF, EXCEL or similar formats and, after being launched, the malicious script in them downloads and runs the ransomware payload on the computer. We do understand that you’d like to decrypt your files as soon as possible. However, we recommend that you read about only available data decryption/repair tools at the moment that can only be used under certain circumstances. Beware that there are a lot of fake websites advertising file decryption tools, however, these tools are full of malware that can cause even more damage to your computer.

Remove NUHB Ransomware Virus and Decrypt Your Files

Take action to remove NUHB ransomware virus without a delay. To initiate a computer scan using a trustworthy antivirus software in a more secure environment, we recommend booting your computer in Safe Mode with Networking. After the antivirus does the cleaning of malicious remains, we recommend you to download this tool RESTORO (secure download link) to repair virus damage on Windows OS files. After completing NUHB ransomware removal, read these recommendations:

Report the ransomware attack to your local police department.Data backups can be used to restore lost files. If you didn’t have any, try recovering as much files as you can using various sources – such as your phone, SD cards, cloud storage. You can also recover the majority of files from the Downloads folder since these files were downloaded from external sources.Read about ways STOP/DJVU encrypted files could be decrypted or repaired.Change all passwords associated with the compromised computer.

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 NUHB 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 NUHB 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 NUHB files

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

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The NUHB 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 NUHB 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 NUHB 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.