Purge (Globe) Ransomware [Updated]

What is Purge?

Purge (also known as Globe) is a ransomware-type virus that encrypts files using an RSA encryption algorithm. During encryption, Purge appends the name of each encrypted file with the ".purge" extension (for instance, "sample.jpg" is renamed to "sample.jpg.purge").

Other ransomware originating from this family use: .frmvrlr2017, .vrmrkz, .abc, .[grafcrypt@india.com], .k11p, .CRYPTOBOSS, .Your_files_are_locked, .{d7516@ya.ru}lock, .[no.torp3da@protonmail.ch].wallet, .[strongman@india], .[Gofmen17@Ya.Ru],Crp, .zixer1, .admin@badadmin.xyz, .a95436@ya.ru, .march, .[DATA97@INDIA.COM].AA, .[[Jackondra@Ya.Ru]],Cryptas, decrypt_helper@freemail.hu, .badadmin@india.com, .[jeepdayz@aol.com], .[Daniel_Robinson@India.Com], .openforyou@india.com, .[pingy@india.com], .WormKiller@india.com.xtbl, .[legoo@india.com], .[rafail@india.com], .[ice_angel@india.com], .jeepdayz@india.com, .viper1, .[File-Help@India.Com], .x3mpro, .happydayzz, .1, .bravis@india.com, .vapefile, .oldbat, .[CatShot@india.com], .lock.rescuers@india.com.lock, .wuciwug, .[Bitcash@india.com], .decryptional, .bithash@india.com, .badnews, .decrypt2017, .hnumkhotep, .hnyear, .vnature@india.com, .lock, .decrypr_helper@india.com, .RSA2048, .FROZEN, .helptoyou1@india.com, .ink, .ziptox1, .sorry, .unlockvt@india.com, .helpdecrypt@india.com, .cerber, .cerbers, .lovewindows, .trust, .nazarbayev, .lovewindows, .orgasm, .dcrptme, .gurdian-decrypt@india.com.ps4, .decryptallfiles@india.com, .SGood, .grapn206@india.com, .brute3389@india.com, .x3m, .MK, .exploit, .duhust, .ACRYPT, .zendrz, .UCRYPT, .bahij2@india.com.huyred, .orgasm@india.com, .decryptallfiles3@india.com, .zendr2, .siri-down@india.com, .GSupport3, .raid15, .blackblock, .kyra, .@@@, .cantread, .strike, .gsupport, .globe, .blt, .encrypted and .raid10 extensions. Following successful encryption, Purge opens a "How to restore files.hta" containing a ransom-demand message.

The message states that files have been encrypted using an RSA (asymmetric cryptography) algorithm and that they can only be restored using a unique decryptor. Be aware that two keys (public [encryption] and private [decryption]) are generated when encrypting files with asymmetric cryptography.

Decryption is, in fact, impossible without the private key. The key is stored on remote servers controlled by cyber criminals and, thus, victims must buy decryption software with an embedded key.

To do so, they must contact cyber criminals via an e-mail address provided (server2@mailfence.com, bahij2@india.com, usdubzub@aol.com, kuprin@india.com, deyscriptors24@india.com, mkscorpion@india.com, support-ransomware@india.com, duhust@india.com, siri-down@india.com, support-locking@india.com, Good Men goodsupport@india.com, powerbase@tutanota.com, viewclear@yandex.com, xitreu@india.com, mia.kokers@aol.com, or okean-1955@india.com).

It is also stated that the ransom must be paid within seven days after the infection, otherwise the key is deleted and decryption becomes impossible. Cyber criminals allow victims to decrypt one selected file free of charge - this supposedly to reassure victims that decryption is possible.

Despite this, developers of ransomware-type viruses often ignore victims whether they pay or not. Therefore, paying is risky and may not deliver any positive results. Furthermore, it is costly, since ransomware-type viruses usually demand $500-$1500 in Bitcoins (this payment method allows cyber criminals to remain anonymous).

Therefore, we strongly advise you to ignore all requests to pay and/or contact these people. In doing so, you will support their malicious businesses. Unfortunately, currently there are no tools capable of restoring files compromised by Purge ransomware. The only solution is to restore your files/system from a backup.

Screenshot of a message encouraging users to contact the developers of Purge ransomware to decrypt their compromised data (How to restore files.hta file):

The Internet is full of malware similar to Purge. Examples include Cerber, JohnyCryptor, Chimera, CTB-Locker, and many others. Research shows that all ransomware-type viruses are virtually identical - they encrypt files and make ransom demands. The only noticeable differences are type of encryption algorithm used and size of ransom.

Cyber criminals often distribute ransomware using fake software updates, trojans, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks (for example, Torrent), and email spam (malicious attachments). Therefore, keep all installed applications up-to-date and use a legitimate anti-virus/anti-spyware suite.

Furthermore, be very cautious when opening attachments sent from unrecognized/suspicious email addresses. We strongly advise you to download your files/applications from trusted sources (such as official download websites) and using a direct download link.

Third party download tools can include additional rogue apps and, therefore, you should avoid using them. The key to computer safety is caution.

Screenshot of a ransom demanding pop-up message (open_to_dcrypt.hny):

Update 1 October 2016  - Victims of this ransomware can use a free tool developed by Fabian Wosar to regain control of their compromised files for free. To decrypt your files download Emsisoft Decrypter for Globe - download link HERE.

Update 2 December, 2016 - Security researchers from Avast have developed a free decrypter for this ransomware. Victims of this malware can use it to decrypt their files for free. Download it HERE.

Update 5 January, 2017 - Security researcher Fabian Wosar (from a company named Emsisoft) has released a decrypter for Globe ransomware variant 3. If your files have been encrypted with .decrypt2017 and .hnumkhotep extensions you should download a free decrypter HERE.

Screenshot of an image that is added as victim's desktop wallpaper:

Purge ransom-demand message:

YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN ENCRYPTED!

Your files have been been encrypted with a powerfull strain of a virus called ransomware. Your files are encrytped using rsa encryption, the same standard used by the military and banks. It is currently impossible to decrypt files encrypted with rsa encryption.
Lucky for you, we can help. We are willing to sell you a decryptor UNIQUELY made for your computer (meaning someone else's decryptor will not work for you). Once you pay a small fee, we will instantly send you the software/info neccessary to decrypt all your files, quickly and easilly.
In order to get in touch with us email us at powerbase@tutanota.com.In your email write your personal ID (its located at the up of the page, it is a string of random characters). Once we receive your personal ID, we will send you payment instructions.
As proff we can decrypt you files we may decrypt 1 small file for test.
If you dont get answer from powerbase@tutanota.com in 10 hours
Register here: hxxp://bitmsg.me
Write to adress BM-2cUrKsazEKiamN9cZ17xQq9c5JpRpokca5 with you email and personal ID
When you payment will bee confirmed, You will get decrypter of files on you computer. After you run decrypter software all you files will be decryped and restored. Do not try restore files without our help, this is useless and you may lose data permanetly. Decrypters of others clients are unique and work only on PC with they personal ID. We can not keep your decryption keys forever, meaning after 1 week after you have been infected, if you have not paid, we will not be able to decrypt your files. Email us as soon as you see this message, we know exactly when everyone has been encrypted and the longer you wait, the higher the payment gets.

Screenshot of files encrypted by Purge ransomware (.purge extension):

A variant of this ransomware using siri-down@india.com email adddress:

Files encrypted by this variant of Globe variant (.siri-down@india.com extension):

Purge ransomware removal:

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Video suggesting what steps should be taken in case of a ransomware infection:

Quick menu:

• What is Globe virus?
• STEP 1. Reporting ransomware to authorities.
• STEP 2. Isolating the infected device.
• STEP 3. Identifying the ransomware infection.
• STEP 4. Searching for ransomware decryption tools.
• STEP 5. Restoring files with data recovery tools.
• STEP 6. Creating data backups.

Reporting ransomware to authorities:

If you are a victim of a ransomware attack we recommend reporting this incident to authorities. By providing information to law enforcement agencies you will help track cybercrime and potentially assist in the prosecution of the attackers. Here's a list of authorities where you should report a ransomware attack. For the complete list of local cybersecurity centers and information on why you should report ransomware attacks, read this article.

List of local authorities where ransomware attacks should be reported (choose one depending on your residence address):

•  USA - Internet Crime Complaint Centre IC3
•  United Kingdom - Action Fraud
•  Spain - Policía Nacional
•  France - Ministère de l'Intérieur
•  Germany - Polizei
•  Italy - Polizia di Stato
•  The Netherlands - Politie
•  Poland - Policja
•  Portugal - Polícia Judiciária

Isolating the infected device:

Some ransomware-type infections are designed to encrypt files within external storage devices, infect them, and even spread throughout the entire local network. For this reason, it is very important to isolate the infected device (computer) as soon as possible.

Step 1: Disconnect from the internet.

The easiest way to disconnect a computer from the internet is to unplug the Ethernet cable from the motherboard, however, some devices are connected via a wireless network and for some users (especially those who are not particularly tech-savvy), disconnecting cables may seem troublesome. Therefore, you can also disconnect the system manually via Control Panel:

Navigate to the "Control Panel", click the search bar in the upper-right corner of the screen, enter "Network and Sharing Center" and select search result:

Click the "Change adapter settings" option in the upper-left corner of the window:

Right-click on each connection point and select "Disable". Once disabled, the system will no longer be connected to the internet. To re-enable the connection points, simply right-click again and select "Enable".

Step 2: Unplug all storage devices.

As mentioned above, ransomware might encrypt data and infiltrate all storage devices that are connected to the computer. For this reason, all external storage devices (flash drives, portable hard drives, etc.) should be disconnected immediately, however, we strongly advise you to eject each device before disconnecting to prevent data corruption:

Navigate to "My Computer", right-click on each connected device, and select "Eject":

Step 3: Log-out of cloud storage accounts.

Some ransomware-type might be able to hijack software that handles data stored within "the Cloud". Therefore, the data could be corrupted/encrypted. For this reason, you should log-out of all cloud storage accounts within browsers and other related software. You should also consider temporarily uninstalling the cloud-management software until the infection is completely removed.

Identify the ransomware infection:

To properly handle an infection, one must first identify it. Some ransomware infections use ransom-demand messages as an introduction (see the WALDO ransomware text file below).

This, however, is rare. In most cases, ransomware infections deliver more direct messages simply stating that data is encrypted and that victims must pay some sort of ransom. Note that ransomware-type infections typically generate messages with different file names (for example, "_readme.txt", "READ-ME.txt", "DECRYPTION_INSTRUCTIONS.txt", "DECRYPT_FILES.html", etc.). Therefore, using the name of a ransom message may seem like a good way to identify the infection. The problem is that most of these names are generic and some infections use the same names, even though the delivered messages are different and the infections themselves are unrelated. Therefore, using the message filename alone can be ineffective and even lead to permanent data loss (for example, by attempting to decrypt data using tools designed for different ransomware infections, users are likely to end up permanently damaging files and decryption will no longer be possible even with the correct tool).

Another way to identify a ransomware infection is to check the file extension, which is appended to each encrypted file. Ransomware infections are often named by the extensions they append (see files encrypted by Qewe ransomware below).

This method is only effective, however, when the appended extension is unique - many ransomware infections append a generic extension (for example, ".encrypted", ".enc", ".crypted", ".locked", etc.). In these cases, identifying ransomware by its appended extension becomes impossible.

One of the easiest and quickest ways to identify a ransomware infection is to use the ID Ransomware website. This service supports most existing ransomware infections. Victims simply upload a ransom message and/or one encrypted file (we advise you to upload both if possible).

The ransomware will be identified within seconds and you will be provided with various details, such as the name of the malware family to which the infection belongs, whether it is decryptable, and so on.

Example 1 (Qewe [Stop/Djvu] ransomware):

Example 2 (.iso [Phobos] ransomware):

If your data happens to be encrypted by ransomware that is not supported by ID Ransomware, you can always try searching the internet by using certain keywords (for example, a ransom message title, file extension, provided contact emails, crypto wallet addresses, etc.).

Search for ransomware decryption tools:

Encryption algorithms used by most ransomware-type infections are extremely sophisticated and, if the encryption is performed properly, only the developer is capable of restoring data. This is because decryption requires a specific key, which is generated during the encryption. Restoring data without the key is impossible. In most cases, cybercriminals store keys on a remote server, rather than using the infected machine as a host. Dharma (CrySis), Phobos, and other families of high-end ransomware infections are virtually flawless, and thus restoring data encrypted without the developers' involvement is simply impossible. Despite this, there are dozens of ransomware-type infections that are poorly developed and contain a number of flaws (for example, the use of identical encryption/decryption keys for each victim, keys stored locally, etc.). Therefore, always check for available decryption tools for any ransomware that infiltrates your computer.

Finding the correct decryption tool on the internet can be very frustrating. For this reason, we recommend that you use the No More Ransom Project and this is where identifying the ransomware infection is useful. The No More Ransom Project website contains a "Decryption Tools" section with a search bar. Enter the name of the identified ransomware, and all available decryptors (if there are any) will be listed.

Restore files with data recovery tools:

Depending on the situation (quality of ransomware infection, type of encryption algorithm used, etc.), restoring data with certain third-party tools might be possible. Therefore, we advise you to use the Recuva tool developed by CCleaner. This tool supports over a thousand data types (graphics, video, audio, documents, etc.) and it is very intuitive (little knowledge is necessary to recover data). In addition, the recovery feature is completely free.

Step 1: Perform a scan.

Run the Recuva application and follow the wizard. You will be prompted with several windows allowing you to choose what file types to look for, which locations should be scanned, etc. All you need to do is select the options you're looking for and start the scan. We advise you to enable the "Deep Scan" before starting, otherwise, the application's scanning capabilities will be restricted.

Wait for Recuva to complete the scan. The scanning duration depends on the volume of files (both in quantity and size) that you are scanning (for example, several hundred gigabytes could take over an hour to scan). Therefore, be patient during the scanning process. We also advise against modifying or deleting existing files, since this might interfere with the scan. If you add additional data (for example, downloading files/content) while scanning, this will prolong the process:

Step 2: Recover data.

Once the process is complete, select the folders/files you wish to restore and simply click "Recover". Note that some free space on your storage drive is necessary to restore data:

Create data backups:

Proper file management and creating backups is essential for data security. Therefore, always be very careful and think ahead.

Partition management: We recommend that you store your data in multiple partitions and avoid storing important files within the partition that contains the entire operating system. If you fall into a situation whereby you cannot boot the system and are forced to format the disk on which the operating system is installed (in most cases, this is where malware infections hide), you will lose all data stored within that drive. This is the advantage of having multiple partitions: if you have the entire storage device assigned to a single partition, you will be forced to delete everything, however, creating multiple partitions and allocating the data properly allows you to prevent such problems. You can easily format a single partition without affecting the others - therefore, one will be cleaned and the others will remain untouched, and your data will be saved. Managing partitions is quite simple and you can find all the necessary information on Microsoft's documentation web page.

Data backups: One of the most reliable backup methods is to use an external storage device and keep it unplugged. Copy your data to an external hard drive, flash (thumb) drive, SSD, HDD, or any other storage device, unplug it and store it in a dry place away from the sun and extreme temperatures. This method is, however, quite inefficient, since data backups and updates need to be made regularly. You can also use a cloud service or remote server. Here, an internet connection is required and there is always the chance of a security breach, although it's a really rare occasion.

We recommend using Microsoft OneDrive for backing up your files. OneDrive lets you store your personal files and data in the cloud, sync files across computers and mobile devices, allowing you to access and edit your files from all of your Windows devices. OneDrive lets you save, share and preview files, access download history, move, delete, and rename files, as well as create new folders, and much more.

You can back up your most important folders and files on your PC (your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders). Some of OneDrive’s more notable features include file versioning, which keeps older versions of files for up to 30 days. OneDrive features a recycling bin in which all of your deleted files are stored for a limited time. Deleted files are not counted as part of the user’s allocation.

The service is built using HTML5 technologies and allows you to upload files up to 300 MB via drag and drop into the web browser or up to 10 GB via the OneDrive desktop application. With OneDrive, you can download entire folders as a single ZIP file with up to 10,000 files, although it can’t exceed 15 GB per single download.

OneDrive comes with 5 GB of free storage out of the box, with an additional 100 GB, 1 TB, and 6 TB storage options available for a subscription-based fee. You can get one of these storage plans by either purchasing additional storage separately or with Office 365 subscription.

Creating a data backup:

The backup process is the same for all file types and folders. Here’s how you can back up your files using Microsoft OneDrive

Step 1: Choose the files/folders you want to backup.

Click the OneDrive cloud icon to open the OneDrive menu. While in this menu, you can customize your file backup settings.

Click Help & Settings and then select Settings from the drop-down menu.

Go to the Backup tab and click Manage backup.

In this menu, you can choose to backup the Desktop and all of the files on it, and Documents and Pictures folders, again, with all of the files in them. Click Start backup.

Now, when you add a file or folder in the Desktop and Documents and Pictures folders, they will be automatically backed up on OneDrive.

To add folders and files, not in the locations shown above, you have to add them manually.

Open File Explorer and navigate to the location of the folder/file you want to backup. Select the item, right-click it, and click Copy.

Then, navigate to OneDrive, right-click anywhere in the window and click Paste. Alternatively, you can just drag and drop a file into OneDrive. OneDrive will automatically create a backup of the folder/file.

All of the files added to the OneDrive folder are backed up in the cloud automatically. The green circle with the checkmark in it indicates that the file is available both locally and on OneDrive and that the file version is the same on both. The blue cloud icon indicates that the file has not been synced and is available only on OneDrive. The sync icon indicates that the file is currently syncing.

To access files only located on OneDrive online, go to the Help & Settings drop-down menu and select View online.

Step 2: Restore corrupted files.

OneDrive makes sure that the files stay in sync, so the version of the file on the computer is the same version on the cloud. However, if ransomware has encrypted your files, you can take advantage of OneDrive’s Version history feature that will allow you to restore the file versions prior to encryption.

Microsoft 365 has a ransomware detection feature that notifies you when your OneDrive files have been attacked and guide you through the process of restoring your files. It must be noted, however, that if you don’t have a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, you only get one detection and file recovery for free.

If your OneDrive files get deleted, corrupted, or infected by malware, you can restore your entire OneDrive to a previous state. Here’s how you can restore your entire OneDrive:

1. If you're signed in with a personal account, click the Settings cog at the top of the page. Then, click Options and select Restore your OneDrive.

If you're signed in with a work or school account,  click the Settings cog at the top of the page. Then, click Restore your OneDrive.

2. On the Restore your OneDrive page, select a date from the drop-down list. Note that if you're restoring your files after automatic ransomware detection, a restore date will be selected for you.

3. After configuring all of the file restoration options, click Restore to undo all the activities you selected.

The best way to avoid damage from ransomware infections is to maintain regular up-to-date backups.

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