Again (.again) ransomware virus - removal and decryption options

What kind of malware is Again?

Our malware researchers have discovered a new ransomware called Again while examining malware samples submitted to the VirusTotal website. It was found that Again is part of the Babuk ransomware family. The purpose of this malware is to encrypt files.

Also, Again renames encrypted files (appends the ".again" extension to filenames) and drops a ransom note (the "How To Restore Your Files.txt" file). An example of how Again renames files: it changes "1.jpg" to "1.jpg.again", "2.png" to "2.png.again", "3.exe" to "3.exe.again", and so forth.

Screenshot of files encrypted by this ransomware:

Again ransom note overview

The ransom note instructs victims to contact the attackers using the provided Tor website. That website has a chat window in it. When victims contact the attackers, they typically receive payment information (the price of a decryption tool and cryptocurrency wallet).

More details about ransomware

Victims of ransomware attacks cannot restore access to files without paying a ransom (using tools provided by the attacker) unless a working third-party decryption tool is available on the Internet or victims have a data backup.

Paying a ransom often results in losing money and files. It is common that victims do not receive decryption tools even after the payment. It is also important to mention that ransomware can cause further encryptions while it is active (present on the system). Thus, it is highly advisable to remove ransomware from infected devices as soon as possible.

Ransomware in general

Ransomware encrypts files to prevent victims from using/opening them. Threat actors use ransomware to demand payment in return for a decryption tool. Usually, ransomware provides instructions on how to contact the attackers and (or) pay a ransom. Some examples of different ransomware are Jjyy, FartingGiraffeAttacks, and LockBit 3.0.

How did ransomware infect my computer?

Cybercriminals use emails, fake installers for cracked/pirated software (or cracking tools), various unreliable sources for downloading files/programs, fake software updaters, or Trojans to distribute ransomware. In all cases, their goal is to trick users into infecting computers with ransomware by themselves.

Emails used to proliferate ransomware (or other malware) contain malicious attachments or links. Usually, they are disguised as letters from legitimate companies or other entities. Examples of unreliable sources for downloading files and software used to distribute malware are unofficial pages, P2P networks, third-party downloaders, free file hosting pages, etc.

In most cases, threat actors attempt to trick users into opening malicious MS Office, PDF documents, JavaScript files, executables, and archive files (like ZIP, RAR) containing malicious files.

Threat Summary:

Name	Again virus
Threat Type	Ransomware, Crypto Virus, Files locker
Encrypted Files Extension	.again
Ransom Demanding Message	How To Restore Your Files.txt
Free Decryptor Available?	No
Cyber Criminal Contact	Tor website provided in the ransom note
Detection Names	Avast (Win64:RansomX-gen [Ransom]), AVG (Win64:RansomX-gen [Ransom]), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Generik.JGXQGE), Kaspersky (UDS:Trojan.Win32.DelShad.ivs), Microsoft (Ransom:Win32/Babuk.MAK!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Cannot open files stored on your computer, previously functional files now have a different extension (for example, my.docx.locked). A ransom demand message is displayed on your desktop. Cyber criminals demand payment of a ransom (usually in bitcoins) to unlock your files.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments (macros), torrent websites, malicious ads.
Damage	All files are encrypted and cannot be opened without paying a ransom. Additional password-stealing trojans and malware infections can be installed together with a ransomware infection.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

How to protect yourself from ransomware infections?

Use official pages to download software or files. Using third-party downloaders, shady websites, and similar sources can result in downloading malware. Do not open attachments (and website links) received via email when emails are irrelevant and sent from unknown, suspicious addresses.

Keep the installed software up to date. Always use tools (or functions) provided by the official developer when willing to update and activate the software and the operating system.

If your computer is already infected with Again, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this ransomware.

Screenshot of Again's text file ("How To Restore Your Files.txt"):

Text in the ransom note:

x
To contact visit website hxxp://alredyebp2dqdcsde3zyekfx7dpz65wdh7ddhiaslwmauqvj7wsyenad.onion, your chat token: -

Screenshot of Again's Tor website (chat):

Screenshot of a ransom note delivered by another variant of Again ransomware:

Text presented within:

Ok, you are reading this - so it means that we have your attention.
Here's the deal :
1. We breached your internal network and took control over all of your systems.
2. We analyzed and located each piece of more-or-less important files while spending weeks inside.
3. We infiltrated anything we wanted (the total size of taken data exceeds 280GB (including Private & Confidential information, Intellectual Property, Customer Information and most important Your SECRETS)

FAQ:
- Who the hell are you?
- The APT Team. Pretty skilled hackers I guess.

- WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!??
- Our motivation is purely financial.

- We are going to report this to law enforcement.
- You surely can, but be ready that they will confiscate most of your IT infrastructure, and even if you later change your mind and decide to pay - they will not let you.

- Who else already knows about the breach?
- Me and You who received the same message the same way. Nobody else. For now.

- What if I tell you that I do not care and I am going to ignore this incident.
- That's a very bad choice. If you will not contact us in a timely manner  we will start notifying your employees, clients, partners, subcontractors and any other persons that should know how you treat your own corporate secrets and theirs.

- What if I will not contact you even after it?
- Then we shall move forward and start contacting your business competitors and list of anonymous inside traders we deal with, to find out if they are going to pay us for your data. When the list of the people who is interested in such data is formed - the closed online auction starts.

- Nobody will buy what you took! I do not believe you!
- If the auction fails - we will just leak everything online, making sure that this leak goes straight to the press. We will make sure that your business will bleed by using any power we have in our possession, both social and technical.

- What happens if I pay?
- Nothing bad will happen.
We will remove everything we took from your network and leave you be.
We will provide confirmation that the data is deleted.
We will help you to close technical vulnerabilities you have and provide some insight on how to avoid such incidents if some other perpetrator is interested in you.
We will never tell anybody about it.

- We understand. We are ready to move forward.
- You will find the Access Code at the end of this file, you will need this one to get in contact with us for further instructions

To contact visit website -, your chat token: -

Screenshot of a ransom note delivered by another variant of Again ransomware:

Text presented within:

Let me explain what is going on. Your network is down at the moment, we also downloaded all the most important and sensitive information from your servers. If you want, we will send you all the proof, we can provide you with some files we received from you. We can also prove that we have decryption software. You can send 2-3 random files from your network and we will decrypt them for free. Contact us or all of your customer data will be in the public domain
To contact visit website -, your chat token: -

Again ransomware removal:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
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Video suggesting what steps should be taken in case of a ransomware infection:

Quick menu:

• What is Again 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How was my computer hacked and how did hackers encrypt my files?

Ransomware is distributed in different ways. Usually, it encrypts files after opening malicious drive-by downloads, email attachments (or links received via email), files downloaded from unreliable sources, and fake installers for cracked software (or cracking tools).

How to open ".again" files?

It is not possible to open ".again" files. These files can be opened after they are decrypted.

Where should I look for free decryption tools for Again ransomware?

In case of a ransomware attack you should check the No More Ransom project website (more information above).

I can pay you a lot of money, can you decrypt files for me?

We do not provide a decryption service. In most cases, only the attackers can decrypt files/have the right decryption tool. Free decryption is not possible unless ransomware is flawed. When third parties claim that they can decrypt files, they act as a man-in-the-middle or attempt to scam victims. It is strongly recommended not to pay them.

Will Combo Cleaner help me remove Again ransomware?

Yes, Combo Cleaner will run a system scan and remove detected ransomware from it. However, files will remain encrypted. Antivirus software cannot decrypt files. It removes ransomware to prevent it from causing more damage (further encryptions).

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