The aim of UYJH ransomware virus is to extort the computer user by taking one’s files hostage and demanding a ransom payment for a tool that can reverse the damage. The virus aims at documents, pictures, videos, music files and archives as well as many other data types. The message from the ransomware operators left in the _readme.txt note suggests that the virus operates by using a robust encryption algorithm and unique key to securely lock all of victim’s files. It also explains that the ransom price varies depending on how quickly the victim reaches out to the attackers via provided emails – support@sysmail.ch and supportsys@airmail.cc. According to the _readme.txt contents, the decryption tool costs $490 with 50% discount which will be applied if the victim writes to the provided email addresses within 3 days (72 hours) starting from the infection timestamp. Otherwise, the decryption tool price (the ransom) will be raised to $980. The note also suggests inserting victim’s PersonalID in the email and sending one encrypted file (one that doesn’t contain valuable information) in order to receive a decrypted version in return. This way, the cybercriminals hope to spark victim’s motivation to pay the ransom. After contacting the criminals’ via email, the computer user will find out that the ransom can only be paid using cryptocurrency. In short, the attackers will ask the victim to purchase Bitcoin via one of suggested cryptocurrency exchange platforms and transfer the settled amount to the criminals’ cryptocurrency wallet. The reason behind this is that such transactions are untraceable, thus it prevents law enforcement agencies from tracking the criminals down. In regards of ransomware response, cybersecurity experts and FBI recommend computer users to refrain from paying ransoms. Some of the reasons that support this suggestion are presented below.

Paying a ransom doesn’t always result in successful data recovery.Sending your funds to cybercriminals helps them to create more malware and employ more people.Paying a ransom helps them to identify you as a potential victim in future attacks.

On top of that, victims of STOP/DJVU variants such as UYJH virus should beware that this piece of malware doesn’t spread alone. Instead, it usually comes alongside VIDAR or AZORULT Trojans and various other malware. That said, such pack of threats on your computer can result in private data loss, stealth of your online accounts, identity theft and more. Moreover, cybercriminals can continue to blackmail you after using collected data. Victims of this malware variant are advised to remove UYJH ransomware virus and related threats from their computers. For this matter, we suggest that you boot your computer in Safe Mode with Networking as explained in the tutorial below this article. Make sure you use a genuine antivirus or malware removal tool only. For repairing virus damage inflicted by this malware, we strongly recommend that you download RESTORO.

Ransomware Summary

REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE

Ransomware distribution in general: avoid getting infected

Ransomware-type threats are mostly distributed via malicious email attachments, pirated software versions accessible via torrent sharing platforms or rogue websites online, fake software update ads and other mediums. All that it takes to download and run the ransomware is to open an infected file unknowingly. Variants of STOP/DJVU ransomware, including UYJH virus are mostly detected in illegal downloads that comprise of pirated software versions, operating system activation tools (such as KMSPico) and similar. These threats await for unsuspecting victims in various torrent listings online or in websites offering 100% free full paid software versions that can be downloaded in password-protected archives. After opening the alleged setup file, all of malware components will be downloaded and executed on the victim’s computer immediately. In some cases, the malware restarts the victim’s computer after installing itself and setting itself to automatically run after the computer boots up. Victims of STOP/DJVU reported getting infected after downloading and launching fake installers for popular programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD, Corel Draw, League of Legends and others. Therefore, if you have a bad habit of searching for cracked software versions online, we strongly recommend that you drop it immediately. By doing this, you infringe copyrights of legitimate software developers and expose your personal files and information to a bunch of cybersecurity risks. To prevent getting infected, we strongly recommend that you source your programs from their official websites or confirmed partner sites only. The same applies to software updates as cybercriminals often use malvertising to target their victims. Finally, STOP/DJVU ransomware victims are advised to stay away from suspicious websites offering 100% working decryption tools as these, in short, do not exist. Such rogue decryptors can hide other ransomware or malware variants, for instance, ZORAB. The only tools capable of decrypting or repairing files locked by STOP/DJVU at this moment are created by Emsisoft and DiskTuna, and they only function to a limited extent. You can read more about decrypting/repairing your files with these tools in this guide.

UYJH ransomware modus operandi

This article section covers basic modus operandi details of UYJH ransomware virus. The threat typically consists of several main executables as well as many helper components. The main executable is usually named with 4 random characters and may appear as 7GB8.exe or 8D4B.exe. It also comes with a bunch of build.exe, build2.exe or build3.exe files. Before starting data encryption, the ransomware requests a response from https[:]//api.2ip.ua/geo.json which will be saved into geo.json file (examples shown below). The said file contains computer’s geolocation data, such as IP address, country, city, zip code and other details. The reason behind this is that the virus needs to figure out computer’s location to avoid infecting computers in Russian-speaking countries. To be specific, malware analysts point out that STOP/DJVU ransomware avoids encrypting data on computers located in Russia, Belarus, Syria, Armenia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Kazachstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. If the computer passes the geolocation test, the virus proceeds and gathers system-related information, such as hardware specifics, installed software and currently running processes’ list. This data will be saved into information.txt file and forwared to Command&Control server along with victim’s desktop screenshot. Shown below is the described file example. The virus then attempts to request unique encryption key from its server. If this works out, the victim’s computer’s files will be encrypted with one of a kind encryption key, which makes the encryption almost impossible to reverse. If the connection to the server fails due to Internet connectivity issues or the server being down, the ransomware switches to autonomous encryption mode and uses a hardcoded offline encryption instead. Each computer will also be identified with Personal ID, and this ID will be saved to file called PersonalID.txt. The ID and encryption key together will be forwarded to a file called bowsakkdestx.txt. Examples of both files are demonstrated below. One thing that matters to ransomware victims the most if whether it is possible to decrypt .uyjh files. Unfortunately, in cases where online encryption key was used, this might not be the case. However, for offline encryption victims, their encryption keys match, so this gives a potential opportunity to recover files in the future. For information how to identify the encryption type and how/when files can be restored, please read this guide. The ransomware carries out data encryption using Salsa20 encryption additionally secured with RSA-2048. During this procedure, each file will be marked with an additional .uyjh extension. See the screenshot below to see how an affected data folder looks like. Contents of _readme.txt note dropped in each folder are depicted below. Last modifications to computer files initiated by the ransomware involve adding a list of domains to the Windows HOSTS file. The virus maps them to localhost IP, which causes a DNS error and prevents the user from visiting them. It appears that this ransomware seeks to block every website that might provide relevant ransomware response information for the computer user. Attempts to visit any of them will cause the web browser to display DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN or similar error.

Remove UYJH Ransomware Virus and Decrypt .uyjh Files

If you have unfortunatelly fell into a trap of file-encrypting malware described, you should take action to secure your computer. To remove UYJH ransomware virus and any other malware remains, we recommend you to run an up-to-date antivirus or malware removal software after booting your PC in Safe Mode with Networking. A good tool to repair virus damage is RESTORO, which you can download via provided link. Once UYJH ransomware virus removal is complete, take a look at the following recommendations:

Inform your local law enforcement agency about the ransomware attack incident.Use data backups to recover your files. If you didn’t have any, consider creating them from now on on a regular basis;Learn more about ways STOP/DJVU encrypted files could be decrypted or repaired.Immediately 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 UYJH 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 UYJH 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 UYJH files

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

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The UYJH 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 UYJH 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 UYJH 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.