Noos Ransomware

The attackers behind Noos Ransomware do not care about your virtual security or your personal files. All they care about is successfully encrypting files so that they could demand money from you in return for software that, allegedly, would be able to restore them. Even though some victims of such malware give in and decide to fulfill the demands of cybercriminals, our research team warns that that is a terrible idea. First and foremost, the attackers are unlikely to free your files even if you do as told. Second, it appears that a free decryptor already exists, and there might be no reason to consider the ridiculous demands at all. We hope that you will be able to successfully restore your files, remove Noos Ransomware from your operating system, and also figure out a better way to protect yourself against malware overall. Please continue reading to learn more, and do not forget that the comments section below is open for further discussion.

We must mention STOP Ransomware when discussing Noos Ransomware. This infection is the predecessor of Reco Ransomware, Boot Ransomware, Karl Ransomware, Kuub Ransomware, and multiple other threats that not only work and look the same but also appear to be controlled by the same attacker(s). In fact, the only difference between these infections is the extension that is added to the corrupted files. In our case, it is the “.noos” extension, and, as you can see, it also determines the name of the threat. Other than the original extension, Noos Ransomware and its clones are similar in the way they are spread across systems. For example, the launcher could be attached to misleading emails or bundled downloaders. Furthermore, they all encrypt personal files, after which they become unreadable. All of them create a text file named “_readme.txt,” and while it is safe to open it, the ultimate goal is to remove it. Of course, even if you remove the files created by ransomware or the extension appended to the files’ names, the encryption will prevail.

The purpose of the .TXT file is to inform you what has happened as well as to guide your next moves. The message that was created by the Noos Ransomware developers is meant to convince you that you need to send one file and a special ID to gorentos@bitmessage.ch or gerentosrestore@firemail.cc (reserve email). Of course, if you did that, you would receive instructions telling you to pay a ransom in return for a decryption tool. As we have mentioned already, you are unlikely to obtain it regardless of what you do. The original ransom note informs that you need to pay $980, or $490 if you pay within 72 hours, to have a decryptor sent to you, but since there is no information about the method of payment, emailing the attackers appears to be a necessity. Of course, we do not recommend communicating with cybercriminals or paying the ransom at all because we believe that that would not result in successful decryption. A legitimate STOP Ransomware Decryptor should help you restore files for free, but if it does not, maybe backups exist? You want to have backups of all files because most ransomware infections are not decryptable. Since restoring files is unlikely to be possible, you want to have the option of replacing the corrupted files with backup copies.

Now that you have several options to recover files, we are sure that you are ready to delete Noos Ransomware from your operating system. This malware should not be too hard to delete manually, but if you cannot detect the launcher, and if you want to secure your system, it is important that you consider employing anti-malware software. Even if you have no trouble removing Noos Ransomware manually, we still recommend installing anti-malware software because you need full-time protection against malware. You can be extra careful about the software you download or the emails you open, but cybercriminals will always find an inconspicuous way to drop infections, and anti-malware software is most likely to catch and delete it in time. If you want to talk to our researchers before you decide what to do next, post your questions in the comments box below, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Noos Ransomware Removal

1. Identify the [random name].exe file that launched the threat, right-click it, and select Delete.
2. Tap Win+E keys at the same time on the keyboard to launch Windows Explorer.
3. Type %HOMEDRIVE% into the bar at the top and then tap Enter to open the folder.
4. Right-click and Delete a file named _readme.txt and the folder named SystemID.
5. Type %LOCALAPPDATA% into the bar at the top and then tap Enter to open the folder.
6. Right-click and Delete the [random name] folder whose name should contain a string of letters and numbers.
7. Exit Windows Explorer and then Empty Recycle Bin.
8. Install a trusted malware scanner tool and run a full system scan to check for hidden threats.