Remove MINE Ransomware Virus (+DECRYPT .mine Files)

Mine malware is a sort of computer virus that infiltrates your computer, encrypts your documents, and then asks to pay the money for file decryption. Besides these unwanted activities, that virus also modifies some important settings and can even disable your security tool.

Mine ransomware – what is it?

Mine ransomware can correctly be classified as a STOP/Djvu ransomware family. That type of computer virus is targeted at individuals. This specification supposes that Mine does not bring any sort of additional viruses, which usually helps ransomware of other families to control your computer. Because of the fact that most users do not have anything valuable on their PCs, there is no need to carry additional malware that increases the risk of failure of the whole ransomware operation.

The typical signs of this ransomware activity is the appearance of .mine files in your folders, instead of the files you used to have. The photo.jpg turns into photo.jpg.mine, report.xlsx – into report.xlsx.mine and so on. You cannot to suspend this operation, and can’t open these documents – they are encrypted with pretty strong cipher.

You can also see different other signs of malware activity. Suddenly disabled Microsoft Defender and inability to check the famous anti-malware forums or sites, where the removal and file decryption guides are posted. You will see how it is conducted in the paragraph below. The malware removal and decryption guide are also available – read below how to delete Mine virus and get the .mine files back.

How did Mine ransomware encrypt my files?

After the malware injection, the Mine virus establishes a connection with its command and control server. This server is controlled by malware maintainers – fraudsters who manage the distribution of this malware. Another activity which is conducted by these crooks is answering the emails of victims, who wish to get their files back.

The documents are ciphered with one of the strongest encryption algorithm – AES-256. The digit in the name of this algorithms means the power of two – 2^256 for this case. 78-digit number of possible decryption password variations – it is impossible to brute force it. As cipher analysts say, it will need more time than our planet can estimate to exist, even in case if you use the most powerful computer system. In each folder that has the encrypted documents, Mine virus leaves the _readme.txt file with the following contents:

ATTENTION!

Don't worry, you can return all your files!

All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.

What guarantees you have?

You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.

You can get and look video overview decrypt tool:

https://we.tl/t-WJa63R98Ku

Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that's price for you is $490.

Please note that you'll never restore your data without payment.

Check your e-mail "Spam" or "Junk" folder if you don't get answer more than 6 hours.

To get this software you need write on our e-mail:

manager@mailtemp.ch

Reserve e-mail address to contact us:

managerhelper@airmail.cc

Your personal ID:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nevertheless, you can still use some of your documents. The Mine ransomware ciphers only the first 150 KB of each file, but the other piece of this file can be opened. Primarily, it works best with audio/video files, which are surely larger than 150 kilobytes. Not each media player is capable of open these files – WinAmp is the best option, since it is free and well-tested. First seconds of every file will be missing – this part is encrypted – but the rest of the file will be accessible like nothing happened.

Is Mine ransomware dangerous for my PC?

As it was described several paragraphs above, ransomware is not only about encrypting the files. Mine malware makes the changes in your computer in order to prevent looking for the ransomware removal and file decryption guides. Malware does not establish the software barrier – it just modifies the system settings, primarily – networking and security configurations.

Among the networking configurations, the most changed item is the HOSTS file. This text file contains the DNS-address instructions, which are used by the web browsers while sending a request to the website server. If you add a specific DNS-address for the certain web page, your browser will connect that page through that DNS next time. Ransomware modifies this file, adding the non-existent DNS, so any of the web browsers will show you the “Unable to resolve the DNS-address” error.

Other modifications done by the ransomware are targeted on prevention of fast spotting of itself, and also preventing the installation of the majority of anti-malware programs. Mine malware makes some modifications in Group Policies – the system configuration interface which gives you the right to alter the abilities of each application. In such a way, the virus disables the Microsoft Defender and different other security tools, and also disables the launch of anti-malware installation files.

How did I get infected?

Throughout the whole term while STOP/Djvu family existed, it was using dubious software as the main method of ransomware injection. Under the term of dubious programs I mean programs that are already not controlled by the developer and distributed through the file sharing websites. These applications may be hacked, to make them possible to use without buying any license. One more example of such a program type is various hacking tools – cheat engines, keygens, Windows activation tools and so on.

Such apps may be spread in many ways – through the site that offers a downloading link, and also through the p2p networks – ThePirateBay, eMule and so on. All these sources are well-known as the biggest computer piracy websites. Folks use these pages to get various apps or games for free, even if these programs must be purchased. No one can prevent the users who hack these apps from adding malware of some type to the files of the hacked tool. Hacktools, however, are created for outlaw actions, so their creators can easily embed the ransomware under the guise of some program element.

These hacked programs, regardless of their source, are one of the most often sources for various viruses, and surely the most used one for Mine malware. It is better to avoid using of it, and not only because of ransomware injection risks. Avoiding the license buying is an outlaw action, and both hackers and users who make use of hacked apps fall under the charge of piracy.

How do I remove Mine virus?

The Mine ransomware is very hard to wipe out manually. In fact, because of the number of modifications it makes in your system, it is almost impossible to find them all and fix. The best solution is to make use of antivirus software. But which one to choose?

You may see the advices to use Microsoft Defender, which is already in your Windows. Nonetheless, as it was mentioned earlier, the majority of STOP/Djvu ransomware examples block it even before the ciphering process. Making use of the third-party tool is the only possible solution – and I can advice you the GridinSoft Anti-Malware as a solution for that case. It has perfect detection abilities, so the Mine ransomware will not be missed. It is also capable of system recovery, which is heavily needed after the Mine virus attack.

To remove Mine malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software.

After the ransomware removal, you can go to file decryption. Virus removal is needed to prevent the repeating ciphering of your files: while Mine ransomware is active, it will not miss any unencrypted file.

How to decrypt the .mine files?

There are two ways to decrypt your files after a Mine virus attack. First one and the most popular is file decryption. It is performed with a special app, designed by Emsisoft, and named Emsisoft Decryptor for STOP/Djvu. This program is free. Analysts update its decryption keys databases as often as possible, so you will surely get your files back, sooner or later.

Another option to get your documents and photos back is to try to recover them from your disk drives. Since ransomware deletes them and substitutes with an encrypted copy, the residue of the documents are still stored on the disk. After the deletion, the information about them is removed from the file system, but not from a disk drive. Special apps, like PhotoRec, are able to recover these files. It is free, too, and may also be used for file recovery in case when you have deleted a thing unintentionally.

Decrypting the .mine files with Emsisoft Decrypter for STOP/Djvu

Download and install Emsisoft Decrypter tool. Agree with its EULA and continue to the interface.

The interface of this program is extremely easy. All you have to do is to select the folder where the encrypted files are stored, and wait. If the program has the decryption key which corresponds to your ransomware case – it will decrypt it.

During the use of Emsisoft Decrypter for STOP/Djvu, you may observe various error messages. Don’t worry, that does not mean that you did something wrong or a program does not work properly. Each of these errors refer to a specific case. Here is the explanation:

Error: Unable to decrypt file with ID: [your ID]

The program does not have a corresponding key for your case. You need to wait for some time until the key database will be updated.

No key for new variant online ID: [your ID]

Notice: this ID appears to be an online ID, decryption is impossible.

This error means that your files are encrypted with an online key. In such a case, the decryption key is unique and stored on the remote server, controlled by crooks. Unfortunately, the decryption 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.

Ransomware uses the offline key to encrypt your files. This key is not unique, so you likely have it in common with another victim. Since offline keys must be collected, too, it is important to keep calm and wait until the analysts team finds one which will fit your case.

Remote name could not be resolved

This error indicates that the program has problems with DNS on your computer. That’s a clear sign of malicious alterations in your HOSTS file. Reset it using the official Microsoft guide.

Recovering the .mine files with PhotoRec tool

PhotoRec is an open-source tool, which is created to recover the deleted or lost files from the disk drive. It checks each disk sector for the residues of deleted files, and then attempts to recover them. That app is able to recover the files of more than 400 different formats. Because of the described feature of ransomware encryption mechanism, it is possible to use this tool to get the original, unencrypted files back.

Download PhotoRec from the official website. It is absolutely free, however, its developer warns that he does not guarantee that this program will be 100% effective for file recovery purposes. Moreover, even paid apps can barely give you such a guarantee, because of the chain of random factors that can make the file recovery harder.

Unzip the downloaded archive to the folder you like. Don’t worry because of its name – TestDisk – this is the name of the utility developed by the same company. They decided to spread it together since PhotoRec and TestDisk are often used together. Among the unzipped files, search for qphotorec_win.exe file. Run this executable file.

Before you can start the recovery process, you need to specify several settings. In the drop-down list, choose the logic disk where the files were stored before the encryption.

Then, you need to specify the file formats you need to recover. It may be difficult to scroll all 400+ formats, luckily, they are sorted by alphabetical order.

Finally, name the folder you want to use as a container for recovered files. The program will likely dig out a lot of useless files, which were deleted intentionally, so desktop is a bad solution. The best option is to use the USB-drive.

After these easy manipulations, you may just press the “Search” button (it turns active if you specified all required parameters). The recovery process may take several hours, so keep patient. It is recommended not to use the computer during this term, since you may overwrite some files you are intending to recover.

Frequently Asked Questions