MBED VIRUS (.mbed FILES) – HOW TO FIX & DECRYPT DATA [December 2019]

What is “Mbed”?

Ransomware is a specific kind of virus that crypts your documents and then forces you to pay for their decrypting. Note that DJVU (aka STOP) ransomware family was first revealed and discovered by virus analyst Michael Gillespie">¹.

Mbed is basically similar to other representatives of the same family: Grod, Peet. It crypts all popular file types. Hence, users cannot open the their documents . Mbed adds its specific “.mbed” extension into all files. For instance, the file “video.avi”, will be changed into “video.avi.mbed”. As soon as the encryption is successfully completed, Mbed creates a special file “_readme.txt” and puts it into all folders that contain the modified files.

In this text we can asking for payment  for get files back via decryption key:

The scary alert demanding from users to pay the ransom to decrypt the compromised data contains these frustrating warnings

The cryptography algorithm used by Mbed is AES-256. So, if your documents got encrypted with a specific decryption key, which is unique for every encryption and there are no other copies. The sad reality is that it is impossible to recover the information without this unique key available.

In case if Mbed worked in online mode, it is impossible for you to gain access to the AES-256 key. It is stored on a distant server owned by the criminals who distibute the Mbed infection. Yes, it can give you a chance to decrypt your files with specialized software till you are offline. But as soon as you are back online – ransomware on your machine will get another command and your files will be encrypted again.

For receiving decryption key the payment should be $980. To obtain the payment details the victims are encouraged by the message to contact the frauds by email (), or via Telegram.

Do not pay for Mbed!

_readme.txt file also indicates that the computer owners must get in touch with the Mbed representatives during 72 hours starting from the moment of files where crypted. On the condition of getting in touch within 72 hours users will be granted a 50% rebate, thus the ransom amount will be minimized down to $490). However, stay away from paying the ransom!

I definitely recommend that you do not contact these frauds and do not pay. The one of the most real working solution to recover the lost data – just using the available backups, or use Decrypter tool.

The peculiarity of all such viruses apply a similar set of actions for generating the unique decryption key to recover the ciphered data.

Thus, unless the ransomware is still under the stage of development or possesses with some hard-to-track flaws, manually recovering the ciphered data is a thing you can’t really perform. The only solution to prevent the loss of your valuable data is to regularly make backups of your crucial files.

Note that even if you do maintain such backups regularly, they ought to be put into a specific location without loitering, not being connected to your main workstation.

For instance, the backup may be kept on the USB flash drive or some alternative external hard drive storage. Optionally, you may refer to the help of online (cloud) information storage.

There is no reason to mention, when you maintain your backup data on your common device, it may be similarly ciphered as well as other data.

For this reason, locating the backup on your main computer is surely not a wise idea.

How I was infected?

Mbed attack following a successful phishing attempt.

Nevertheless, these are the common leaks through which it may be injected into your PC:

• hidden installation along with other apps, especially the utilities that work as freeware or shareware;
• dubious link in spam emails leading to the Mbed installer
• online free hosting resources;
• using illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) resources for downloading pirated software.

There were cases when the Mbed virus was disguised as some legitimate tool, for example, in the messages demanding to initiate some unwanted software or browser updates. This is typically the way how some online frauds aim to force you into installing the Mbed ransomware manually, by actually making you directly participate in this process.

Mbed ransomware, as majority of other ransomwares, gets in user’s PC in “sleeping” mode, so user is not able to detect it before it starts it’s action. It can be stored in such way for weeks or even monthes, untill it’s distributors won’t send a “start encrypting” command. Then, user would see typical sympthoms of Mbed ransomware attack – .mbed extensions and readme.txt files in every folder with encrypted files inside.

Surely, the bogus update alert will not indicate that you are going to actually inject the Mbed ransomware. This installation will be concealed under some alert mentioning that allegedly you should update Adobe Flash Player or some other dubious program whatsoever.

UPD. 23.03.2020 .mbed ransomware developers, like two another ransomwares .remk and .lokd started an agressive e-mail spamming. Such distribution manner suggests a thought that all 3 ransomwares has the same “owner”. Generally, this spam been detected by users from German, Italy and France. The spam mail looks like simple message, in which user is offered to install a browser add-on, which can show a current stats about number of people infected with Covid-19 in user’s area and common world stats. After installing this add-on users got an simple script that doing literally nothing, and then well known syptoms of ransomware attack appeared.

Of course, the cracked apps represent the damage too. Using P2P is both illegal and may result in the injection of another serious malware, including the Mbed ransomware, too.

To sum up, what can you do to avoid the injection of the Mbed ransomware into your device? Even though there is no 100% guarantee to prevent your PC from getting damaged, there are certain tips I want to give you to prevent the Mbed penetration. You must be cautious while installing free software today.

Make sure you always read what the installers offer in addition to the main free program. Stay away from opening dubious email attachments. Do not open files from the unknown addressees. Of course, your current security program must be always updated.

The malware does not speak openly about itself. It will not be mentioned in the list of your available programs. However, it will be masked under some malicious process running regularly in the background, starting from the moment when you launch your PC.

The message by the Mbed ransomware states the following frustrating information:

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: 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: Reserve e-mail address to contact us: Our Telegram account: @datarestore Mark Data Restore
Your personal ID:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The image below gives a clear vision of how the files with “.mbed” extension look like:

Example of crypted .mbed files

How to remove Mbed virus?

The is an excellent way to deal with recognizing and removing threats – using Gridinsoft Anti-Malware. This program will scan your PC, find and neutralize all suspicious processes">³.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the install-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your computer.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your PC for Mbed infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has completed, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.

How to decrypt .mbed files?

The newest extensions released around the end of August 2019 after the criminals made changes. This includes Grod, Peet, Nnqp, etc.

As a result of the changes made by the criminals, STOPDecrypter is no longer supported. Tt has been removed and replaced with the Emsisoft Decryptor for STOP Djvu Ransomware developed by Emsisoft and Michael Gillespie.

You can download free decryption tool here: Decryptor for STOP Djvu.

Updated 25 Nov 2019

Emsisoft has obtained and uploaded to their server OFFLINE KEYS for the following new STOP (Djvu) variants….gero, .hese, .seto, .peta, .moka, .meds, .kvag, .domn, .karl, .nesa, .noos, .kuub, .reco, .bora, .nols, .werd, .coot, .derp, .meka, .mosk, .lokf, .peet, .mbed, .kodg

Download and run decryption tool.

Start downloading the decryption tool.

Make sure to launch the decryption utility as an administrator. You need to agree with the license terms that will come up. For this purpose, click on the “Yes” button:

As soon as you accept the license terms, the main decryptor user interface comes up:

Select folders for decryption.

Based on the default settings, the decryptor will automatically populate the available locations in order to decrypt the currently available drives (the connected ones), including the network drives. Extra (optional) locations can be selected with the help of the “Add” button.

Decryptors normally suggest several options considering the specific malware family. The currently possible options are presented in the Options tab and can be activated or deactivated there. You may locate a detailed list of the currently active Options below.

Click on the “Decrypt” button.

As soon as yo add all the desired locations for decryption into the list, click on the “Decrypt” button in order to initiate the decryption procedure.

Note that the main screen may turn you to a status view, letting you know of the active process and the decryption statistics of your data:

The decryptor will notify you as soon as the decryption procedure is completed. If you need the report for your personal papers, you can save it by choosing the “Save log” button. Note that it is also possible to copy it directly to your clipboard and to paste it into emails or forum messages if you need to do so.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I open “.mbed” files?

MBED files contain important information. How can I decrypt them urgently?

You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to remove MBED. Does this mean that the program will delete my encrypted files?

Decrytor did not decrypt all my files, or not all of them were decrypted. What should I do?

What the next?

If the guide doesn’t help you to remove Mbed infection, please download the GridinSoft Anti-Malware that I recommended. Also, you can always ask me in the comments for getting help.

References

1. Twitter:
2. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site:
3. More information about GridinSoft products: