To put it differently, POOE ransomware operators want to receive a ransom from the computer user. They lock the most important files stored on the computer by using military-grade encryption algorithms. In fact, the virus is set to encrypt the very first 150KB of each file, which, under certain circumstances, allows restoring specific file formats with minimal data loss. Considering that people keep important work, study or personal files on their computers, the cybercriminals expect that the victim will be willing to pay up in order to unlock these files. The attackers promise to provide working decryption tools after receiving the money which they want to get in cryptocurrency. The criminals behind this malware also introduce to their conditions regarding file decryption software pricing. According to them, the victim has 3 days from the initial infection timestamp to contact the attackers via provided emails and pay the specified sum ($490). In order to do this, the victim needs to purchase cryptocurrency for the said amount first and transfer the corresponding amount to the criminals’ virtual wallet address. However, the _readme.txt note warns that victims who will fail to make the transaction within given time period will have to pay twice the amount ($980) in order to decrypt files. The attackers also suggest test decryption on one small file and if the victim decides to send one for the attackers, they promise to reply with a restored version of it. Our team experts as well as FBI DO NOT RECOMMEND paying ransoms to cybercriminals. This can always go in an unexpected direction. Some of the reasons why you should waste your money by paying the cybercriminals are:

You might end up with encrypted files AND money loss as the cybercriminals are not obliged to provide you with decryption tools even if you pay up. Besides, there is no way to trace them down or get your money back once you pay up.Cryptography-based virtual extortion viruses earn millions of US dollars to malevolent actors each year. This lures other people to join the illegal operations. Please, do not contribute to the growth of cybercrime by spending your hard-earned money!Paying a ransom might be considered an illegal act in your country.Threats that belong to STOP/DJVU ransomware family such as POOE virus run AZORULT Trojan on the infected computer. This is a well-known information stealer which can be remotely controlled by the attacker to perform illegal actions on victim’s PC.

Damage caused by ransomware: explanation

POOE ransomware virus gets launched after the victim downloads or opens a malicious file or simply visits a compromised link online. The ransomware then runs several processes at once, one of them being winupdate.exe. This process is responsible for displaying a fake Windows Update prompt to trick the victim into thinking that a sudden system slowdown was caused by ongoing OS updates. At the same time, the malware is already encrypting victim’s files all over the computer. The ransomware also deletes Volume Shadow Copies from the system by running this specific command via Command Prompt: vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All /Quiet Deleting VSS helps to prevent the victim from restoring file copies using System Restore Points. In other words, the malware wants to make sure that the victim will have no way of restoring files for free. Additionally, it adds a list of domains to Windows HOSTS file and maps them to victim’s localhost IP. This helps to block access to these websites. If the victim attempts to visit them using any web browser, one will run into DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error. We believe that the ransomware authors use this trick to prevent the victim from reaching for help online, or finding any attack-related information. Finally, the malware drops bowsakkdestx.txt file that stores victim’s public encryption key and personal ID and also saves PersonalID.txt file that contains only the victim’s ID. Like that wouldn’t be enough damage to the victim’s computer already, the virus drops AZORULT malware on the system and activates it. This is a well-known Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that can be used to perform various illegal tasks on victim’s computer remotely. It can be used for:

Downloading malware to the computer and running it;Stealing Steam, Telegram login credentials;Viewing or deleting files on victim’s computer;Stealing cryptocurrency wallets;Stealing browser cookies, saved passwords, browsing history and more.

Access to such kinds of information gives the attackers plenty of possibilities to blackmail the victim further. Therefore, we recommend you to remove POOE ransomware virus as soon as you can using professional INTEGO Antivirus. Our team suggests using RESTORO to repair virus damage to Windows OS files. You can find a detailed guide on how to remove computer threats from the system professionally down below.

Ransomware Summary

REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE

Ransomware-type virus distribution in detail

It is important to learn the tricks used by malware distributors in order to avoid getting infected again. When it comes to ransomware-type threats, they are mostly distributed in 4 main ways – illegal downloads, infected ad networks, email spam and fake tools. Speaking of STOP/DJVU ransomware family, its primary distribution method relies on illegal downloads. The attackers insert malicious scripts into fake software cracks, keygens or tools like KMSPico. Computer users who look for ways to activate paid software for free can easily get infected because they also tend to ignore their security software warnings as well. Some of the victims have reached out to us and reported getting the virus along software cracks for these popular programs:

Adobe Photoshop;Corel Draw;Cubase;Adobe Illustrator.

We strongly recommend you to avoid downloading such programs from suspicious websites and instead support legitimate software developers. Please remember that software licenses cost much less than hefty ransoms asked by cybercriminals. Besides, there are a lot of free software alternatives that you can use. Speaking of other ransomware distribution channels, we must speak about malicious email spam. The attackers compose convincing email messages and attach files to them. Typically, cybercriminals compromise files of DOCX, XLS or PDF format. Such emails usually urge the victim to view the attached document and reply as soon as possible. Unfortunately, opening such malicious contents can result in an immediate computer infection, data and private information loss. What is even more scary is that the attackers get even more creative and they manage to spoof the sender’s email address (this technique allows displaying fake sender’s email address rather than the real one). We strongly advise you to inspect each email that grabs your attention and think whether you were expecting for such a message to arrive. If not, maybe it is better to ignore such email altogether. Finally, STOP/DJVU ransomware victims should beware of fake decryption tools that cybercriminals upload to various websites. If the victim opens such tool, one’s files can get double encrypted with another ransomware strain variant. One of ransomware families known for such shady attack technique is called ZORAB.

Remove POOE ransomware virus and decrypt .pooe files

We have prepared in-detail instructions how to remove POOE ransomware virus and other threats from your computer professionally. In addition, we highly recommend scanning with RESTORO to remove malware remains and repair virus damage on Windows OS files. Once POOE ransomware virus removal is done, you should take the following actions:

Let your local cybersecurity authority know about a case of a STOP/DJVU ransomware attack.Search for data backups and use them after removing the virus.Follow the given instructions to decrypt or repair files affected by STOP/DJVU versions.Change your passwords for websites you have accounts for and have login credentials saved in your browser. This is recommended due to the fact that Azorult Trojan is capable of stealing them. Do not forget to change Steam, Telegram and Skype passwords as well.

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 POOE 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 POOE 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 POOE files

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

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The POOE 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 POOE 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 POOE 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.