DVN Virus 🔐 (.DEVINN Files) — How to Remove?

The Dvn virus falls under the Chaos ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the PC (images, text files, excel tables, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, leaving the unlock_here.txt files in every directory which contains the encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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Dvn virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Dvn is “a Chaos family ransomware malicious agent”.

Dvn will append its own .devinn extension to every file’s title. For instance, an image named “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.devinn”. Likewise, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.devinn”, and so on.

In each directory containing the encrypted files, a unlock_here.txt file will appear. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the Dvn developers. That is how they do it.

Dvn abstract:

In the image below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Dvn looks like. Each filename has the “.devinn” extension added to it.

An example of encrypted .devinn files.

How did my computer get infected with Dvn ransomware?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most exploited methods for malefactors to have ransomware working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you open your mailbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is unknown to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a viral file attached to them. Thus it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan virus scheme. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your machine disguised as something else. For instance, you download an installer of some program you need or an update for some program. However, what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful program that encodes your data. Since the update file can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the resource of the files you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer-to-peer networks like torrents or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove the Dvn virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Dvn virus will most likely deploy Vidar Stealer on your machine to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes racketeers would decrypt some of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. Since Dvn virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are constantly updated, so the solution may soon arrive.

Of course, if the hackers do the job of encoding victim’s critical files, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of criminals just vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.

The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that file you were working upon when it all started. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Dvn, that work similarly. For instance, Boty, Niwm, Coty, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Dvn are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encoded files.

Some fortunate users were able to decode the blocked files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avert ransomware infection?

Dvn ransomware has no superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your computer from its injection in three easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A hoax email will surely contain a mistake.
• Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as an element of cracked software, most likely under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from trustworthy software, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. Try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.
• And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect armor for your personal computer.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft³.

Download Removal Tool.

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

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-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 Dvn 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 finished, 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 How can I open “.devinn” files?Are the “.devinn” files accessible?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.devinn” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

If the “.devinn” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Dvn virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Of course not. The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.

With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your PC off the actual viruses. The ransomware that has attacked your computer is must be still functional and it scans your system from time to time to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has been said above, the Dvn virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide criminals with easy access to your system after some time.

🤔 What to do if the Dvn malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation key.

If that happened, you need to prepare a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. You see, the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or brought into your machine. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital programs to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the blocked files might still be at your disposal

• If you sent or received your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, mobile, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use data recovery utilities⁴ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you kill the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.

Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

• In the United States: On Guard Online;
• In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
• In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
• In Australia: SCAMwatch;
• In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
• In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
• In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
• In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

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