HBM Ransomware 🔐 (.HBM File) — Removal Guide

The Hbm virus belongs to the Dharma ransomware family. Ransomware of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (images, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the info.txt files in every folder which contains the encrypted files.

What is known about the Hbmvirus?

☝️ A strictly accurate denomination for the Hbm would be “a Dharma family ransomware infection”.

The pattern of renaming is the following: id-xxxxx.[contact_email].HBM. After the encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx.id-1E857D00.[[email protected]].HBM”.

In each folder that contains the encoded files, a info.txt text file will be found. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can get this decrypting software after contacting [email protected] via email. That is it.

Hbm abstract:

The info.txt file accompanying the Hbm malware provides the following frustrating information:

all your data has been locked us
You want to return?
write email [email protected] or [email protected] 

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Hbm looks like. Each filename has the “.HBM” extension appended to it.

How did my computer get infected with Hbm ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most exploited ways for hackers to have the Hbm virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see emails that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a malicious file enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with emails like these.

As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat 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. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of the Hbm virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Hbm virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware³ can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Often tamperers would decode some of your files so you know that they do have the decryption program. Since Hbm virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are frequently upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the criminals do the job of encoding victim’s essential files, the hopeless person will probably fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying to racketeers gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of racketeers simply vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.

The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.

Hbm is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. For instance, Zatp, Bowd, Tcvp, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Hbm are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: documents become encoded, their extensions changed, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky victims were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption key to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a bandits’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avoid ransomware injection?

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

You can protect your computer from its infiltration taking three easy steps:

• Ignore any letters from unknown mailers with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email carefully. A fake email will surely have mistakes.
• Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as an element of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy software, as trojans sometimes 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.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft⁴

Download Removal Tool.

Run the setup file.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

Click on “Clean Now”.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Are the “.HBM” files accessible?

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

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.HBM” files ASAP. How can I do that?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. All other solutions require time.

🤔 What to do if the Hbm virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Many of the encrypted files might still be within your reach

• If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You might have shared images or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to give those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, cellphone, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities⁶ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the virus with an anti-malware 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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