UST29 Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove?

The Ust29 virus falls within the Dharma ransomware family. Malware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the PC (images, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, creating the FILES ENCRYPTED.txt files in every directory containing 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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What is known about the Ust29virus?

☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Ust29 is “a Dharma family ransomware-type infection”.

The pattern of renaming is this: id-*******.[email address].ust29. During the encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be turned into “report.docx..id-9ECFA84E.[ust29@aol.com].ust29”.

In every directory with the encoded files, a FILES ENCRYPTED.txt text document will be found. It is a ransom money memo. It contains information about the ways of paying the ransom and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can obtain this decrypting software after contacting ust29@aol.com through email. That is basically the scheme of the crime.

Ust29 outline:

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Ust29 looks like. Each filename has the “.id-*******.[email address].ust29” extension added to it.

An example of encrypted .id-*******.[email address].ust29 files.

How did my computer get infected with Ust29 ransomware?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most exploited methods for malefactors to have ransomware settled in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer networks.

If you open your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services providers, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is unknown to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a harmful file attached to them. Therefore, it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file scheme². A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your machine pretending to be something else. For instance, you download an installer of some program you want or an update for some software. However, what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful agent that compromises your data. As the installation file can have any name and any icon, you have to make sure that you can trust the source of the stuff you’re downloading. The best way is to trust the software developers’ 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 reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.

How to remove the Ust29 virus?

It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Ust29 virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes racketeers would unblock several of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption program. Since Ust29 virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware developers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly updated, so the solution may soon be available.

Of course, if the tamperers succeed in encoding someone’s essential files, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying to criminals gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After obtaining the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of ransomware developers simply disappearing 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. Obviously, that might be not enough. Your most important thing could be that file 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.

There are other ransomware products, besides Ust29, that work similarly. For instance, Udla, Tuid, Kxde, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Ust29 are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: files become encoded, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in each folder containing encoded files.

Some fortunate people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decryption key to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How сan I avert ransomware attack?

Ust29 ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can protect your computer from its attack in several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, check all elements of the suspicious email carefully. A hoax letter will always have mistakes.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often shared as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. But dubious programs are difficult to distinguish from trustworthy software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try to find information about this program 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 objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect defense for your PC.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft³

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft⁴.

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 system.

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 computer for Ust29 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.

FAQ

🤔 Can I somehow access “.id-*******.[email address].ust29” files?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.id-*******.[email address].ust29” files are decrypted.

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

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. 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. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Ust29 virus?

No way! Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete actual threats from your computer. The malware that has infected your system is most likely still active and launching checks every so often to encode any new files you might create on your PC after the attack. As it has already been said, the Ust29 malware comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your system in the future.

🤔 What should I do if the Ust29 virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

In such a case, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your computer. To suppress this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the blocked data can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files via email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or family members. Just ask them to post those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, phone, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can use file recovery programs⁵ to get your lost data back since ransomware encrypts the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you kill the virus with an anti-malware program.

Also, you can contact the following official 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.

How to Remove UST29 Ransomware & Recover PC

Name: UST29 Virus

Description: UST29 Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .id-*******.[email address].ust29 extension. So, you can't use them at all.

Operating System: Windows

Application Category: Virus

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