Montage Ransomware EXPOSED: .montage9 Files and RANSOM_NOTE.html

The folder looks almost normal. The vacation photo is still listed. The invoice is still listed. The tax spreadsheet is still listed. Then the endings jump out. What used to be 1.jpg is now 1.jpg.montage9. What used to be invoice-2026.pdf is now invoice-2026.pdf.montage9. A page called RANSOM_NOTE.html is sitting in the same folder as if it has always belonged there.

That page is not a help file. It is the sales pitch. Montage ransomware locks the files first, then talks like a recovery desk. It names two inboxes. It points at a Tor site printed in the note. It offers to unlock two or three unimportant files as proof. It starts a 72-hour clock and says the price goes up if you wait. It claims a copy of your data is already sitting on a private server.

The hour those names appear is not a hunt for a miracle key. It is the hour you need a map of the trap, so the HTML page does not become your incident plan.

Overview

Montage ransomware is a file locker that wants a conversation more than it wants a clever name. The lock is the extra ending on everyday files. The conversation is RANSOM_NOTE.html. The squeeze is a leak claim, a timer, and a free sample that is not free at all. If you are staring at a pile of .montage9 files and that HTML page, you are in a ransom incident, not a broken disk and not a browser pop-up.

The costume is calm on purpose. The note does not have to scream. It can speak like a ticket. It can offer proof. It can warn you that waiting will cost more. That voice is how a locked photo folder starts to feel like a checkout. The people who wrote the page already have what they want from the first half of the job. The second half is getting you to write back.

Montage sits in the same family as the Developer and Friends lockers. The brand on the file ending can change. The sales floor stays familiar. A different digit on the extension does not make a new rescue. It is still the same store with a new sign in the window.

The renamed files are the first billboard

After the lock, the old names stay. Then Montage hangs its own ending on the file. The sample you are seeing uses .montage9. A picture named 1.jpg becomes 1.jpg.montage9. A scan named contract.pdf becomes contract.pdf.montage9. In a Documents folder that can look like vacation.jpg.montage9, invoice-2026.pdf.montage9, taxes.xlsx.montage9, and family.mp4.montage9 all in one pass. The familiar part of the name is still there so you can see exactly what you lost.

The digit is not a serial you can decode at home. Other copies of the same family have used a different number after the word montage. Treat .montage9 as the sample in front of you, not as the only possible ending. If you see another montage digit, you are still in this family. You are not in a different pop-up with an unlucky shared word.

Taking the extra letters off does not open the file. Changing 1.jpg.montage9 back to 1.jpg is a costume change. The bytes inside were rewritten so only the attackers’ key can turn them back. Everyday programs fail in a boring way. The photo app shows a broken thumbnail. Spreadsheet software asks for a file that is still sitting in the same folder, only the name is longer. People sometimes think the disk died. The disk is usually fine. The contents are not.

Do not bulk-rename the locked copies. Do not run an “extension fixer” from a search ad. Those moves can scramble a file that a later trusted decryptor might still have been able to read. Leave the .montage9 names as they are until you have a clean machine and a recovery plan that does not start in a criminal inbox.

RANSOM_NOTE.html is the storefront

The instruction sheet is an HTML page named RANSOM_NOTE.html. It is dropped where the locked files live, so you cannot miss it. Double-clicking it opens a browser. That is why a panicked first click feels like opening the help page. It is not help. It is the demand, written so it looks official enough to follow.

The page says the files are encrypted. It offers a way to write for a price and for decryption software. It tells the reader that tools on the internet will not work. It points at contact lines and a Tor site printed in the same note. Those lines are sales copy. They are not a support policy.

The printed inboxes are recovery1@salamati.vip and recovery1@amniyat.xyz. Keep those strings as identifiers. Do not treat them as a help desk. Do not send a sample file to prove you are a real victim. Do not argue about a price that has not even been named yet. Those addresses belong to the people who locked the files.

The note also lists a Tor site. There is no onion address printed here for you to hunt, and none will be invented. If a long onion link is in your copy of the page, treat it the same way you treat the inboxes. It is a door the crew opened for themselves. It is not a safe chat. Saving the note as evidence is useful. Following the link is how a locked folder becomes a negotiation.

The leak line does the second squeeze

The HTML says confidential data was copied and is sitting on a private server. It says that server can be destroyed after payment. It says that if you do not pay, the data can be released or sold. That is the second hook. Even a shop that can restore files from backup still feels that sentence in the stomach.

There is no public $ figure printed as a sticker price on this note. The page does not have to quote a bitcoin total. It can tell you to write and ask. That missing number is not mercy. It lets the crew set a price after they see who you are. A clinic, a contractor, and a family photo folder can all get a different ask. Inventing a $ amount here would only help the costume.

A leak claim can be true. Crews do steal mail, payroll, and scans before they lock files. A leak claim can also be a bluff copied from the last job. Either way, writing the inbox does not give you a receipt that the copies were deleted. The CISA StopRansomware Guide is blunt about this kind of squeeze. Paying does not ensure the files come back, does not ensure the systems are clean, and does not ensure the data stays unpublished.

The 72-hour clock is a sales timer

Near the bottom, the note raises the voice. If you do not make contact within 72 hours, the price will be higher. That is not a service-level agreement. It is a timer drawn on the page so you skip the slow, correct steps: isolate the machine, call the person who handles incidents, and report the crime.

Urgency is the cheapest tool in this trade. Seventy-two hours sounds specific, so it feels real. It is specific the way a fake shipping countdown is specific. The people who set it can wait, raise the number, or vanish. Your job in those 72 hours is not to beat the clock. Your job is to stop the spread and to keep a clean copy of what you still have.

Two or three unlocked files are not a contract

The note offers a free test. Send two or three non-important files, and they will decrypt them to prove they can give the rest back. That offer sounds reasonable. It is one of the oldest lines in this business. Unlocking a junk PDF does not unlock the payroll folder. It does not prove the leak copies will be deleted. It does not prove the decryptor they later sell will finish the job.

The test also gives them more of your data. A “worthless” file can still hold a client name, an address, or an internal path. You do not owe them a sample. You do not need their proof. If a trusted decryptor ever appears, it will come from a project like No More Ransom, not from a mailbox that just locked your share.

This is not the old Montageobox search page

A 2016 MalwareTips write-up covered Search.montageobox.com, a browser hijack with an unlucky shared word. That page pushed search redirects. It did not append .montage9 to documents. It did not drop RANSOM_NOTE.html. It did not name recovery1@salamati.vip. If your only symptom is a search site you never asked for, you are in that older story.

If documents, photos, and shares now end in .montage plus a number, and an HTML note is sitting in those folders, you are not in the hijack story. Mixing the two wastes the first hour. The old page wanted a search default. This ransomware wants a payment and a conversation. Treat them as different files with a shared scrap of branding.

What public antivirus calls it

Public scanners do not have to use the marketing name Montage. Microsoft has logged the family as Ransom:Win64/Dementor.NSN!MTB. ESET has logged it as Win64/Filecoder.Dementor.A. Those labels are useful when you talk to an incident-response shop or when you search a vendor encyclopedia. They are not a clean bill of health, and they are not a decryptor.

A detection can remove the active locker. It cannot roll back files that already grew the new ending. That is why a green scan after cleanup can still sit next to a dead accounting folder. Cleanup and recovery are different jobs. Do the first so the second is not undone overnight.

There is no public free decryptor known for Montage. Anyone who greets you by your extension, your note filename, or your two sample files is still selling the same lock. Nobody here will claim a recovery that did not happen. Until a trusted project publishes a key, treat any site that says “we already have the Montage key” as a second sales pitch.

How The Scam Works

You do not need a lab notebook to understand the trap. You need the order the victim sees. The renamed files, the HTML, the inboxes, the Tor door, the leak line, the 72-hour clock, and the test files arrive as one package. Here is that package in the order it usually lands.

1. One reachable account is enough

Someone on the machine still has a session the attackers can use. That can be a stolen remote-desktop login, a phishing mail from last month, or a share that was never meant to be open. The page will not walk through those paths. The part you can see is the aftermath: one account was enough, and the note now speaks as if the whole office is already theirs.

From the chair in front of the screen, it feels sudden. From the crew’s side, the HTML is the last page of a longer stay. CISA warns that a ransomware event can be the noisy end of an earlier compromise. That is why “reboot and hope” is a poor first move on a business network. The locker may be the only thing you can see. It may not be the only thing that is there.

2. Files pick up .montage9 and stop opening

The locker walks the folders it can reach and rewrites the files it cares about. Documents, images, archives, and exports are the usual targets because those are the files people miss first. When it finishes a file, it leaves the old name in place and hangs .montage plus a number on the end. The sample in this write-up uses .montage9. The digits can change on the next job, the same way Developer and Friends have used their own labels in the same family.

Shared folders make the scene look bigger than one PC. A mapped drive, a NAS share, or a user profile that syncs to a server can carry the new ending across the office in one pass. That is why a note can talk about a company and sound plausible even when the hit is a six-person shop. A single unlocked account on a share is enough for that sentence to land.

That is the moment people start renaming files by hand. It feels like fixing a typo. It is not. The bytes inside are already changed. Keep the encrypted files as they are. If a later decryptor appears, it will want the original locked copies, not a pile of renamed leftovers.

3. RANSOM_NOTE.html appears in the folders

The HTML page is dropped next to the locked files, and sometimes on the desktop as well. The layout looks like a notice, not like a scam letter. That is deliberate. A text file on the desktop is easy to distrust. A formatted page that mentions a key, a timer, and a private server feels like a ticket you are supposed to answer.

Save a copy of that page on a clean machine if you can do it safely. The note is evidence. It helps a responder match the strain. It is also the document police and insurers ask for. Do not follow the instructions on it. Do not use it as a to-do list.

4. The note points at inboxes and a Tor site

The printed contacts are recovery1@salamati.vip and recovery1@amniyat.xyz. A Tor site is listed as a third door. The page may tell you to open a fresh mail account before talking. That advice protects the crew, not you. A new inbox makes the thread harder to tie back to the office and easier for them to handle as a ticket.

Do not write those inboxes. Do not open the Tor site “just to see the price.” A price is how the rest of the script starts. Once you are in the thread, the 72-hour line has something to attach to. Silence is not rude here. Silence is how you stay out of their queue.

5. The leak threat does the second bill

After the lock, the note spends its best sentences on the data it says it already stole. Payroll. Scans. Mail. A private server is the phrase that makes it sound finished. It promises that server will be destroyed if you pay. It promises a public dump or a sale if you do not. That is the second bill, and it arrives before anyone has named a $ amount.

Believe the risk enough to treat it as a possible breach. Tell counsel and your incident lead if this is a company. Do not believe the promise enough to buy a deletion you cannot verify. There is no named public leak site to send you to, and this page will not invent one. A missing leak blog is not proof the copies were never taken. It is also not a reason to start a chat.

6. The clock tries to rush the decision

The 72-hour hike is there so you skip backups, skip reporting, and skip the person who would tell you to isolate the share. A timer turns a weekend into a crisis. The correct first hour is slow on purpose. Unplug. Take the share offline. Write down what still works. That work does not get cheaper because a page said the price goes up on Thursday.

People pay timers with attention first, then with money. If the note can own the next three days, it does not need a printed $ figure. You will ask for the figure yourself. That is the design. Put the clock down. The files are already locked. Another 72 hours of panic will not unlock them.

7. A few files are offered as proof

The two-to-three-file test is the handshake. It looks like fairness. It is a way to start the thread and to collect more samples. An unlocked holiday photo does not mean the accounting database will return. It does not mean the leak copies are gone. It means someone on the other end can open a file they locked, which you already knew.

If you are tempted to send a “worthless” file, stop. Worthless to you is still a path name, a client line, or a header the crew did not have. Proof, if it ever comes, should come from a trusted decryptor project, not from the mailbox that wrote RANSOM_NOTE.html.

8. Why the inbox is still not a help desk

Everything in the note points to one action: make contact. The costume, the leak, the clock, and the test all serve that action. Contact is how a locked folder becomes a negotiation. Negotiation is how a $ demand appears. Payment is how the next victim is funded. None of those steps restore a network you can trust.

The No More Ransom project puts the rule in plain language. Paying is not guaranteed to bring the files back, and you should not pay. That is not a slogan from a blog. It is the line on the official landing page run with Europol and the project partners. Use that page. Do not use the HTML note as a vendor.

9. A second shop offers the same miracle

After a ransomware incident, search results fill up with companies that say they can decrypt Montage or “all .montage9 files.” Some of those shops are ordinary overpriced consultants. Plenty are a second scam. The original crew wants you in their inbox. The second crew wants a deposit, a remote-access session, or the same two sample files. Either way, you are still in the market the locker created.

A real public decryptor, when one exists, shows up on an official project page that already existed before your incident. It does not need a deposit in cryptocurrency. It does not need recovery1@salamati.vip. It does not need the Tor site from the note. If the pitch is “we can decrypt, pay us first,” you are still paying the lock. There is no public free decryptor known for this strain, and there is no honest way to claim the files came back through a paid inbox.

What To Do If Your Files End in .montage9

The first useful hour is quiet. You are not looking for a miracle key. You are stopping the spread, keeping evidence, and moving the incident onto official rails. The house steps below cover the generic work every ransomware victim needs. After that block, stay with the Montage details that the generic page cannot name for you.

• STEP 1: Use Rkill to terminate suspicious programs.
• STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to remove for Ransomware and Unwanted Programs
• STEP 3: Use HitmanPro to remove Trojans and other Malware
• STEP 4: Use AdwCleaner to remove Malicious Browser Extensions and Adware
• STEP 5: Perform a final check with ESET Online Scanner
• STEP 6: Restore the files encrypted by ransomware

STEP 1: Use Rkill to terminate suspicious programs.

In this first step, we will download and run Rkill to terminate suspicious programs that may be running on your computer.

RKill is a program that was developed at BleepingComputer.com that attempts to terminate known malware processes so that your normal security software can then run and clean your computer of infections. When RKill runs it will kill malware processes and then removes incorrect executable associations and fixes policies that stop us from using certain tools.

1. Download Rkill.

   You can download RKill to your computer from the below link. When at the download page, click on the Download Now button labeled iExplore.exe. We are downloading a renamed version of Rkill (iExplore.exe) because some malware will not allow processes to run unless they have a certain filename.

   

   RKILL DOWNLOAD LINK
   (The above link will open a new page from where you can download Rkill)

2. Run RKill.

   After downloading, double-click the iExplore.exe icon to kill malicious processes. In most cases, downloaded files are saved to the Downloads folder.
   The program may take some time to search for and end various malware programs.

   

   When it is finished, the black window will close automatically and a log file will open. Do not restart your computer. Proceed to the next step in this guide.

STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to remove Ransomware and Unwanted Programs

In this second step, we will install Malwarebytes to scan and remove any infections, adware, or potentially unwanted programs that may be present on your computer.

Malwarebytes is one of the most popular and trusted anti-malware tools for Windows — and it’s completely free for removing infections. It catches threats that many antivirus programs miss, including adware, browser hijackers, and trojans. Follow the steps below to scan and clean your PC in just a few minutes.

1. Download Malwarebytes

   Click the button below to download the latest version of Malwarebytes for Windows from the official source. The free version is all you need — it will scan your computer and remove adware, browser hijackers, and other malicious software at no cost.

   

   DOWNLOAD MALWAREBYTES FOR WINDOWS (FREE)
   
   (The link opens in a new page where your download will start)

2. Install Malwarebytes

   When the download finishes, open your Downloads folder and double-click the MBSetup file. If Windows shows a User Account Control pop-up, click “Yes” to allow the installation.

   

3. Follow the On-Screen Prompts to Install Malwarebytes

   The setup wizard will walk you through a few quick screens:

   • Choose where you’re installing the program — “Personal Computer” or “Work Computer” — then click Next.

     

   • Malwarebytes will now install on your device. This usually takes under a minute.

     

   • When installation is complete, the “Welcome to Malwarebytes” screen will open automatically.

     

   • On the final screen, click Open Malwarebytes to launch the program.

     

4. Enable “Scan for Rootkits”

   Before scanning, turn on rootkit detection so Malwarebytes can find even the most hidden threats. Click the Settings gear icon on the left side of the screen.

   

   In the settings menu, find “Scan for rootkits” and click the toggle so it turns blue.

   

   Done? Click “Dashboard” in the left pane to return to the main screen.

5. Start the Scan

   Click the blue Scan button. Malwarebytes will automatically update its virus database and start checking your computer for malware.

   

6. Wait for the Scan to Finish

   The scan checks your entire system for browser hijackers and other malicious programs, so it can take several minutes. Feel free to do something else — just check back occasionally to see the progress.

   

7. Quarantine the Detected Threats

   When the scan is done, you’ll see a list of everything Malwarebytes found — malware, adware, and potentially unwanted programs. Click the “Quarantine” button to remove all of them at once.

   

   Malwarebytes will now remove the malicious files and registry entries and move them safely into quarantine.

   

8. Restart Your Computer

   Some threats can only be fully removed after a reboot. If Malwarebytes asks you to restart, click Yes. Once you’re logged back in, your PC is clean and you can continue with the next steps in this guide.

   

STEP 3: Use HitmanPro to remove Rootkits and other Malware

In this third step, while the computer is in normal back, we will download and run a scan with HitmanPro to remove Trojans, rootkits, and other malicious programs.

HitmanPro is a second-opinion scanner — it’s designed to catch what your main antivirus might have missed. Instead of relying on a single detection engine, it checks the behavior of files in the locations where malware usually hides. Anything suspicious gets sent to the cloud, where it’s analyzed by two of the best antivirus engines available: Bitdefender and Kaspersky.

Good news: scanning is completely free, with no limits. You only need a license when it’s time to remove what was found — and even then, you can activate a free one-time 30-day trial to clean your PC at no cost. (A full license is $24.95 per year for 1 PC.)

1. Download HitmanPro

   Click the button below to download HitmanPro. Remember — the scan is free, so you have nothing to lose by checking your PC.

   DOWNLOAD HITMANPRO (FREE SCAN)
   (The link opens in a new page where your download will start)

2. Install HitmanPro

   When the download finishes, open your Downloads folder and double-click the file: “hitmanpro.exe” on 32-bit Windows, or “hitmanpro_x64.exe” on 64-bit Windows.

   

   If a User Account Control pop-up asks whether HitmanPro can make changes to your device, click “Yes” to continue.

   

3. Follow the On-Screen Prompts

   On the HitmanPro start screen, click “Next” to begin the system scan. No lengthy setup required — it goes straight to work.

   

   

4. Wait for the Scan to Finish

   HitmanPro will now check your computer for malicious programs. This usually takes just a few minutes thanks to its cloud-based scanning.
   

5. Review the Results and Click “Next”

   When the scan is done, HitmanPro will show you everything it found. Click “Next” to remove the detected threats.

   

6. Click “Activate Free License”

   To remove the malicious files, click the “Activate free license” button. This starts your free 30-day trial — no payment details needed — and unlocks the full cleanup.
   

   When the removal is complete, HitmanPro will show a summary of everything it cleaned. Click Next, then click Reboot if prompted. If there’s no reboot prompt, just click Close — your PC is clean.

STEP 4: Use AdwCleaner to remove Malicious Browser Extensions and Adware

In this next step, we will use AdwCleaner to remove malicious browser policies and unwanted browser extensions from your computer.

AdwCleaner is a free on-demand scanner that specializes in adware, browser hijackers, and unwanted toolbars — the exact threats that mainstream antivirus programs often miss. It also includes tools that repair the damage malware leaves behind, like hijacked browser settings and malicious policies. It’s a quick scan that’s well worth running.

1. Download AdwCleaner

   Click the button below to download AdwCleaner — it’s free, portable, and requires no installation.

   

   DOWNLOAD ADWCLEANER (FREE)
   (The link opens in a new page where your download will start)

2. Run AdwCleaner

   Open your Downloads folder and double-click the file named “adwcleaner_x.x.x.exe“. There’s no installation — the program starts right away.
   

   If Windows asks whether you want to allow AdwCleaner to run, click “Yes“. When the license agreement appears, click I agree to continue.

   

3. Enable “Reset Chrome policies”

   This setting removes malicious browser policies — a trick malware uses to lock your browser settings so you can’t change them back. Click “Settings” on the left side of the window, then turn on “Reset Chrome policies“.

   

4. Start the Scan

   Click “Dashboard” on the left side of the window, then click the “Scan” button.

   

5. Wait for the Scan to Finish

   AdwCleaner will now check your computer for adware and other malware. This usually takes only a few minutes — it’s one of the fastest scanners around.

   

6. Quarantine the Detected Threats

   When the scan finishes, AdwCleaner will list everything it found. Click the “Quarantine” button to remove all the malicious items at once.

   

7. Click “Continue” to Finish the Cleanup

   Save any open work first — AdwCleaner needs to close your open programs before it can clean. When you’re ready, click the “Continue” button.
   

   AdwCleaner will now delete all detected malware from your computer. If it asks you to restart your PC, allow it — your computer will be clean when you log back in.

STEP 5: Perform a final check with ESET Online Scanner

This final step involves installing and running a scan with ESET Online Scanner to check for any additional malicious programs that may be installed on the computer..

ESET Online Scanner is a free second-opinion scanner that performs a deep, full-system check for viruses, trojans, rootkits, and other malware. We use it as the final step because it’s thorough — if anything slipped past the previous scans, ESET will find it. A clean result here means your computer is malware-free.

1. Download ESET Online Scanner

   Click the button below to download ESET Online Scanner.

   

   DOWNLOAD ESET ONLINE SCANNER (FREE)
   (The link opens in a new page where your download will start)

2. Run the Installer

   When the download finishes, open your Downloads folder and double-click “esetonlinescanner.exe“.
   

3. Install ESET Online Scanner

   On the start screen, select your language from the drop-down menu and click Get started.

   

   On the Terms of use screen, click Accept.
   

   Choose your preferences for the Customer Experience Improvement Program and the Detection feedback system (either choice is fine), then click Continue.
   

4. Start a Full Scan

   Click Full Scan — this checks your entire computer, not just the common hiding spots.

   

   Select Enable for Detection of Potentially Unwanted Applications — this lets ESET catch adware and bundled junk programs, not just viruses. Then click Start scan.

   

5. Wait for the Scan to Finish

   ESET will now check every file on your computer. Because it’s a full scan, this can take a while — often an hour or more, depending on how much data you have. Leave it running in the background and check on it from time to time.

   

6. Review the Results

   When the scan completes, the Found and resolved detections screen appears. Any threats found were automatically cleaned and quarantined — there’s nothing extra you need to do. Click View detailed results if you want to see exactly what was removed.
   

   If ESET found nothing — congratulations, your computer has passed the final check and is malware-free.

STEP 6: Restore the files encrypted by ransomware

Unfortunately, in most cases, it’s not possible to recover the files encrypted by this ransomware virus because the private key which is needed to unlock the encrypted files is only available through the attackers. However, below we’ve listed three options you can use to try and recover your files.

Option 1: Search a decryption tool for this ransomware

The cybersecurity community is constantly working to create ransomware decryption tools, so you can try to search these sites for updates:

• https://id-ransomware.malwarehunterteam.com/
• https://decrypter.emsisoft.com/
• https://noransom.kaspersky.com/
• https://www.avast.com/ransomware-decryption-tools

Option 2: Use EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free to recover the encrypted files

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free can restore files and repair corrupted files with simple clicks. Its powerful scanning algorithms can identify and retrieve huge file type library, including all of the popular video files, audio files, photos, and document formats.
While the free version only allows you to recover 2 GB of data, this can be helpful to see if the recovery is possible and restore back the most important files from your computer.

1. Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free.

   You can download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free by clicking the link below.

   

   EASEUS DATA RECOVERY WIZARD FREE DOWNLOAD LINK
   (The above link will open a new page from where you can download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard)

2. Double-click on the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free setup file.

   When EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free has finished downloading, double-click on the setup file to install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your computer. In most cases, downloaded files are saved to the Downloads folder.

   

   You may be presented with a User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow EaseUS to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free installation.

3. Follow the on-screen prompts to install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

   When the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard installation begins, click on the “Install Now” as seen in the image below.
   

   When your EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard installation completes, click the “Start Now” button to start the program.
   

4. Select a location to start recovering the encrypted files.

   Choose the drive or folder where you are the encrypted files that you want to recover and click “Scan“.
   

5. Wait for the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard scan to complete.

   EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will now scan your computer files that can be restored. This process can take a few minutes, so we suggest you do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan to see when it is finished.
   

6. Find the files you want to recover.

   When the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard scan is finished scanning it will show a screen that displays the files that can be recovered. This tool can recover a lot of data, use the “Filter” button to quickly filter specific file types and find the files that you want to recover.
   

   Click the “Preview” button or double-click on a file for a full preview.
   

7. Select your files and click “Recover”.

   Finally, select the the files you want to recover and click “Recover“.
   
   Choose a safe location to save all the files.
   
   The free version only allow you to recover 2 GB of data, however, this will allow you to recover the most important files and see if EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can correctly recover them.
   

Option 3: Try to restore your files with ShadowExplorer

This ransomware will attempt to delete all shadow copies when you first start any executable on your computer after becoming infected. Thankfully, the infection is not always able to remove the shadow copies, so you should continue to try restoring your files using this method.

1. Download ShadowExplorer.

   You can download ShadowExplorer from the below link.

   SHADOW EXPLORER DOWNLOAD LINK
   (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “ShadowExplorer”)

2. Install ShadowExplorer.

   Double-click on the ShadowExplorer-x.x-setup file to start the installation process, then follow the on-screen promts to install this program.
   

3. Select snapshot date.

   Open ShadowExplorer and then from the top bar select the drive where the files that you want to save are located, then select from the snapshot available one previous to this infection.

   

4. Export the files that you want to recover.

   Once you have found a copy of the original file or folder, right-click on it and the select “Export”. A window will prompt you where you want to save the file or folder.
   

Do not write recovery1@salamati.vip or recovery1@amniyat.xyz. Do not open the Tor site printed in RANSOM_NOTE.html, even “just to ask the price.” Do not send two or three unimportant files as proof. Do not start a fresh Proton, Hotmail, or Outlook account because the note told you to. Those steps turn a crime scene into a sales call. If you already sent a message before you found this page, stop there. Do not send a third file. Do not pay a deposit to “hold the price” after a demo.

Keep the locked files exactly as they are, including the .montage9 ending. If your copy used a different montage digit, keep that ending too. Keep RANSOM_NOTE.html with them. Those locked copies and that note are what a later trusted decryptor would need, and they are what a responder would want to see. The inboxes in the note are identifiers. They are not tickets you should redeem.

When you talk to a responder, use the public names that already exist. Microsoft: Ransom:Win64/Dementor.NSN!MTB. ESET: Win64/Filecoder.Dementor.A. Add the file ending you actually have, the RANSOM_NOTE.html filename, and the two recovery1 addresses. That is enough to match Montage to the Developer and Friends family without handing the crew a sample. You do not need their proof to be taken seriously by your own side.

If a stranger later greets you by .montage9, by RANSOM_NOTE.html, or by recovery1@salamati.vip, they read the same HTML you did. That caller is not CISA. That inbox is not No More Ransom. A 72-hour price hike in the note is not a reason to skip the CISA ransomware reporting page or a report at the FBI IC3 desk. The clock is theirs. The files are already locked. Another three days of panic will not change the bytes.

The Bottom Line

Montage ransomware is a locker with a storefront. Files keep their names and then gain .montage9, or another montage digit on a later variant. RANSOM_NOTE.html does the talking. It claims stolen data on a private server, starts a 72-hour price hike, and offers two or three unimportant files as proof. The inboxes are recovery1@salamati.vip and recovery1@amniyat.xyz. A Tor site is listed in the same note. Those doors are the product. They are not a help desk.

This is not the old Search.montageobox.com hijack. It sits in the same family as Developer and Friends. Public antivirus talks about it as Microsoft Ransom:Win64/Dementor.NSN!MTB and ESET Win64/Filecoder.Dementor.A. There is no printed $ ransom to recite, and there is no public free decryptor. Keep the locked files and the note. Do not pay, and do not write recovery1 to ask what the next 72 hours will cost.

If you take one sentence with you, take this. A note that offers proof is still a ransom note. Treat .montage9 like ransomware on the first sighting, not on the day a stranger finally names a $ figure.