BIDON Ransomware 🔐 (.PUUUK Files) — How to Remove?

The Bidon virus belongs to the MONTI ransomware family. Malware of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, creating the readme.txt text files in every folder 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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Bidon virus: what is known so far?

☝️ Bidon is a MONTI family ransomware malicious agent.

Bidon adds its extra .PUUUK extension to every file’s name. For example, a file entitled “photo.jpg” will be renamed to “photo.jpg.PUUUK”. Likewise, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.PUUUK”, and so on.

In every folder containing the encoded files, a readme.txt text document will be found. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can get this decryptor after contacting Tor website through email. That is it.

Bidon Overview:

The readme.txt document accompanying the Bidon malware provides the following dispiriting information:

All of your files are currently encrypted by BIDON strain. If you don\'t know who we are - just \"Google it.\"


As you already know, all of your data has been encrypted by our software.
It cannot be recovered by any means without contacting our team directly.


DON\'T TRY TO RECOVER your data by yourselves. Any attempt to recover your data (including the usage of the additional recovery software) can damage your files. However,
if you want to try - we recommend choosing the data of the lowest value.


DON\'T TRY TO IGNORE us. We\'ve downloaded a pack of your internal data and are ready to publish it on our news website if you do not respond.
So it will be better for both sides if you contact us as soon as possible.


DON\'T TRY TO CONTACT feds or any recovery companies.
We have our informants in these structures, so any of your complaints will be immediately directed to us.
So if you will hire any recovery company for negotiations or send requests to the police/FBI/investigators, we will consider this as a hostile intent and initiate the publication of whole compromised data immediately.


To prove that we REALLY CAN get your data back - we offer you to decrypt two random files completely free of charge.


You can contact our team directly for further instructions through our website :


TOR VERSION :
(you should download and install TOR browser first hxxps://torproject.org)


-
Also visit our blog (via Tor):
-


YOU SHOULD BE AWARE!
We will speak only with an authorized person. It can be the CEO, top management, etc.
In case you are not such a person - DON\'T CONTACT US! Your decisions and action can result in serious harm to your company!
Inform your supervisors and stay calm!

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

That is how encrypted “.PUUUK” files look.

How did Bidon ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most popular methods for evil-doers to have the Bidon virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

If you open your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services providers, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are most likely to have a harmful item enclosed in them. So it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with emails like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file model. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something legal. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. However, what is unpacked reveals itself a harmful agent that encodes your data. Since the installation wizard can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The best thing is to trust the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of ransomware?

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

Remove Bidon with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common Ransomware as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove Bidon as well as other malware hiding on your computer.

To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:

1. Begin by downloading Gridinsoft Anti-Malware, accessible via the blue button below or directly from the official website gridinsoft.com.

2.Once the Gridinsoft setup file (setup-gridinsoft-fix.exe) is downloaded, execute it by clicking on the file.

3.Follow the installation setup wizard's instructions diligently.

4. Access the "Scan Tab" on the application's start screen and launch a comprehensive "Full Scan" to examine your entire computer. This inclusive scan encompasses the memory, startup items, the registry, services, drivers, and all files, ensuring that it detects malware hidden in all possible locations.

Be patient, as the scan duration depends on the number of files and your computer's hardware capabilities. Use this time to relax or attend to other tasks.

5. Upon completion, Anti-Malware will present a detailed report containing all the detected malicious items and threats on your PC.

6. Select all the identified items from the report and confidently click the "Clean Now" button. This action will safely remove the malicious files from your computer, transferring them to the secure quarantine zone of the anti-malware program to prevent any further harmful actions.

8. If prompted, restart your computer to finalize the full system scan procedure. This step is crucial to ensure thorough removal of any remaining threats. After the restart, Gridinsoft Anti-Malware will open and display a message confirming the completion of the scan.

Remember Gridinsoft offers a 6-day free trial. This means you can take advantage of the trial period at no cost to experience the full benefits of the software and prevent any future malware infections on your system. Embrace this opportunity to fortify your computer's security without any financial commitment.

Trojan Killer for “Bidon” removal on locked PC

In situations where it becomes impossible to download antivirus applications directly onto the infected computer due to malware blocking access to websites, an alternative solution is to utilize the Trojan Killer application.

There is a really little number of security tools that are able to be set up on the USB drives, and antiviruses that can do so in most cases require to obtain quite an expensive license. For this instance, I can recommend you to use another solution of GridinSoft - Trojan Killer Portable. It has a 14-days cost-free trial mode that offers the entire features of the paid version. This term will definitely be 100% enough to wipe malware out.

Trojan Killer is a valuable tool in your cybersecurity arsenal, helping you to effectively remove malware from infected computers. Now, we will walk you through the process of using Trojan Killer from a USB flash drive to scan and remove malware on an infected PC. Remember, always obtain permission to scan and remove malware from a computer that you do not own.

Step 1: Download & Install Trojan Killer on a Clean Computer:

1. Go to the official GridinSoft website (gridinsoft.com) and download Trojan Killer to a computer that is not infected.

2. Insert a USB flash drive into this computer.

3. Install Trojan Killer to the "removable drive" following the on-screen instructions.

4. Once the installation is complete, launch Trojan Killer.

Step 2: Update Signature Databases:

5. After launching Trojan Killer, ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet.

6. Click "Update" icon to download the latest signature databases, which will ensure the tool can detect the most recent threats.

Step 3: Scan the Infected PC:

7. Safely eject the USB flash drive from the clean computer.

8. Boot the infected computer to the Safe Mode.

9. Insert the USB flash drive.

10. Run tk.exe

11. Once the program is open, click on "Full Scan" to begin the malware scanning process.

Step 4: Remove Found Threats:

12. After the scan is complete, Trojan Killer will display a list of detected threats.

13. Click on "Cure PC!" to remove the identified malware from the infected PC.

14. Follow any additional on-screen prompts to complete the removal process.

Step 5: Restart Your Computer:

15. Once the threats are removed, click on "Restart PC" to reboot your computer.

16. Remove the USB flash drive from the infected computer.

Congratulations on effectively removing Bidon and the concealed threats from your computer! You can now have peace of mind, knowing that they won't resurface again. Thanks to Gridinsoft's capabilities and commitment to cybersecurity, your system is now protected.

Sometimes racketeers would unblock few of your files so you know that they do have the decryption tool. Since Bidon virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the decryption instruments are constantly updated, so the solution may soon arrive.

Of course, if the malefactors do the job of encoding victim’s critical data, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After getting the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports about criminals just vanishing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The best safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Surely, that might be not enough. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all happened. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Bidon, that work similarly. For instance, Gaqq, Wayn, Kiqu, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Bidon are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become encrypted, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky users were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the victim to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware attack?

Bidon ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, neither does any similar malware.

You can armour your computer from its infiltration within several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious letter carefully. A hoax email will always contain mistakes.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often spreaded as an element of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. But untrusted programs are very hard to distinguish from reliable ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try to find information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.
• And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a powerful defense for your system.

FAQ

🤔 How can I open “.PUUUK” files?Is it possible to open“.PUUUK” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.PUUUK” files you will not be able to access them.

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

If the “.PUUUK” 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.

🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Bidon malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?

Of course not. Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with actual threats. The ransomware that has attacked your PC is most likely still active and running scans from time to time to encode any new files you might create on your computer after the initial attack. As it has been said above, the Bidon virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide criminals with easy access to your system after some time.

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

If that happened, you need to prepare a flash memory drive with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. You see, the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your system. To stop this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run upon system start. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the encrypted files can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your critical files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, phone, flash memory, etc.

HINT: You can use file recovery programs² to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the virus with an antivirus program.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Here’s the list of Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.