The Bisamware virus belongs to the ransomware type of malicious agent. A harmful program of this type encrypts all the data on your computer (photos, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, leaving the SYSTEM=RANSOMWARE=INFECTED.TXT text files in every directory with the encrypted files.
Bisamware virus: what is known so far?
☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Bisamware would be “a ransomware infection”.
Bisamware adds its specific .BISAMWARE extension to the name of each encoded file. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.BISAMWARE”. Likewise, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.BISAMWARE”, and so on.
In each directory with the encoded files, a SYSTEM=RANSOMWARE=INFECTED.TXT text document will appear. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.
Bisamware overview:
| Name | Bisamware Virus |
| Extension | .BISAMWARE |
| Ransomware note | SYSTEM=RANSOMWARE=INFECTED.TXT |
| Detection | Win32/LockScreen.AOQ, Win32:Loktrom-Q [Trj], Trojan:Win32/Raccoon.RA!MTB |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .BISAMWARE extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Bisamware virus |
In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Bisamware looks like. Each filename has the “.BISAMWARE” extension appended to it.
That is how encrypted “.BISAMWARE” files look.
How did Bisamware ransomware end up on my PC?
There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for malefactors to have the Bisamware virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer networks.
If you access your mailbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a harmful file attached to them. Therefore, it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan virus model1. A Trojan is an object that gets into your PC pretending to be something legal. For example, you download an installer of some program you want or an update for some program. However, what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful agent that encodes 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 things you’re downloading. The best way is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger 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 websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.
How to remove the Bisamware virus?
It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your data, the Bisamware virus will most likely install the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.
Often tamperers would unblock some of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption tool. Since Bisamware virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware designers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.
Of course, if the criminals do the job of encoding victim’s critical data, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After receiving the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the victim. There were reports of criminals simply disappearing after getting the money 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 drive or at least on an external disk. Of course, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all went down. Nevertheless, it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.
Bisamware 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, Mmvb, Mmdt, Oopu, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Bisamware are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encoded files.
Some lucky people were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a criminals’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.
How to avoid ransomware attack?
Bisamware ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.
You can protect yourself from its infiltration within several easy steps:
- Never open any emails from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to 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 waiting for, check all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A hoax letter will always contain a mistake.
- Never use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often distributed as a part of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are difficult to distinguish from reliable ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a perfect defense for your system.
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 Bisamware 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
🤔 How can I open “.BISAMWARE” files?Is it possible to open“.BISAMWARE” files?
There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.BISAMWARE” 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. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.
🤔 Will GridinSoft Anti-Malware remove all the encrypted files alongside the Bisamware virus?
Absolutely not! Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will remove actual viruses from your PC. The virus that has infiltrated your computer is must be still active and launching checks every so often to encode any new files you might create on your PC after the infection. As it has been mentioned above, the Bisamware malware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide malefactors with easy access to your system in the future.
🤔 What to do if the Bisamware ransomware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.
In such a case, you need to prepare a memory stick with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encrypts any new files created or brought into your system. To block this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What could help the situation right now?
Many of the blocked files might still be within your reach
- If you sent or received your important files by 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 send those images back to you.
- If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try downloading them again.
- Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a portable device, cellphone, flash memory, etc.
HINT: You can use data recovery utilities4 to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you can do it only after you kill 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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Brendan SmithHow to Remove BISAMWARE Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: BISAMWARE Virus
Description: BISAMWARE Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .BISAMWARE extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here are Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
