BOM Virus Files of Ransomware — How to remove virus?

The Bom virus falls within the ransomware type of malicious agent. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all the data on your computer (images, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its specific extension to every file, leaving the 矜細ä files in every directory with the encrypted files.

What is Bom?

☝️ A scientifically correct denomination for the Bom would be “a ransomware-type infection”.

The renaming will be done by the following scheme: [email].[idxxxxxx].bom. In the process of encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be turned into “report.docx.[[email protected]][MJ-KB3756421908].bom”.

In every directory with the encoded files, a 矜細ä file will appear. 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 usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can obtain this tool after contacting [email protected] by email. That is pretty much the scheme of the felony.

Bom abstract:

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Bom looks like. Each filename has the “.[email].[idxxxxxx].bom” extension added to it.

How did my computer get infected with Bom ransomware?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware injection.

There are currently three most exploited ways for tamperers to have ransomware settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer file transfer.

If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a ransomware item enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.

As for the peer networks like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never guess 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 objects with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Bom virus?

It is important to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Bom virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your computer to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes racketeers would decrypt few of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. Since Bom virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decoding tools are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.

Of course, if the evildoers succeed in encrypting victim’s critical data, the hopeless person will most likely fulfill their demands. However, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports of ransomware developers just vanishing after getting the ransom without even writing back.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external disk. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that file you were working upon when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your drives with the antivirus program after the OS is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Bom, that work similarly. Examples of those are White, Unlock, Rsfdd, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Bom are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: files become encrypted, their extensions altered, ransom notes are created in each directory containing encoded files.

Some lucky users were able to decode the blocked files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the criminals accidentally send the decryption key to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an epic fail allows the user to restore the files. But naturally, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ tool to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware attack?

Bom ransomware has no endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can armour your system from its injection within three easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a money prize draw without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the questionable email with caution. A fake email will surely have a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojan viruses are often shared as a part of cracked software, possibly as a “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable software, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such software.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

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

🤔 Is it possible to open “.[email].[idxxxxxx].bom” files?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.[email].[idxxxxxx].bom” files you will not be able to access them.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.[email].[idxxxxxx].bom” files ASAP. How can I do that?

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.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Bom virus has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the encrypted data can be found elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try downloading them again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a notebook, phone, memory stick, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery programs⁴ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a recovery, but remember: you can do it only after you remove the ransomware itself with an antivirus 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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