KAMIKIZU Virus (.KIZU Files) — How to Remove?

The Kamikizu virus falls under the Zeppelin ransomware family. Ransomware of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, text files, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its extra extension to every file, leaving the !!! ALL YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED !!!.TXT text files in each folder 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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There is another variant of this virus from the STOP/Djvu ransomware family.

Kamikizu virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Kamikizu would be “a Zeppelin family ransomware malicious agent”.

The scheme of renaming is this: .kizu.victim’s_ID. After the encryption, a file named, for example, “report.docx” will be changed to “report.docx.kizu.1A1-D65-742”.

In each directory that contains the encrypted files, a !!! ALL YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED !!!.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 usually contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can get this decryptor after contacting kamikizu@onionmail.org via email. That is it.

Kamikizu abstract:

The !!! ALL YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED !!!.TXT file coming in package with the Kamikizu malware provides the following dispiriting information:

Kamikizu Ransomware.
 
## YOUR DATA HAS BEEN STOLEN AND ENCRYPTED ##
 
You are not able to decrypt it by yourself!
The only method of recovering your data is to purchase our unique decryptor.
Only we can give you this and only we can recover your files.
 
## IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND ON TIME, ALL STOLEN DATA WILL BE PUBLISHED ON OUR TOR SITE ##
 
To be sure we have the decryptor and it works you can send an email: kamikizu@onionmail.org and decrypt one file for free.
But this file should be of not valuable!
 
Do you want to restore your files and keep them private?
Write to email: kamikizu@onionmail.org
Reserved email: kamikizu@keemail.me
 
Your personal ID: -
 
## IMPORTANT ##
 * Do not rename encrypted files.
 * Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
 * Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam.

In the screenshot below, you can see what a folder with files encrypted by the Kamikizu looks like. Each filename has the “.kizu” extension appended to it.

An example of encrypted .kizu files.

How did my machine catch Kamikizu ransomware?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

There are currently three most exploited methods for hackers to have ransomware planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer file transfer.

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

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse model². A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something legal. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some program. But what is unboxed reveals itself a harmful program that encrypts your data. Since the installation file can have any title and any icon, you have to make 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 networks like torrent trackers 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the folder containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is complete.

How to remove the Kamikizu virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your files, the Kamikizu 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 cardfile.

Sometimes criminals would decode some of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. Since Kamikizu virus is a relatively new ransomware, security software engineers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the decoding instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon be available.

Understandably, if the hackers do the job of encoding someone’s critical data, the hopeless person will most likely comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying to racketeers gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still dangerous. After getting the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports about malefactors just disappearing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The best solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Surely, 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 wise to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Kamikizu, that work similarly. Examples of those are Ggwq, Llqq, Lltt, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Kamikizu are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is almost identical: files become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encoded files.

Some lucky people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the hackers accidentally send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the user to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware infection?

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

You can armour yourself from ransomware infiltration taking three easy steps:

• Ignore any emails from unknown senders with strange 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 waiting for, check all elements of the questionable letter with caution. A fake email will always have a mistake.
• Never use cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often distributed as an element of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to distinguish from trustworthy ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you need. You can try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such software.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful shield for your system.

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 PC.

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 Kamikizu 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 finished, 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

🤔 Are the “.kizu” files accessible?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.kizu” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

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

If the “.kizu” 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. All other solutions require time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Kamikizu virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Absolutely not! The encrypted files are not harmful, so they won’t be deleted.

With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your system off the actual viruses. The ransomware that has attacked your device is most likely still functional and launching checks from time to time to arrest any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Kamikizu ransomware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide hackers with easy access to your system in the future.

🤔 What to do if the Kamikizu virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

In such a case, you need to prepare a flash memory card with a previously installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware starts automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your PC. To stop this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on booting Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Many of the encoded files might still be at your disposal

• If you sent or received your critical files through 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 post those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, mobile, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery programs⁵ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: 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.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
3. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
4. More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
5. Here are Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.