They will further expatiate that BPQD ransomware virus has succeeded in making all files unreadable inclusive of pictures, documents and various data that may be very important to the victim, and considering the fact they made use of very strong and unique encryption key, then it leaves the victim no other option than to pay the ransom fees they’re asking for to the cybercriminals. Also included will be two email addresses, namely; support@sysmail.ch and supportsys@airmail.cc which the victim would be expected to respond to them with. Furthermore, they will equally list their decryption service prices as well as the terms and conditions involved with the payment of ransom. They will claim that paying within 72 hours or 3 days of being notified by the cybercriminals will afford the victim a 50% discount. Therefore, instead of paying the full amount of $980, half of it, i.e. $490 would be acceptable by them but once the 3 days grace period elapses, only 100% payment must be made to them. However, suppose the victim decides to reach out to them. In that case, the cybercriminals will still reel out more conditions by stating that the victim can only make payment through purchase of cryptocurreny that is worth the ransom fee and transferring same to a wallet address of their choice. The reason why they use such method of payment is apparently to avoid being trailed and arrested by law enforcement agencies that may have been notified. In order to convince the victim and pressure them into making payment ASAP, they may request small encrypted file that doesn’t contain valuable information for test decryption. They may send you a decrypted version of it. No matter the pressure, our cybersecurity experts advise that victims should follow FBI’s guidelines on issues relating to ransom payments and it clearly says NO TO RANSOM PAYMENT. There are various reasons given for this verdict and they include the following:

There is no guarantee of recovering lost data even after paying ransom fees.When you pay ransom fees, you’re encouraging cybercriminals to continue in such acts since they would find it profitable.It might be illegal to pay ransom.

To broaden the damage scale on the computer, the malware equally installs information-stealing Trojans – VIDAR or AZORULT with hopes to use to steal sensitive personal information such as software login details, cryptocurrency wallets, and banking details, passwords saved on PC and browsing history. Once cybercriminals get hold of such information, they could use them to perpetrate further crimes like blackmails and robbery. If your computer was compromised by the discussed malware and you can notice new extensions appended to their names, the most important step to take now is to remove BPQD ransomware virus from your PC without further delay. You can do this effectively by booting your computer through Safe Mode with Networking prior to scanning with an up-to-date antivirus. If you’re not sure of any reliable antivirus to use, we advise you make use of INTEGO Antivirus because it is strong and very effective. You can also download RESTORO to help you repair possible virus damages on your Windows OS files.

Ransomware Summary

REPAIR VIRUS DAMAGE

Ransomware distribution techniques you should be aware of

Computer systems often become infected with STOP/DJVU ransomware such as BPQD virus after their user tries to download from malicious online torrents. Cybercriminals usually embed malware on pirated software copies which they use as bait to prey on unsuspecting users. Therefore, opening fake “cracks” or key generators can result in severe malware infection. In contemporary times, victims have continuously reported of malware attacks after downloading certain pirated software copies from online torrents platforms. Some of the most popular ones used by cybercriminals are listed below:

Adobe Photoshop;Cubase;Tenorshare 4ukey;AutoCad;Opera browser;Corel Draw;VMware Workstation;Various AV software;Virtual DJ Pro;Fifa 20;Adobe Illustrator;League of Legends;Internet Download Manager;KMSPico (illegal Windows activation tool).

For those that usually visit online torrents platform to illegally download software contents, it is high time you stop it because you could become a victim of ransomware at any moment. Aside the risk of malware attack, downloading copyrighted software contents from such platforms is a copyright infringement and is punishable by law. Instead, it is better to encourage genuine software developers by patronizing their works and paying the requisite fees. Also remember that whatever amount you pay to obtain it legally will always be insignificant compared to the outrageous ransom fees often demanded by cybercriminals. In addition to that, you won’t be at risk of losing vital personal data. Cybercriminals also distribute ransomware through malicious email attachments whereby they compose believable messages that would be accompanied with attachments crafted with the use of formats like XLS, DOCX and XLS among similar ones that allow JavaScript and other macro functions. They use such platforms to embed payload that would be triggered once they’re opened in any PC. Finally, it would be in the best interest of STOP/DJVU ransomware victims to avoid suspicious websites that make bogus claims of offering decryption solutions. Most of these sites are fraudulent and they often distribute other versions of ransomware groups such as ZORAB through fake STOP/DJVU decryptors.

More details concerning the infection

For those that want to understand in full details what actually happened during BPQD ransomware attack, you can avail yourself the information contained in this section. The ransomware begins the attack by downloading and running build.exe or build2.exe executables as well as winupdate.exe. Afterwards, it will make a connection with https[:]//api.2ip.ua/geo.json and would save the response in geo.json file. Following that, the malware will gather every piece of information concerning your computer and would store them in the geolocation-related database, including data such as your computer’s geolocation, time zone, zip code, longitude and latitude. The screenshot below shows examples of how geo.json files appear to look like. The ransomware will also create another file (information.txt) for storing computer’s hardware details, installed software list and other active processes. At this point, the virus will make a comparison between the country code it extracted from the computer against their list of encryption-exempted countries listed as the Russian Federation, Syria, Ukraine, Armenia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazachstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. If it detects that the computer under attack is domiciled in any of these countries, it will immediately abort its mission, but if it scales through, the ransomware will then extract online encryption key from their database and would merge it with the victim’s ID before saving the result in bowsakkdestx.txt file and to PersonalID.txt file. Here is an example of what these files look like. If for any reason the virus couldn’t get any online encryption key as expected, it will opt for the use of hardcoded offline key as a replacement. The difference is that such key will be uniform for all victims and improves the victim’s chances of ever decrypting .bpqd files someday, unlike the online key that is unique to each victim and more difficult to breach. The ransomware will now begin full data encryption process by scanning every folder and encrypting it with Salsa20 before locking it with RSA-2048 encryption key. While this is going on, original filenames will be given additional extension. Shown below is a screenshot of _readme.txt ransom note which is usually left in all the folders. At this stage, the virus will delete all Volume Shadow Copies using the help of Command Prompt task as displayed below: vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All /Quiet Lastly, the virus will add certain domains to the Windows HOSTS file and also map them to the local host IP, thus effectively preempting any possible attempt by the victim to seek help online. Any attempt to browse the blacklisted sites will bring up DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error message.

Remove BPQD Ransomware Virus and Restore lost Files

The first thing you’re advised to do following a ransomware attack is to remove BPQD ransomware virus as soon as possible. Afterwards, you follow the steps outlined below. Meanwhile, always remember to make use of only genuine antivirus software such as INTEGO Antivirus and also set up your system in Safe Mode with Networking before running it. Once BPQD ransomware virus removal is done, check these recommendations by our team:

Get in touch with the local authorities assigned to handle such tasks and report the cyber-attack.Make use of any backup device available to you in recovering your lost files, but ensure that the virus is totally removed before plugging in any external device.This is time to learn possible ways to repair or decrypt files damaged by STOP/DJVU ransomware versions.Also change all login credentials that you were using on the compromised computer.Download RESTORO (secure download link) to identify and repair virus damage on Windows operating system files.

OUR GEEKS RECOMMEND Our team recommends a two-step rescue plan to remove ransomware and other remaining malware from your computer, plus repair caused virus damage to the system: GeeksAdvice.com editors select recommended products based on their effectiveness. We may earn a commission from affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. Learn more. Get INTEGO ANTIVIRUS for Windows to remove ransomware, Trojans, adware and other spyware and malware variants and protect your PC and network drives 24/7. This VB100-certified security software uses state-of-art technology to provide protection against ransomware, Zero-Day attacks and advanced threats, Intego Web Shield blocks dangerous websites, phishing attacks, malicious downloads and installation of potentially unwanted programs. Use INTEGO Antivirus to remove detected threats from your computer. Read full review here. RESTORO provides a free scan that helps to identify hardware, security and stability issues and presents a comprehensive report which can help you to locate and fix detected issues manually. It is a great PC repair software to use after you remove malware with professional antivirus. The full version of software will fix detected issues and repair virus damage caused to your Windows OS files automatically. RESTORO uses AVIRA scanning engine to detect existing spyware and malware. If any are found, the software will eliminate them. Read full review here.

Method 1. Enter Safe Mode with Networking

Before you try to remove BPQD Ransomware Virus virus, you must start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking. Below, we provide the easiest ways to boot PC in the said mode, but you can find additional ones in this in-depth tutorial on our website – How to Start Windows in Safe Mode. Also, if you prefer a video version of the tutorial, check our guide How to Start Windows in Safe Mode on Youtube. Instructions for Windows XP/Vista/7 users Instructions for Windows 8/8.1/10/11 users Now, you can search for and remove BPQD Ransomware Virus files. It is very hard to identify files and registry keys that belong to the ransomware virus, Besides, malware creators tend to rename and change them repeatedly. Therefore, the easiest way to uninstall such type of a computer virus is to use a reliable security program such as INTEGO Antivirus. For virus damage repair, consider using RESTORO.

Method 2. Use System Restore

In order to use System Restore, you must have a system restore point, created either manually or automatically. Instructions for Windows XP/Vista/7 users Instructions for Windows 8/8.1/10/11 users After restoring the system, we recommend scanning the system with antivirus or anti-malware software. In most cases, there won’t be any malware remains, but it never hurts to double-check. In addition, we highly recommend checking ransomware prevention guidelines provided by our experts in order to protect your PC against similar viruses in the future.

Alternative software recommendations

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Removing spyware and malware is one step towards cybersecurity. To protect yourself against ever-evolving threats, we strongly recommend purchasing a Premium version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which provides security based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Includes ransomware protection. See pricing options and protect yourself now.

System Mechanic Ultimate Defense If you’re looking for an all-in-one system maintenance suite that has 7 core components providing powerful real-time protection, on-demand malware removal, system optimization, data recovery, password manager, online privacy protection and secure driver wiping technology. Therefore, due to its wide-range of capabilities, System Mechanic Ultimate Defense deserves Geek’s Advice approval. Get it now for 50% off. You may also be interested in its full review.

Disclaimer. This site includes affiliate links. We may earn a small commission by recommending certain products, at no additional cost for you. We only choose quality software and services to recommend.

Decrypt BPQD files

Fix and open large BPQD files easily:

It is reported that STOP/DJVU ransomware versions encrypt only the beginning 150 KB of each file to ensure that the virus manages to affect all files on the system. In some cases, the malicious program might skip some files at all. That said, we recommend testing this method on several big (>1GB) files first.

STOP/DJVU decryption tool usage guide

STOP/DJVU ransomware versions are grouped into old and new variants. BPQD Ransomware Virus is considered the new STOP/DJVU variant, just like BPTO, ISWR, ISZA, BPSM, ZOUU, MBTF, ZNSM (find full list here). This means full data decryption is now possible only if you have been affected by offline encryption key. To decrypt your files, you will have to download Emsisoft Decryptor for STOP DJVU, a tool created and maintained by a genius security researcher Michael Gillespie. Note! Please do not spam the security researcher with questions whether he can recover your files encrypted with online key - it is not possible. In order to test the tool and see if it can decrypt BPQD files, follow the given tutorial.

Meanings of decryptor’s messages

The BPQD decryption tool might display several different messages after failed attempt to restore your files. You might receive one of the following messages: Error: Unable to decrypt file with ID: [example ID] This message typically means that there is no corresponding decryption key in the decryptor’s database. No key for New Variant online ID: [example ID]Notice: this ID appears to be an online ID, decryption is impossible This message informs that your files were encrypted with online key, meaning no one else has the same encryption/decryption key pair, therefore data recovery without paying the criminals is impossible. Result: No key for new variant offline ID: [example ID]This ID appears to be an offline ID. Decryption may be possible in the future. If you were informed that an offline key was used, but files could not be restored, it means that the offline decryption key isn’t available yet. However, receiving this message is extremely good news, meaning that it might be possible to restore your BPQD extension files in the future. It can take a few months until the decryption key gets found and uploaded to the decryptor. We recommend you to follow updates regarding the decryptable DJVU versions here. We strongly recommend backing up your encrypted data and waiting.

Victims of BPQD Ransomware Virus should report the Internet crime incident to the official government fraud and scam website according to their country:

In the United States, go to the On Guard Online website.In Australia, go to the SCAMwatch website.In Germany, go to the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik website.In Ireland, go to the An Garda Síochána website.In New Zealand, go to the Consumer Affairs Scams website.In the United Kingdom, go to the Action Fraud website.In Canada, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.In India, go to Indian National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.In France, go to the Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information.

If you can’t find an authority corresponding to your location on this list, we recommend using any search engine to look up “[your country name] report cyber crime”. This should lead you to the right authority website. We also recommend staying away from third-party crime report services that are often paid. It costs nothing to report Internet crime to official authorities. Another recommendation is to contact your country’s or region’s federal police or communications authority.