Booknish Jigsaw Virus — How to Remove It and Restore .booknish Files

The Booknish Jigsaw Virus is the newest strain of the Jigsaw ransomware family. It uses a complex infection algorithm that can cause devastating damage to the infected hosts. Advanced versions of it can induce a Trojan-like behavior that can spy on the users in real time, overtake control of the machines and load additional malware. Read our full removal guide in order to get rid of active infections.

Threat Summary

Name	Booknish Jigsaw
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	The ransomware encrypts sensitive information on your computer system with the .booknish extensions and demands a ransom to be paid to allegedly recover them.
Symptoms	The ransomware will encrypt your files with a strong encryption algorithm.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Booknish Jigsaw Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Booknish Jigsaw.
Data Recovery Tool	Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive.

Booknish Jigsaw Virus – Distribution Ways

This new strain associated with the Jigsaw virus family uses the traditional delivery tactics. Once again one of the most popular means is the use of email messages that utilize social engineering tactics that attempt to manipulate the targets into interacting with the malware elements. The hackers behind the threat can either directly attach the strains to the messages or hyperlink them in body contents. In addition the messages can be used to spread viral payloads, two popular examples are the following:

• Software Installers — The criminals can embed the dangerous Booknish Jigsaw virus into application installers of various types: system utilities, creativity solutions, production software, office applications and even computer games. The virus infections are deployed automatically once the installers execute correctly.
• Documents — The virus code can be embedded in documents of different types such as presentations, rich text files and spreadsheets. Usually the infections are done when the malware scripts are invoked. This is done if the victim users enable them.

The other deployment tactic is the use of browser hijackers which are dangerous browser extensions that seek to redirect the victim users to a hacker-controlled site. They are usually uploaded to the official plugin repositories which use fake user reviews, elaborate descriptions and counterfeit developer credentials. The browser plugins are made compatible with the most popular web browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.

The Booknish Jigsaw virus can also infect legitimate sites as well by using various web scripts. The dangerous files spread by using affiliate and ad networks.

Booknish Jigsaw Virus – In-Depth Analysis

The initial security analysis reveals that the Booknish Jigsaw virus follows the behavior patterns associated with the previous versions that belong to this family of threats. Jigsaw strains are known for having a complex multi-stage infection.

The first part of the attacks are used to prepare the system for the actual ransomware module. This is done by launching a data harvesting engine that can accumulate a large database of data. The collected information can be divided into two main types:

• Sensitive Private Data — The corresponding malware engines can be configured into harvesting information that can reveal the identity of the victims. Example information includes the user’s name, address, telephone number, geographic location, interests, passwords and account credentials.
• Campaign Metrics Data — The hackers can instruct the Booknish Jigaw virus engine to extract data that can help optimize the attack campaigns. This includes all manners of operating system details and a detailed review of the installed hardware components.

In some cases the collected information can then be processed by a secondary module known as stealth protection. It is used to prevent certain applications from interrupting the correct virus execution. Examples include anti-virus software, virtual machine hosts or sandbox environments. Some viruses opt to deleete themselves in the event that this step is not successful in order to evade detection.

After this is done the actual malware components of the threat can be started. Administrative access to the operating system is acquired through and then system changes follows. This is usually done to the Windows Registry. The virus sample analysis indicates that the engine manipulates both the strings associated with the operating system and the user-installed applications. This can result in the inability to run certain functions and overall performance issues. Further issues can arise when the virus is instituted as a persistent threat. This means that it will automatically start once the computer is booted. In connection with this the Booknish Jigsaw virus can make it impossible for the users to enter into the recovery menu.

This particular threat also hooks to system services and key Windows components in order to infect the system as deeply as possible. We expect to see Trojan-like behavior by inducing a network connection to a hacker-controlled server. It can be used to gather the collected information hijaked by the Jigsaw malware engine in the beginning of the infection. Such infections are also used to spy on the victims and take over control of the affected machines.

Once all prerequsite conditions have complete the ransomware engine is started. Like previous versions it uses a strong AES cipher in order to affect target user data. The victim files are chosen based on a built-in list of file types. Example data that is compromised includes the following:

• Archives
• Documents
• Backups
• Databases
• Images
• Videos
• Music

As a result .booknish extension is applied to the victim files. One of the interesting features is that instead of a traditional ransom note an application frame that is created to look like a notification message. It contains the following text:

You have been weened
Your personal files are being deleted. Your photos, videos, documents, etc…
rekt

Every hour I select some of them to delete permanently,
therefore I won’t be able to to access them, either.
During the first 24 hour you will only lose a few files,
the second day a few hundred, the third day a few thousand, and so on.
If you turn off your computer or try to close me, when I start next time
you will get 1000 files deleted as a punishment.

An initial ransomware sum is quoted, at the time of writing the captured strains of the Booknish Jigsaw request the sum of 100 US Dollars.

Remove Booknish Jigsaw Virus and Restore .Booknish Jigsaw Files

If your computer system got infected with the Booknish Jigsaw ransomware virus, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of this ransomware as quickly as possible before it can have the chance to spread further and infect other computers. You should remove the ransomware and follow the step-by-step instructions guide provided below.

Manually delete Booknish Jigsaw from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the Booknish Jigsaw threat: Manual removal of Booknish Jigsaw requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Booknish Jigsaw files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by Booknish Jigsaw on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista, 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

2. Find malicious files created by Booknish Jigsaw on your PC

Find malicious files created by Booknish Jigsaw

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Automatically remove Booknish Jigsaw by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove Booknish Jigsaw with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

Remove Booknish Jigsaw with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Booknish Jigsaw.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove Booknish Jigsaw. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by Booknish Jigsaw in the future.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any Booknish Jigsaw files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

2. Restore files encrypted by Booknish Jigsaw

Restore Files Encrypted by Booknish Jigsaw

Ransomware infections like Booknish Jigsaw aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to directly decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that they may not be 100% effective but they may help you little or a lot in some situations.

Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software.
Another method of restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some suggestions for preferred data recovery software solutions:

• Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Technicians License(Pro version with more features)
• Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
• Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery

Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors.
If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:

• Kaspersky Decryptors
• Emsisoft Decryptors

Urgent! It is strongly advisable to first remove the Booknish Jigsaw threat before attempting any decryption, since it may interfere with system files and registries. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using an advanced malware removal tool.

Method 3: Using Shadow Explorer

To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for shadow copies in Windows using this software if ransomware has not deleted them:

• Shadow Explorer

Method 4: Finding Booknish Jigsaw decryption key while it communicates it via a network sniffing software.

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:

Instructions on How to Find Decryption Key for Files Encrypted By Ransowmare

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove Booknish Jigsaw Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove Booknish Jigsaw.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all Booknish Jigsaw associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

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