Juicylemon ransomware - How to remove

Juicylemon ransomware, also referred to as Juicy Lemon ransomware, was detected in May 2016. This ghoul can cause a lot of damage since it robs your most valuable data and feeds on the money it demands from you to give the data back.

About Juicylemon Ransomware

The malignant installer file, named WebCam.exe (the name can be different in each case), is placed in the %APPDATA% or in the %TEMP% directory. The icon of this file is pink colored. Then, the encryption is begun. Another interesting point about the Juicylemon ransomware is that it appends an extremely long extension to the filenames of each encrypted file. The extension consists of contact e-mails and the Bitmessage address, for instance, .id-[victim’s ID]_email1_support_@_juicylemon.biz_email2_provectus_@_protenmail.com_BitMessage_BM-NBRCUPTenKgYbLVCAfeVUHVsHFK6Ue2F. In a way, it emphasizes the most important information provided in the ransom note. The contact e-mails are: the primary e-mail – [email protected], the secondary e-mail – [email protected]. The hackers also offer you to decode one file to assure you that they do have the working decoder. When you contact them sending one encrypted file, they can ask about 1000 Euros in Bitcoins. Juicylemon cryptomalware does not replace your desktop wallpaper unlike most of the ransomwares (e.g. Invisible Empire, etc.). It only creates the text file RESTORE_FILES.txt with the ransom note in every folder of encrypted files.

How is Juicylemon Ransomware Spread?

Exploit kits, namely, the Angler EK drops the malicious installer which initiates the encryption of the data. Another way Juicylemon ransomware trojan clambers on your computer is spam e-mails and their attachments. It is a virus trojan, so it disguises as an official body. It can also be the case that these spam e-mails are sent from unknown senders. Either the e-mails itself have malicious links or their attachments are infected with malicious codes. Once you klick the links or open the attachments the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) is begun.

How to Decrypt Files Encrypted by Juicylemon Ransomware?

At this point in time, no decryption tools can be offered for you to retrieve your data. But you can apply data recovery tools such as the software by Kaspersky Lab, R-Studio, PhotoRec, etc. Just do not succumb to despair and do not pay the ransom. You will only loose a pretty hefty amount of money, promote the hacker’s and their dirty business and encourage their future attacks.

The fact that this ransomware virus deletes itself after the encryption is over may lead you into thinking that you do not need any malware removal tools to apply. You will make a serious mistake that can have detrimental outcomes on your computer’s system if you do not think twice. Though this particular malware has deleted itself, effective scanners such as Spyhunter, Hitman, Malwarebytes are still to be applied since the virus may have left other malware on the system. Ransomware spread ransomware and other type of malware. At least put an end to other infections. You may do even more than the elimination of only one file-encrypting virus.

How to recover Juicylemon ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Juicylemon ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Juicylemon ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to Juicylemon ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Juicylemon ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually Juicylemon ransomware tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Juicylemon ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.

Manual removal