How to remove AROS Ransomware and recover files

Complete guide to delete AROS Ransomware and decrypt data

AROS Ransomware is a newly detected ransomware-type infection. Once executed it on our dummy system, we found that it began files encryption. The filenames of the affected files are renamed with a unique ID number belongs to the victim, crooks’ email address and .ARS extension.

For example, a file originally named 1.jpg would appear as “1.jpg.[5d3e178db8].[[email protected]].ARS”. Once after successfully performing the files encryption, the ransomware dropped a ransom note – “How_to_decrypt_files.txt” – on the desktop.

 AROS Ransomware overview

The ransom note informs the victims that their files have been encrypted and the only way to decrypt them is to use the unique decryption tool that only the crooks behind the infection. The message urges the victims to contact them and pay them the ransom.

Once the ransom payment is received, the crooks are likely to provide the decryption tool. Based on our experiences with ransomware infection cases, we can say that the decryption is not possible without the involvement of the crooks behind the infection.

But, these people often do not provide the decryption tool even if all their demands are met. Therefore, we strongly advise against contacting/ paying to the cyber-criminals.  To prevent AROS Ransomware from further files encryption, it must be removed from the system.

Unfortunately, virus removal will not restore the files already affected. The sole solution for the files recovery is to use existing backup, if one was created before the files encryption and was stored somewhere else.

If there is no existing backups you have, check if Shadow Copies exist. This is an automatic backup created by Windows OS. AROS Ransomware may delete this option by running certain commands. In the vary case, you should have to rely on third party data recovery tool for the files recovery.

How did AROS Ransomware infect my system?

Ransomware and other malware are often distributed through phishing and social engineering methods. Malware are usually disguised as or bundled with regular software. The malicious files can be found in MS office and PDF documents, archives, JavaScript and so on.

The most widely used proliferation methods include drive by download, malicious attachments and website links in spam emails, dubious downloading sources, illegal software activation tools, fake software updates and mal-advertising.

Full text presented in AROS Ransomware’s ransom note (“How_to_decrypt_files.txt”):

ALL YOUR FILES  ENCRYPTED BY AROS RANSOMWARE

—

YOUR FILES ARE SAFE!

WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND you NOT to use any “Decryption Tools”.

These tools can damage your data, making recover IMPOSSIBLE.

Also we recommend you not to contact data recovery companies.

They will just contact us, buy the key and sell it to you at a higher price.

If you want to decrypt your files, you have to get RSA private key.

—

To get RSA private key you have to contact us via TOX chat. TOX download site: >> {hxxps://tox.chat/} <<

Our ID: >> {77A904360EA7D74268E7A4F316865F170 3D2D7A6AF28C9ECFACED69CD09C8610FF2C728E6A33} <<

—

If you have any problems with TOX Chat, email us: >> {[email protected] or [email protected]} <<

and send us your tell your MachineID: >> – – <<

—

HOW to understand that we are NOT scammers?

You can ask SUPPORT for the TEST-decryption for ONE file!

—

If I don’t want to pay bad people like you?

If you will not cooperate with our service – for us, its does not matter.

But you will lose your time and data, cause only we have the private key.

In practice – time is much more valuable than money.

—

Please contact us before paying.

After the successful payment and decrypting your files, we will give

you FULL instructions HOW to IMPROVE your security system.

We ready to answer all your questions!

—

How to protect system from ransomware infection?

We strongly advise you being careful with incoming emails. The attachments and links presented in any suspicious emails and messages should never be opened as they may cause system infection. We strongly advise you being careful while browsing as illegitimate and malicious content any appear ordinary and harmless.

Another recommendation for you is to always use only official websites and direct links for any downloads. It is also crucial to update and activate any software using tools/ functions from official tools/ functions as illegal activation tools and third-party updates can contain malware.

We also emphasize the importance of having a reputable antivirus tool installed and kept updated. Security tools should have to be used to run regular system scan and to remove any detected threats and issues.

If the system infection is already caused, we recommend you follow our below guide to remove AROS Ransomware easily. There, you will also find the complete instructions on how to recover files using stated data recovery alternatives.

Want to get rid of AROS Ransomware infection? Follow these steps

Identifying the ransomware infection

There are tons of ransomware strains developed over the years and spread all over the world. Crooks are creating new ransomware versions to establish themselves in the illegal business. These viruses use different extensions, ransom notes and other attributes through which you can identify them. However, sometimes, these things overlap and that makes difficult for the users to identify them.

To deal with a ransomware-type infection, your first task would be to identify it. In the process, you should firstly check the file extension. All ransomware viruses are using certain extensions that are appended at the end of the original filenames. But, sometimes, the crooks may replace it with random characters, add marker before the filename or do not visually change the name of the file at all.

So, if your files are appended with .exe, .locked, .encrypted or other broadly-used extensions that are difficult to identity, you would have to identify it by the ransom note. Simply, a .txt file is created and placed on the desktop or other places that can easily be reachable. Other times, a pop-up window is used which is launched soon the encryption process is complete. In the ransom note, the threat actors mention the name of the ransomware.

However, in some cases, the ransom note is very generic and in that case you can use ID Ransomware – a free service to identify the precise malware that you are dealing with. All that you have to do is to upload the ransom note found on the desktop or within the folders where the encrypted files are located and the sample of an encrypted file. You will get the relevant information such as the family of the ransomware belongs to and where or not it is possible to decrypt files.

Isolating the infected system

There are certain ransomware infections that not only infect systems but spread on entire network. Not known whether AROS Ransomware has this functionality. Why to take risk? So, soon your system is infected, it is important you should isolate it to prevent re-infection after the removal process is complete. The easiest way of disconnecting the system is simply plug-out the Ethernet cable.

However, this process is not easy in corporate environment. The method below will help you in disconnecting from all the networks, including local and the internet, isolating each of the systems involved:

• In the Windows Search, type in Control Panel and click Ok,
• Go to the Network and Internet,
• Click on Network and Sharing Center,
• Pick Change adapter settings,

• Right-click on your connection and select Disable,
• Finally, confirm with Yes.

Also, disconnect all the cloud storage you are connected to as well as all the external devices such as USB flash sticks, external HDDs and etc. Once the removal process is complete, you can connect your computer to the network and internet, by clicking the Enabled button.

Scan your system using antivirus solution

If you are a victim of AROS Ransomware, you should require employing a reputable antivirus tool for its removal. Some ransomware viruses are self-destruct after the encryption process is finished. Even in such cases, however, the malware leaves various data stealing modules or could operate in conjugation with other malicious programs on your system.

SpyHunter can detect and remove all ransomware related files, additional modules, along with other viruses hidden on the system. The tool is really very easy to use and does not require any prior knowledge to succeed in the malware removal process. To help you with, we have included the steps how to use this tool to perform the ransomware removal from the system. Check below:

• Click on the below link to download SpyHunter,
• When the download process is complete, you will see a set up file named SpyHunter-Installer.exe at below your browser window or within the downloads section,

• Double-click on it to open it and to initiate the installation process,
• A User Account Control dialogue box appears at first on the screen, click Yes within to confirm it,

• Choose your language the then and click OK,

• Click Continue to proceed,

• Read and Accept the EULA and Privacy Policy and then click on Install,

• Let the installation process to complete. Once done, click on Finish button to complete the download/ installation process.

Once after the installation, launch the security software and run a full system scan using it. To launch SpyHunter, locate the program’s icon on the desktop or just click on the Start> Program and click on SpyHunter. Go to its Application page, click on Home and click on Start Scan option on the next pop-up window appears.

The software will initiate the scanning process after that and shows errors, vulnerabilities and malware found as a scan result in total five different categories – like Malware, PUPs, Privacy, Vulnerabilities and Whitelisted objects.

To delete those detected threats, you have to register for the program. Here are the guide on registering for the program and removing the detected threat:

• Click on the Register button on the top-right of the program’s window and click on Buy,

• On the purchasing page, enter the customer details and valid email address, choose your plan and proceed to pay,
• After the payment, you will receive email confirmation message with username and password,
• Now, go to the program’s settings, click on the Advanced on the left pane,
• Click on Activate your Account and enter your username and password to activate your plan,

• Now, go to the scanning report page, select the objects you want to remove and click on the Next button to quarantine them,
• Go to the Malware/ PC Scan tab and click on the Quarantine option there to see all quarantine objects,
• To delete any objects, click on them and then click on the Next button. You can restore any objects there just by selecting them and then clicking on Restore.

Recover the AROS Ransomware affected data

Not all users have proper data backups prior to being affected by ransomware. Paying ransom to the crooks is very risky – these people often do not provide the decryption tool even after all their demands are met. Data recovery software might be capable in some situations depend on the encryption algorithm used, whether ransomware managed to complete the programmed tasks and etc.

There are thousands of different ransomware strains and it is just difficult to tell you whether third party software will work for you. Therefore, we suggest you trying regardless of which ransomware type attacked your system. However, before you begin, certain things that you should keep in mind while dealing with this situation:

• The encrypted data on system might be permanently damaged by security or data recovery software and thus, you should first make backups of it – use USB flash drive or another storage devices,
• Attempt to recover the files after making sure that you perform a system scan using antivirus software.

Instant files recovery software

Stella Phoenix Windows Data Recovery tool is very popular data recovery tool tested by security researchers and recommended by many individuals all over the world. Here are the steps how to download/ install this tool and recover the AROS Ransomware infected files:

• Download the tool from the link below,
• This will download Stellar_WinDataRe….exe file on your system,

• Double-click on this file to open it, accept its licensed agreement and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process,

• Once after the installation, the program automatically executes itself and so just select the files you want to restore and click on the Next button,

• Select Drive to run and execute for the files recovery and click on Scan button,

• Wait for the restoration process to complete. Once done, you can preview those files,
• Select them all to restore and set the location where you want to save.

Shadow Copies; another data recovery alternative

Volume Shadow Copy was introduced by Microsoft with the release of Windows XP service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2013. This allows you to backup or snapshot the current state of the files on a particular volume. These backups are stored on some special type of container called Shadow Copy.

Sometimes, in ransomware infection, this automatically created backup is left untouched and thus it ultimately becomes a file recovery option for the users. Before we move onto the guide how to recover files using the Shadow Copies, one thing that is important to mention here that the AROS Ransomware virus might be capable of deleting this Shadow Copy by using certain commands such as:

C:\Windows\Sysnative\vssadmin.exe” Delete Shadows /All /Quiet

Thus, you can’t 100% sure that these will definitely help you in the files recovery. Moving to the instruction part – you can recover the files using shadow copies using two possible ways; using previous versions and through Shadow Explorer Tool. The steps to use previous version to restore the files are provided below:

• Open the folder containing the file you want to recover,
• Right-click on it and go to its properties,
• Go to the previous tab, select the restore point and click on

The second method involves downloading/ installing a specially crafted tool called Shadow Explorer. Download/ install the tool, and launch it on your system. It will show you a list of all drivers and the dates on which the shadow copy was created. Select the drive for the files and folders and the date, navigate to the folders and files you want to restore, right-click on the folder or file and select Export, select the location the then to save all those recovered files and the software saves them on that location.

Create backups to avoid data loss in future

We have mentioned two data recovery options, namely third party data recovery software and Volume Shadow Copy. However, both of them not surely help you in the files recovery and there is always a suspicion. Therefore, you can’t completely rely on these alternatives for the files recovery in anytime in future and must have to take steps to ensure that there would be no much loss during such a case of system infection.

The best if you create backups of all essential files. The most reliable backup option is to use existing backup and keep it unplugged it from the system. These device could be hard drive, flash (thumb) drive, SSD, HDD and others alike. However, there is a limitation in using it that you will have to update it on time to time.

To overcome this problem, you can refer cloud service or remote server, for example Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive and so on. These will all your personal files and data in the cloud. You can access and edit these files from different Windows devices. You can sync them to all computers and mobile devices. Surely, using it require an internet connection.

Manual removal using Safe Mode

We have already mentioned, manual methods are time consuming and less-effective solution. Also, there is a risk of doing mistakes that cause direct damages to the system performance and to the users’ personal as well. However, if you are confident with your IT skill and ready to take the entire risks involved in performing the manual process of ransomware removal, we welcome you with our manual instructions provided below.

Step 1: Access Safe Mode with Networking

Manual malware removal should be performed in Safe Mode environment:

Windows 7/Vista/XP users:

• Restart Windows and when it is active, keep pressing F8 (or F2, F12, Del and etc) till you see Advanced Boot Options window on screen,
• Select Safe Mode with Networking from the list appears.

Windows 10/ 8 users:

• Right-click on Start button and select Settings,

• Scroll down to find Update & Privacy and click on it,

• Choose Recovery in the opened window,
• Scroll down to find Advanced startup,
• Click Restart now,

• Select Troubleshoot,

• Go to the Advanced options,

• Now, select startup settings,

• Click on Restart and select Enable Safe Mode with Networking.

Step 2: Shut down all suspicious processes

Use the Tool Windows Task Manager for the purpose. It can show all the processes running in the background. If malware is running a process, you need to shut it down:

• Open Windows Task Manager using shortcut Ctrl+ Shift+ Esc,
• Click on More details,

• Scroll down to find Background processes and search for anything suspicious over there,
• Right-click and select Open File Location,

• Go back to the process, right-click and pick End Task,

• Then, delete the contents of the malicious folder.

Step 3: Check Program Startup

Now, search for the malicious processes automatically run with startup and disable them:

• Open Task Manager and go to the Startup tab,
• Right-click on the suspicious program and click disable.

Step 4: Removing virus files

Last step in the process is to locate the virus files on different places within the system and remove them. Here are the required steps:

• Open Windows Search, type in Disk Clean up and hit Enter,

• Select the drive, typically the C drive that is likely to contain the malicious files,
• Scroll through the files to Delete list check Temporary Internet Files, Downloads, Recycle Bin, and Temporary Files options,
• Pick Clean up System files,

• The then, open Windows Search again and type in for “%AppData%”, “%LocalAppData%”, “%ProgramData%” and “%WinDir%” and hit Enter – do that one-by-one separately and remove all suspicious files hidden on these folders,
• Reboot the device after that in the normal mode.