Aviso Ransomware - How to remove

Aviso ransomware springs from Spain. The word aviso means a warning in English. It was detected this month, that is the October of 2016, and was considered to be a new variant of TorrentLocker ransomware. Aviso cryptomalware is written in AutoIt, which is compatible with Windows OS. Thus, the users of Windows is the main target of the developers of Aviso ransomware virus. To be more specific, the hackers of the ransomware primarily aimed at the Windows users of Spain. Additionally, users of English-speaking countries, Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic and Brazil have also been targeted. There have been speculations about Aviso virus being in its developmental stage, and that its creators are planning to wade into the deeper waters as regards the countries the virus is going to be spread.

How does Aviso Ransomware Infect Victim’s Devices?

As customarily to the developers of ransomware viruses, the designers of Aviso ransomware utilize spam e-mails to send the executable file of the ransomware to the victim’s e-mail boxes. The specific means the hackers of Aviso crypto malware make the targeted users to execute the malicious file are the following. The victim receives an e-mail supposedly from Endesa S.A. – the largest electric utility company in Spain. This e-mail, however, can only reach the spam folder, and is unlikely to appear in one’s Inbox folder. In fact, the latter possibility is non-existent. This spam e-mail contains a ZIP file ENDESA_FACTURA.zip, which tries to pretend to be a bill from Endesa S.A. company. When the unsuspecting user opens it, the ransomware starts running on the system.

The Functionality of Aviso Ransomware

Aviso crypto-malware was designed to employ asymmetric encryption algorithm to encrypt the data files, which involves the combination of the private AES and the public RSA keys. This encrypting virus encrypts files, which are stored on the local drives, regardless the data containers, which are shared on the network. The files, which can easily become encrypted by Aviso encrypter are:

.3gp, .7z, .apk, .avi, .bmp, .cdr, .cer, .chm, conf, .css, .csv, .dat, .db, .dbf, .djvu, .dbx, .docm, ,doc, .epub, .docx .fb2, .flv, .gif, .gz, .iso .ibooks,.jpeg, .jpg, .key, .mdb .md2, .mdf, .mht, .mobi .mhtm, .mkv, .mov, .mp3, .mp4, .mpg .mpeg, .pict, .pdf, .pps, .pkg, .png, .ppt .pptx, .ppsx, .psd, .rar, .rtf, .scr, .swf, .sav, .tiff, .tif, .tbl, .torrent, .txt, .vsd,.wmv, .xls, .xlsx, .xps, .xml, .ckp, .zip, .java, .py, .asm, .c, .cpp, .cs, .js, .php, .dacpac, .rbw, .rb, .mrg, .dcx, .db3, .sql, .sqlite3, .sqlite, .sqlitedb, .psd, .psp, .pdb, .dxf, .dwg, .drw, .casb, .ccp, .cal, .cmx, .cr2

The files, having the above extensions, are prepended the Lock prefix. For instance, the Song.mp3 file is renamed into the Lock.Song.mp3, after its encryption has taken place. The first ransom notes received by the victims were written in Spanish. However, later it was reported that the coders of Aviso had sent messages in English, Portuguese, Italian and Czech. The following text is the ransom message in Portuguese:

Olá Sr(a),
TODOS os seus arqurvos foram BLOQUEADOS e esse bloqueio somente ser á DESBLOQUEAdo caso pague o valor de RS 2000.00 (Dois Mil Reais) em Bitcoons Após o pagamento desse valor, basta me enviar um pnnt para o email_
[email protected]
que estarei lhe enviando o programa com a senha para descryptografar/desbloquear o seus arquivos.
Caso o pagamento nao seja efetuado, todos os seus dados serao bloqueados
permanentemente e o seu computador será totalmente formatado
(Perdendo assim, todas as informa ções s contidas nele, incluindo senhas de email, bancarias…) O pagamento deverá ser efetuado nesse endereco de Bitcoin
[34 random characters]

The 34 random characters at the end of the message stand for the payment ID. The coders of Aviso demand for 2000 Reals to be payed in BitCoins, which are equal to around 624 USD. The contact e-mail provided is [email protected]. However, we recommend not to consider such an option to contact these cyber criminals.

How to Restore the Lost Data and to Fix the Affected Computer?

First you have to remove the ransomware, as if the ransomware is still running on the computer’s system, new files, having the above extensions, can be encrypted. Any removable drives, you plug into your PC, can be infected as well. Thus, the corrupted data must be copied, and the ransomware is to be removed. Spyhunter malware removal software can serve the latter purpose. You can only need to restart your machine in the Safe Mode, if you see that this encryption trojan blocks it. There is always an option for the manual removal. Nevertheless, in the case of a mistake done performing the manual removal of the ransomware, you risk a lot more than in the case of the removal of some ordinary malware such as an adware, for example.

The files encrypted by Aviso file-encrypting virus cannot be decrypted at the present moment. You can only use the additional copies in the form of the backed up data. For example, Shadow Volume Copies, USB flash drives, etc. If you did not back your data up, you can try applying data recovery software such as R-Studio, software by Kaspersky, Recuva, PhotoRec, etc. They do not provide you with a hundred per cent guarantee of data retrieval, but they can be helpful. If you can afford the luxury of waiting for the decryptor by cyber security researchers, please do that.

How to recover Aviso 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 Aviso Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Aviso 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 Aviso Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Aviso 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 Aviso 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 Aviso 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.