AER Ransomware 🔐 (.AER File) — Removal Guide

The Aer virus belongs under the Dharma ransomware family. Ransomware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and adds its specific extension to every file, leaving the info.txt text files in each folder containing encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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What is Aer virus?

☝️ Aer is a Dharma family ransomware-type virus.

The scheme of renaming is the following: id-xxxxx.[contact-email].AeR. In the process of encryption, a file entitled, for instance, “report.docx” will be altered to “report.docx.id-9ECFA84E.[[email protected]].AeR”.

In each folder containing the encoded files, a info.txt text file will appear. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to buy the decryption tool from the tamperers. You can get this tool after contacting [email protected] by email. That is it.

Aer Summary:

The info.txt file coming in package with the Aer malware states the following:

You want to return?


write email [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] 

In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Aer looks like. Each filename has the “.AeR” extension appended to it.

That is how encrypted “.AeR” files look.

How did my computer get infected with Aer ransomware?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for criminals to have the Aer virus acting in your system. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer networks.

• If you open your mailbox and see emails that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose “from” field is strange to you, beware of opening those letters. They are most likely to have a harmful file attached to them. Thus it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with emails like these.
• Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan horse model. A Trojan is an object that infiltrates into your computer pretending to be something legal. Imagine, you download an installer for some program you want or an update for some program. But what is unpacked turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. As the update package can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The best thing is to use the software developers’ official websites.
• As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of ransomware?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Aer virus will most likely deploy Vidar Stealer on your machine to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Remove Aer with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common Ransomware as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove Aer as well as other malware hiding on your computer.

To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:

1. Begin by downloading Gridinsoft Anti-Malware, accessible via the blue button below or directly from the official website gridinsoft.com.

2.Once the Gridinsoft setup file (setup-gridinsoft-fix.exe) is downloaded, execute it by clicking on the file.

3.Follow the installation setup wizard's instructions diligently.

4. Access the "Scan Tab" on the application's start screen and launch a comprehensive "Full Scan" to examine your entire computer. This inclusive scan encompasses the memory, startup items, the registry, services, drivers, and all files, ensuring that it detects malware hidden in all possible locations.

Be patient, as the scan duration depends on the number of files and your computer's hardware capabilities. Use this time to relax or attend to other tasks.

5. Upon completion, Anti-Malware will present a detailed report containing all the detected malicious items and threats on your PC.

6. Select all the identified items from the report and confidently click the "Clean Now" button. This action will safely remove the malicious files from your computer, transferring them to the secure quarantine zone of the anti-malware program to prevent any further harmful actions.

8. If prompted, restart your computer to finalize the full system scan procedure. This step is crucial to ensure thorough removal of any remaining threats. After the restart, Gridinsoft Anti-Malware will open and display a message confirming the completion of the scan.

Remember Gridinsoft offers a 6-day free trial. This means you can take advantage of the trial period at no cost to experience the full benefits of the software and prevent any future malware infections on your system. Embrace this opportunity to fortify your computer's security without any financial commitment.

Trojan Killer for “Aer” removal on locked PC

In situations where it becomes impossible to download antivirus applications directly onto the infected computer due to malware blocking access to websites, an alternative solution is to utilize the Trojan Killer application.

There is a really little number of security tools that are able to be set up on the USB drives, and antiviruses that can do so in most cases require to obtain quite an expensive license. For this instance, I can recommend you to use another solution of GridinSoft - Trojan Killer Portable. It has a 14-days cost-free trial mode that offers the entire features of the paid version. This term will definitely be 100% enough to wipe malware out.

Trojan Killer is a valuable tool in your cybersecurity arsenal, helping you to effectively remove malware from infected computers. Now, we will walk you through the process of using Trojan Killer from a USB flash drive to scan and remove malware on an infected PC. Remember, always obtain permission to scan and remove malware from a computer that you do not own.

Step 1: Download & Install Trojan Killer on a Clean Computer:

1. Go to the official GridinSoft website (gridinsoft.com) and download Trojan Killer to a computer that is not infected.

2. Insert a USB flash drive into this computer.

3. Install Trojan Killer to the "removable drive" following the on-screen instructions.

4. Once the installation is complete, launch Trojan Killer.

Step 2: Update Signature Databases:

5. After launching Trojan Killer, ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet.

6. Click "Update" icon to download the latest signature databases, which will ensure the tool can detect the most recent threats.

Step 3: Scan the Infected PC:

7. Safely eject the USB flash drive from the clean computer.

8. Boot the infected computer to the Safe Mode.

9. Insert the USB flash drive.

10. Run tk.exe

11. Once the program is open, click on "Full Scan" to begin the malware scanning process.

Step 4: Remove Found Threats:

12. After the scan is complete, Trojan Killer will display a list of detected threats.

13. Click on "Cure PC!" to remove the identified malware from the infected PC.

14. Follow any additional on-screen prompts to complete the removal process.

Step 5: Restart Your Computer:

15. Once the threats are removed, click on "Restart PC" to reboot your computer.

16. Remove the USB flash drive from the infected computer.

Congratulations on effectively removing Aer and the concealed threats from your computer! You can now have peace of mind, knowing that they won't resurface again. Thanks to Gridinsoft's capabilities and commitment to cybersecurity, your system is now protected.

Sometimes tamperers would decrypt some of your files so you know that they really have the decryption tool. As Aer virus is a relatively recent ransomware, security software engineers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the decryption instruments are constantly upgraded, so the solution may soon arrive.

Sure thing, if the hackers do the job of encoding victim’s essential files, the desperate person will probably fulfill their demands. However, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your files back. It is still risky. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption code to the victim. There were reports about criminals just vanishing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud storage or at least on an external storage. Of course, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working upon when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.

There are other ransomware products, besides Aer, that work similarly. For instance, Cookieshelper, Pings, Cdpo, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Aer are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: files become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes emerge in every directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky users were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free software provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decoding code to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an epic fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.

How do I avert ransomware infection?

Aer ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can protect your computer from its infiltration in several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown senders with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without even taking part in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email carefully. A hoax letter will always have a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or untrusted software. Trojans are often spreaded as a part of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” which prevents the license check. Understandably, untrusted programs are very hard to tell from reliable software, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such programs at all.
• And finally, to be sure about the safety of the objects you downloaded, check them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful shield for your system.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Can I somehow access “.AeR” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.AeR” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

It’s good if you have fаr-sightedly saved copies of these important files elsewhere. In case you haven’t, there is still a chance that you do have a Restore Point from some time ago to roll back the whole system to the moment when it had no virus yet, but already had your files. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 You have advised using GridinSoft Anti-Malware to get rid of the Aer virus. Does it mean that all my files, currently encrypted, will be removed too?

Of course not. Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will delete active threats from your PC. The virus that has attacked your PC is probably still functional and running scans periodically to encode any new files you might create on your PC after the attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Aer virus does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can steal your account credentials and provide malefactors with easy access to your system after some time.

🤔 What should I do if the Aer virus has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.

If that happened, you need to have a flash memory card with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware runs automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or imported into your PC. To stop this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential programs to run automatically. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the blocked data can be located elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your critical files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to send those images back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, phone, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ data recovery programs² to retrieve your lost information since ransomware blocks the copies of your files, removing the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the ransomware itself with an antivirus program.

1. My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
2. Here are Top 10 Data Recovery Software Of 2023.