The Ajvjc virus falls within the CONTI ransomware family. A harmful program of such sort encrypts all the data on your PC (images, documents, excel tables, music, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, creating the readme.txt text files in each folder with the encrypted files.
What is known about the Ajvjcvirus?
☝️ A strictly correct denomination for the Ajvjc is “a CONTI family ransomware malicious agent”.
Ajvjc adds its own .AJVJC extension to every file’s name. For example, a file named “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.AJVJC”. Likewise, the Excel sheet with the name “table.xlsx” will end up as “table.xlsx.AJVJC”, and so on.
In each directory with the encoded files, a readme.txt file will be created. It is a ransom money note. Therein you can find information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is basically the scheme of the crime.
Ajvjc overview:
| Name | Ajvjc Virus |
| Ransomware family1 | CONTI ransomware |
| Extension | .AJVJC |
| Ransomware note | readme.txt |
| Detection | Ransom:Win32/StopCrypt.PY!MTB, Trojan:Win32/Raccrypt.GI!MTB, Trojan:Win32/Nabucur.AA |
| Symptoms | Your files (photos, videos, documents) get a .AJVJC extension and you can’t open them. |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Ajvjc virus |
In the screenshot below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Ajvjc looks like. Each filename has the “.AJVJC” extension added to it.
That is how encrypted “.AJVJC” files look.
How did Ajvjc ransomware end up on my PC?
There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.
There are currently three most popular ways for hackers to have the Ajvjc virus working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer file transfer.
If you access your mailbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, Internet providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a malware item attached to them. So it is even riskier to open any attachments that come with letters like these.
Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file model2. A Trojan is an object that gets into your machine pretending to be something legal. For example, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some software. However, what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that compromises your data. As the update file 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 optimal thing is to use the software companies’ official websites.
As for the peer-to-peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the danger is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Internet. You can never know what you download until you get it. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded objects with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is complete.
How to remove the Ajvjc virus?
It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Ajvjc virus will most likely deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware3 can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.
Often racketeers would decrypt several of your files so you know that they indeed have the decryption tool. As Ajvjc virus is a relatively new ransomware, safety measures designers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. However, the decoding tools are frequently updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.
Understandably, if the evildoers succeed in encoding someone’s essential files, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. However, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still risky. After getting the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports about criminals just disappearing after getting the ransom without even writing back.
The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud disk or at least on an external storage. Surely, that might be not enough. The most important thing could be that file you were working on when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.
There are other ransomware products, besides Ajvjc, that work similarly. Examples of those are Nnqp, Mljx, Hudf, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Ajvjc are the ransom amount and the encoding method. The rest is the same: documents become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each folder containing encrypted files.
Some fortunate people were able to decode the arrested files with the aid of the free software provided by anti-malware experts. Sometimes the racketeers accidentally send the decoding key to the wronged in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the victim to restore the files. But obviously, one should never rely on such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.
How do I avoid ransomware injection?
Ajvjc ransomware has no superpower, so as any similar malware.
You can armour your PC from ransomware attack taking several easy steps:
- Ignore any emails from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has likely no connection to something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are waiting for, check all elements of the dubious email with caution. A fake email will always have a mistake.
- Do not use cracked or untrusted programs. Trojans are often shared as a part of cracked products, possibly under the guise of “patch” to prevent the license check. Understandably, potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable ones, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you need. You can try searching for information about this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the best solution is not to use such programs at all.
- And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, use GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This program will be a powerful shield for your PC.
Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft4
There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft5.
Download Removal Tool.
You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:
Run the setup file.
When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your computer.
An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
Press “Install” button.
Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.
Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your system for Ajvjc infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.
Click on “Clean Now”.
When the scan has finished, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.
FAQ
🤔 How can I open “.AJVJC” files?Are the “.AJVJC” files accessible?
Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.AJVJC” files you will not be able to access them.
🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.AJVJC” files ASAP. How can I do that?
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. The rest of the methods require patience.
🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Ajvjc malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?
No way! Unlike the ransomware program itself, the encrypted files do not jeopardize your system.
With the help of GridinSoft Anti-Malware, you can clean your computer off the actual viruses. The ransomware that has infiltrated your computer is probably still functional and running scans periodically to encrypt any new files you might create on your computer after the infection. As it has already been said, the Ajvjc malware does not come alone. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide criminals with easy access to your computer in the future.
🤔 What actions should I take if the Ajvjc malware has blocked my PC and I can’t get the activation code.
In such a case, you need to have a flash memory drive with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to perform the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware runs automatically as the system launches and encrypts any new files created or brought into your computer. To block this process – use Safe Mode, which allows only the essential applications to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.
🤔 What could help the situation right now?
Some of the blocked files can be located elsewhere.
- If you sent or received your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
- You might have shared images 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 Web, you can try doing it again.
- Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
- Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, cellphone, external storage, etc.
HINT: You can employ data recovery programs6 to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, removing the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can see how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you won’t be able to do it before you remove the virus with an antivirus program.
Also, you can contact the following official fraud and scam sites to report this attack:
- In the United States: On Guard Online;
- In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
- In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
- In Australia: SCAMwatch;
- In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
- In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
- In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
- In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;
To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.
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Brendan SmithHow to Remove AJVJC Ransomware & Recover PC
Name: AJVJC Virus
Description: AJVJC Virus is a ransomware-type infections. This virus encrypts important personal files (video, photos, documents). The encrypted files can be tracked by a specific .AJVJC extension. So, you can't use them at all.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Virus
User Review
( votes)References
- My files are encrypted by ransomware, what should I do now?
- You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
- You can read more on spyware variants and nature in the respective section of GridinSoft official website.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
- More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
- Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.
