Aieou Ransomware

The Aieou Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan that blocks digital media and ransoms the unlocking service. The Aieou Ransomware includes classic symptoms like text ransom notes and extension changes and targets Windows environments. Users can protect their files with backups and their PCs with anti-malware tools for the safe removal of the Aieou Ransomware.

A Mouthful of Vowels Disrupts Some Digital Media

Trojan campaigns without dependencies on families like the Scarab Ransomware, the Djvu Ransomware, or others make for a less-focused-on but still a daily event in cyber-security. The Aieou Ransomware, taking its name from the extension it adds to the data it sabotages, is another such 'independent' program. Although attacks by this threat are very conventional, it may raise induce panic responses from victims, thanks to its 'generous' ransom of roughly thirteen thousand USD.

The Aieou Ransomware is a Windows-based program whose installer is of an unsurprisingly-low size (under a megabyte), with random character names. Although its behavior shows few symptoms beyond the basics, this threat can search for digital media files, such as DOCs (Word documents), JPGs (pictures) and other content and encrypting it. The encryption conversion prevents the file from opening while the Trojan's added extension ('aieou') marks it for user visibility.

Malware researchers also see extremely-simple text messages from the Aieou Ransomware's payload, which offer English-language ransom demands. Besides the threat actor's use of a Korean e-mail address, the only significant detail is the amount of money for recovering files: an entire Bitcoin, well over one thousand USD in current value. Ransoms so high usually are part of campaigns targeting business entities, government networks and other prestigious victims. However, the Aieou Ransomware shows little of the programming professionalism that would lead to its being a high-level, high-end threat.

Walking Back One Trojan's Data Destruction

Because the Aieou Ransomware shows no current behavior associated with deleting the Shadow Volume Copies or other backups, fortunate users might have intact the Restore Points. A more reliable means of recovering files is through any backups on other secure devices, which malware experts heavily recommend as counters against even the most well-designed file-locking Trojans. Only Windows PCs are at risk from the Aieou Ransomware, which omits the often-found .NET Framework dependency that similar threats possess.

Distribution exploits for the Aieou Ransomware's campaign aren't known, despite the Trojan's being fully-capable of harming files and holding them for ransom. Windows systems with enabled JavaScript, Java, or Flash are at more risk of experiencing drive-by-downloads, as are those that use out-of-date software. Many attacks may compromise passwords by brute-forcing weak credentials, illicit downloads and e-mail attachments are ever-relevant infection vectors.

Right cyber-security products for Windows should flag this Trojan as a generic threat. For sample procurement and overall security, users should avoid manual removal of the Aieou Ransomware and allow their anti-malware services' quarantining or deleting of the Aieou Ransomware when appropriate.

The Aieou Ransomware has little to it besides the basics that hundreds of other Trojans also put to such harmful use. Its asking price might seem unreasonable, but for those who don't tend to their files' safety, paying extortionist costs to get the priceless back is one of the few options on the table.