How to Recover Files Encrypted by Cerber Ransomware Virus ?

Summary – A Cerber Ransomware is a virus that encrypts all types of data and then demands a ransom to decrypt the data. This blog is all about to recover encrypted Files affected by Cerber Ransomware. If your files hit by this virus, then read on to know how to recover the encrypted files.

Before going into the details of the virus removal and file recovery process, let’s know about it a bit more.

What is Cerber Ransomware Virus?

Cerber virus is a malicious computer malware that uses the AES encryption algorithm to encode files. It goes into the system and encrypts various file such as JPG, DOC, RAW, and AVI etc. Each file gets a .cerber extension that is also called infectious extension. Some of its variants also add .cerber2 and .cerber3 extension to the files. Not just these, some of its variants also add random file extensions such as .a37b, .a563, .ba99, .98a0, etc.

After encryption, the virus demands a ransom to decrypt them. Many times, it is stated that the payment must be within a limited time frame, else the ransom amount would get doubled. Also, some of its variants reveal their versions as well. For instance, Cerber Ransomware 4.1.5, Cerber Ransomware 4.1.6, and Cerber Ransomware 5.0.0 that is the latest variant and demands a ransom of $499.

Like any other ransomware, you may accidentally download it through spam emails carrying an executable virus file.

An In-Depth into Cerber Ransom-Virus

During encryption, the Cerber virus creates three different files that are as follows:

#DECRYPT MY FILES#.txt, #DECRYPT MY FILES#.html, #DECRYPT MY FILES#.vbs

These files contain step-by-step payment instructions. These files have messages stating that users can decrypt the encrypted files only using the Cerber Decryptor. It displays the message: “Your documents, databases and other important files have been encrypted!”. To download the decryptor, you should make a payment of $xxx.xx. If you delay the payment beyond 7 days, the amount will double.

You can pay only using the Tor browser and by following instructions as indicated on the website titled “Cerber Decryptor”. If you are the victim, you can select your preferred language and then proceed to the financial part of the fraud. Although any efficient file recovery mechanism has not been devised yet, you can employ certain techniques that are valuable regarding removing the Cerber virus and recover encrypted files.

Methods to Recover encrypted files affected by the cerber ransomware

This section highlights some of the ways in which you can recover encrypted.

1. Restore Backup – Restoring the backup of the data files is one of the best ways of recovering your data files. However, this method is useful only if you have been creating a backup of the files.

2. Execute file recovery software – Cerber virus first creates copies of your files and then encrypts them. All files are deleted in the process. In such situations, you can use any file recovery software. This is an alternative that you can use in case you do not have a backup.

3. Obtain File Recovery Service – If the above two methods do not prove to be fruitful to Recover encrypted excel files, you can go for file recovery services. You have a number of advantages when you obtain services from Stellar Data Recovery. First and foremost, you do not need to perform the file recovery process on your own that requires an in-depth knowledge. Secondly, you need to ship the device and ask the file recovery service provider to recover encrypted excel files.

The Way Forward – Stellar Data Recovery

The above-explained methods are the three ways by which you can recover encrypted data. You can use any method for best results. However, restoring data from a backup file is possible only if you have created one. Also, it is a time-consuming process and requires a thorough knowledge. Again, all file recovery software tools are not capable of decrypting files from the ransomware. Even, you need to know the proper steps to run it properly so that it gives the desired results. On the other hand, obtaining file recovery services from Stellar Data Recovery requires contacting its closest branch. With this, you will be able to decrypt the files encrypted by Cerber ransomware and thereby recover them.