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AutoLocky Ransomware

Posted: April 19, 2016

Threat Metric

Ranking: 5,207
Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 31,319
First Seen: April 19, 2016
Last Seen: October 11, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The AutoLocky Ransomware is a Trojan that uses the AES file encryption for blocking you from opening your data. While the AutoLocky Ransomware includes some visual elements of the '.locky File Extension' Ransomware, malware experts determined that these two threats are completely unrelated. However, the usual data protection strategies, along with using anti-malware products for uninstalling the AutoLocky Ransomware, still are the most viable solution to an infection.

The Script Trojan that Thinks Too Highly of Itself

Although the most secure and well-coded examples of threatening software might make notable waves throughout PC security media, not all coders have the ability to create efficient threat projects. Some con artists may choose to confuse the origins of their inferior wares with more well-known Trojans, which you can see in the AutoLocky Ransomware campaign. By implying that its attacks are part of the payload of a '.locky File Extension' Ransomware, this threat misleads its victims into believing that their data is more unrecoverable than it is.

Like the '.locky File Extension' Ransomware, the AutoLocky Ransomware uses file encryption (based on an AES-128 standard) to block content on the infected hard drive, with any files renamed to the usual '.locky' format. The AutoLocky Ransomware transfers the machine-specific decryption key to a remote server, although, unlike the Trojan it imitates, the AutoLocky Ransomware makes no use of the Tor Browser. Dropped text and Web page files ask the victims to pay over three hundred USD in Bitcoin value to buy the con artists' decryption solution. Until then, any compatible programs can't read the affected files.

The AutoLocky Ransomware has the outer characteristics that malware experts would expect to see in most file encryption Trojans, but the AutoLocky Ransomware also includes significant vulnerabilities. Other PC security entities already have produced working decryptors for the AutoLocky Ransomware, largely as the result of the threat's using the AutoIT scripting language. The original '.locky File Extension' Ransomware utilizes C++, making it more difficult for security researchers to decompile and analyze the program.

The AutoLocky Ransomware's distribution methods are unconfirmed, although it does use PDF icons for concealing its executable file.

All the Extra Keys to Unlocking an AutoLocky Ransomware Infection

Although an AutoLocky Ransomware attack can place an immediate blockade on your saved data, this Trojan is dependent on a false air of impenetrability for acquiring its ransom payments. Besides the serious AutoIt decompilation issue that is most likely the mark of the original coder's inexperience, the AutoLocky Ransomware also makes a particularly unforgivable mistake: failing to delete local backup data. With intact Shadow Volume Copies, Windows users can restore their files without worrying about needing to decrypt them one by one. The more secure backup methods recommended by malware experts for general data protection, such as restoration from USB devices or cloud servers, also are just as effective.

Always disinfect your system before enacting a recovery plan from the effects of a Trojan's attack. Although the AutoLocky Ransomware is a relatively primitive, unsophisticated threat, the AutoLocky Ransomware still is accurately classifiable as a threatening software designed with the explicit intent of harming your PC and defrauding you. Run any applicable anti-malware tools from within Safe Mode while deleting the AutoLocky Ransomware. Current versions of the AutoLocky Ransomware also fail to conceal their memory processes or startup tasks, both of which you may monitor through the usual Windows applications.

The AutoLocky Ransomware shows the surprising frailty that can be behind a seemingly implacable Trojan payload. Keeping a clear head during an infection can do just as much to help resolve the attack as having the proper anti-malware defenses.

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