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Cryptobot Ransomware

Posted: May 26, 2015

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 8
First Seen: November 3, 2014
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The Cryptobot Ransomware is a file encryption Trojan that may install itself through Trojan droppers embedded in the file attachments of fraudulent e-mail messages. Like CryptoWall or Critoni, the Cryptobot Ransomware encrypts files on your PC to make them unreadable and then provides instructions for how to pay its maintainers for access to a theoretical decryption service. There are no guarantees with this payment method, and you should seek alternative methods of protecting your files from the Cryptobot Ransomware while using anti-malware strategies as needed for removing the Cryptobot Ransomware from a machine.

The E-mail that Sends You a File Ransom

The Cryptobot Ransomware is a file encryption-based threat very similar to previous ones of the same classification, with its primary goal being to block your access to your personal information until you pay a ransom fee. The Cryptobot Ransomware's current campaign distributes its installers through e-mail messages with the formats of fake government notifications, such as warnings for violating the traffic code. PC users who open the attached files may find their systems infected by the Cryptobot Ransomware, which, afterward, launches automatically with Windows.

The Cryptobot Ransomware establishes contact with a C&C server for the purposes of internal campaign organization, and also for acquiring its HTML-based ransom message. The Cryptobot Ransomware then scans your PC for files of particular formats, such as JPG images or XLS Excel spreadsheets and then encrypts them. The Trojan renames the encrypted files with a new '.encrypted' extension, which lets victims search for and identify the affected files immediately. However, they'll be unable to open or use the affected files without the help of a decryption process.

Crawling out of the the Cryptobot Campaign

The Cryptobot Ransomware redirects its victims to a specialized website supposedly for processing payments for its file-decrypting service, at a cost of roughly 500 USD. At the same time, the Cryptobot Ransomware also blocks any attempt to restore the encrypted files from a local backup (by deleting your Windows Shadow Volume Copies). As a result, using the default, Windows system restore feature is unable to roll back the effects of the Cryptobot Ransomware's attack. However, malware experts find that remote file backups, such as those stored on separate devices or in a cloud storage server, should be entirely unaffected. This limitation, common to most file encrypting Trojans, allows victims of a Cryptobot Ransomware attack a free avenue for restoring any encrypted or otherwise lost data.

Anti-malware tools should be used for identifying the Cryptobot Ransomware's e-mail-based installers or for removing the Cryptobot Ransomware from an already infected computer. For their part, malware experts particularly recommend being cautious about 'government notifications' that may arrive in unusual ways. This warning is especially pertinent when the messages fail to match up with your personal history or request that you take actions that could endanger your PC.

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