CryptoShield Ransomware
Posted: February 1, 2017
Threat Metric
The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:
Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.
Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.
Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.
Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.
% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.
Threat Level: | 10/10 |
---|---|
Infected PCs: | 391 |
First Seen: | February 1, 2017 |
---|---|
Last Seen: | February 1, 2023 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The CryptoShield Ransomware is a Trojan that blocks your files by encrypting them, which it uses to force you into paying a ransom to a remote attacker. While the CryptoShield Ransomware warns of a time limit for achieving data recovery in this way, malware experts encourage utilizing more reliable restoration options that don't require paying con artists traditionally. Browser-based anti-malware protection is essential for deleting the CryptoShield Ransomware before it can attack your PC and harm any files.
The Shield Between You and Your Files
Out-of-date Trojans may be the foundation for new campaigns to attack both professional business servers and recreational PC users alike, and sometimes involve resurrecting surprisingly old threats effectively. Although malware researchers can confirm the CryptoShield Ransomware campaign for dating itself to the current year, they also estimate that this Trojan is a clone of the CryptMix Ransomware (sometimes referred to as 'CryptoMix'), a Trojan last distributed in significant numbers in the middle of 2016. The changes to its ransom demands and encryption branding most likely are the reasons for this new release, which update the Trojan's payment processes and may interfere with old decryption solutions.
Unlike most Trojans of its kind, the CryptoShield Ransomware uses drive-by-download from exploit kits, such as the RIG EK, to install itself onto your computer. These website-hosted attacks infect your system after distracting you with pop-ups imitating a Windows UAC message. Browsers with outdated software or advanced content enabled (such as Flash, JavaScript and advertising networks) are particularly at risk.
After the installation, the CryptoShield Ransomware launches attacks that malware experts rate as being traditional for threats of this type:
- The CryptoShield Ransomware encrypts your files, such as documents with a cipher still being identified. While other components of the Trojan claim to use an advanced type of RSA, the validity of this assertion is highly dubious and is a common point of deception in other Trojan attacks.
- After having locked your files, the CryptoShield Ransomware erases local backups such as Windows SVC data that would let you restore them without decoding them.
- The Trojan also contacts a Command & Control server for notifying a threat actor about the new installation.
- The filenames of any encrypted content also experience another change: an ROT13 encryption conversion that swaps each character with the one that's thirteen past it in the alphabet. This change is in addition to the brand-new extension that the CryptoShield Ransomware appends ('.the CryptoShield').
- Then, the CryptoShield Ransomware creates a ransom note that imitates similar messages from the campaign for the '.locky File Extension' Ransomware. In this file, con artists ask you to contact them by e-mail to make a payment within a time limit for decrypting your data.
Breaking Through a Con Artist's Defense of His Profits
Trojan updates like the CryptoShield Ransomware may be the result of threat actors trying to avoid past decryption tools that negate their extortion demands for free, as well as attempts at confusing victims by 'borrowing' the brands and messages of different attack campaigns. Maximizing your immunity to payloads from file-encrypting Trojans like the CryptoShield Ransomware always requires backing your data up to a location unassailable by threats of this type such as a password-protected server or a removable storage device. When possible, paying the ransom to recover your files always should be treated as a final resort after you exhaust all other choices.
Blocking untrustworthy advertising networks, disabling scripts from new websites and using anti-malware protection that monitors corrupted URL activity can terminate the exploit kit-based attacks that may be installing this threat. Because achieving full data recovery from a file-encrypting Trojan sometimes can be impossible, preventing the infection via deleting the CryptoShield Ransomware upon its introduction to your PC is even more heavily encouraged than with other categories of threatening software.
Particularly while you're browsing the Web, keeping your security options modernized is vital for eliminating the vulnerabilities that threat actors like the CryptoShield Ransomware's authors exploit with each new update to old threats.
Technical Details
File System Modifications
Tutorials: If you wish to learn how to remove malware components manually, you can read the tutorials on how to find malware, kill unwanted processes, remove malicious DLLs and delete other harmful files. Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.
The following files were created in the system:%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 114.68 KB (114688 bytes)
MD5: 5f0179ce907ddb4492b7561ec2846c9c
Detection count: 62
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 119.8 KB (119808 bytes)
MD5: 71c906dad53d2cacc2640b2b4a11f609
Detection count: 50
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32\adobe_1233452.exe
File name: adobe_1233452.exeSize: 154.11 KB (154112 bytes)
MD5: 00ff5b36cc6b09fabfd371f1f2091522
Detection count: 42
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
file.exe
File name: file.exeSize: 121.34 KB (121344 bytes)
MD5: e0d52cc8793592184a854fde5afaf152
Detection count: 42
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 3, 2017
file.exe
File name: file.exeSize: 121.34 KB (121344 bytes)
MD5: 2b110975ece5a5478f68aa1e98bed678
Detection count: 35
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 3, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32\winlogon.exe
File name: winlogon.exeSize: 100.86 KB (100864 bytes)
MD5: c91bb73753c2ed68c1ee7a8c0ac006ac
Detection count: 33
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32\adobe_1233452.exe
File name: adobe_1233452.exeSize: 152.57 KB (152576 bytes)
MD5: b4b6750d1bc64deb1aee0fa23ad56885
Detection count: 31
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 115.2 KB (115200 bytes)
MD5: b4430540f3f8ba43db591332d8b41b50
Detection count: 12
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 124.41 KB (124416 bytes)
MD5: 2d9c89f874fd2f341595046ad75efd01
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 118.27 KB (118272 bytes)
MD5: 4527a86f7e1ad9328f091684618fc17d
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 96.25 KB (96256 bytes)
MD5: fdde3778c52f5a2d4de67ef8c049f856
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\MicroSoftTMP\system32\winlogon.exe
File name: winlogon.exeSize: 100.86 KB (100864 bytes)
MD5: 2c613d71ba14be086195c9fd58a79fa9
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32\winlogon.exe
File name: winlogon.exeSize: 99.84 KB (99840 bytes)
MD5: 297fa6182b74c19a7a894f0aa7437a01
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\MicroSoftTMP\system32\conhost.exe
File name: conhost.exeSize: 114.68 KB (114688 bytes)
MD5: 87ff17a6a8776dc211f8fe25e34a8120
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32\winlogon.exe
File name: winlogon.exeSize: 96.76 KB (96768 bytes)
MD5: 9be2fea8003eef818fe399f537242fce
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\MicroSoftTMP\system32\winlogon.exe
File name: winlogon.exeSize: 99.32 KB (99328 bytes)
MD5: 5ccd8fcc98b2e0fdac08ed01a381a66f
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\MicroSoftTMP\system32\winlogon.exe
File name: winlogon.exeSize: 89.6 KB (89600 bytes)
MD5: 83fd59daa3aae7f1fbfcdcb3a25104d8
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\MicroSoftTMP\system32
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 12, 2017
Registry Modifications
File name without path#_RESTORING_FILES_#.HTML#_RESTORING_FILES_#.TXT
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