Evil Ransomware

Posted: January 11, 2017

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	61

First Seen:	January 11, 2017
Last Seen:	June 16, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Evil Ransomware is a JavaScript-based Trojan that encrypts your files to lock them out of usability until you pay the author for the decryption key, which the Evil Ransomware transfers to his server. Con artists don't always honor these ransom agreements, and malware experts encourage keeping regular backups for the purpose of neutering threats that attack your hard drive's contents. If enabled, your anti-malware protection can eliminate the risks of non-consensual encryption by removing the Evil Ransomware automatically.

The Evil that Lurks in Your Files

Threat authors often conclude that innovating on an already-working program is a waste of resources, and the newly-identified Evil Ransomware stands as a demonstration of the concept in action. The Evil Ransomware (sometimes IDed as File0Locked KZ Ransomware, from its extension and e-mail) has no known relationship with old threat families like Hidden Tear. This lack of ancestry hasn't stopped its author from crafting the Trojan to follow previously-tried templates in payload operations almost precisely.

The formula the Evil Ransomware follows includes these attacks:

The Trojan leverages an unidentified algorithm (most likely a variant of AES) to encrypt files matching formats such as DOC, XLS, PPT, and other, work environment-related content. An encrypted file has its internal data rearranged, but not destroyed, requiring a matching decryption process before it's readable again.
The Trojan also exhibits traces of a C&C server activity, most likely for storing the decryption key and notifying the administrator of the new installation.
The Evil Ransomware also labels these files for legibility purposes by giving them the '.file0locked' extension.
The desktop also is hijacked. The Evil Ransomware includes a PNG file that it uses for the victim's desktop wallpaper to communicate ransoming demands or incite a panic response.
Last, the Evil Ransomware creates two text files and a local Web page file. One of the former contains a set list of all the encrypted content. The others are messages asking for ransom money to give you your digital possessions back.

Why not to Reward the Evil with Good

Besides using JavaScript as the basis for its code, the Evil Ransomware doesn't have many original dissimilarities to make it stand out from the latest re-release of the Crysis Ransomware, Hidden Tear or EDA2. However, its encryption has yet to be broken by third-party researchers, which makes paying its ransom the only decryption solution available, for now. Since decryption solutions are not always forthcoming or otherwise dependable, malware experts tend to discourage rewarding harmful behavior in this fashion.

Samples of the Evil Ransomware so far are all installing themselves through Trojan droppers dedicated to deploying this threat. Further details of the distribution techniques at work are yet to finalize, although malware experts often see the abuse of spam e-mails in these campaigns. Anti-malware products scanning your incoming files and blocking drive-by-downloads should be able to delete the Evil Ransomware or installers for it with no further steps required.

The Evil Ransomware may not be the most unusual file-encrypting Trojan 2017 has seen so far, but it does demonstrate the principle that a 'boring' and workhorse-style payload can be just as viable for getting innocent victims to give up their money for nothing.

Evil Ransomware

Threat Metric

The Evil that Lurks in Your Files

Why not to Reward the Evil with Good

Related Posts

Leave a Reply