Pokemon GO Ransomware

Posted: August 15, 2016

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.

Ranking:	17,315
Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	15,943

First Seen:	August 15, 2016
Last Seen:	July 25, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Pokemon GO has already inspired many threat authors to create threats that lure victims by piggy-backing on the mobile game's ever-growing popularity. However, it is certainly unexpected to see that someone has decided to create a piece of ransomware that is based on the popular mobile game entirely. The Pokemon GO Ransomware is a cyber threat that utilizes AES encryption methods to lock the files of its victims and then demand a ransom fee. The ransomware appears to be unfinished, and malware researchers note that it only contains instructions written in Arabic. This reduces the chances that victims will be able to decrypt the ransomware's message significantly since it is more likely that most victims will not be familiar with this language. Another clue that the Pokemon GO Ransomware may not be active yet is that it attempts to establish a communication channel with an unreachable IP address that probably hosts the ransomware's Command & Control server.

All detected samples of the Pokemon GO Ransomware were hidden in a file called 'PokemonGo.exe' which uses the Pokemon Pikachu as its icon. When users launch the disguised ransomware, they signal the threat to start the encryption process unknowingly, as well as to carry several other harmful operations such as dropping the Pokemon GO Ransomware's files to multiple directories and removal storage devices. Furthermore, the Pokemon GO Ransomware creates a hidden administrator account under the name 'Hack3r'. Flash drives that have been infected with the Pokemon GO Ransomware may be used to infect other computers with which they are plugged in. The ransom note written in Arabic contains almost no valuable information, but the authors have provided their victims with a contact e-mail they can use to communicate – blackhat20152015@gmail.com

Malware researchers state that Pokemon GO Ransomware appears to be very similar to threats based on the Hidden Tear open-source ransomware project. Threats connected to this project are usually decrypted in a matter of days, and this means that victims of the Pokemon GO Ransomware must not pay the ransom fee. Instead, they should eliminate the threat with the help of an advanced anti-malware tool, nad then make sure to check security news website regularly to find out if a Pokemon GO Ransomware decrypter becomes available.

Pokemon GO Ransomware

Threat Metric

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