Tarocrypt Ransomware
Posted: January 22, 2016
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: | 8/10 |
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Infected PCs: | 42 |
First Seen: | January 26, 2016 |
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Last Seen: | November 13, 2022 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The Tarocrypt Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts the files on your PC to force you into paying a ransom fee for reversing its attacks. Affected files are left unusable until you decrypt them, although the con artists may not necessarily provide this service after receiving any payment. Although removing the Tarocrypt Ransomware and related security threats with anti-malware tools always should take priority, methodical backup strategies also can help prevent the Tarocrypt Ransomware from doing irreparable damage.
When Anonymity Protection Goes Bad
Products like Tor, the anonymous Web-browsing program, usually are developed with goals of improving everyone's quality of life by giving them the freedom to peruse the Internet without reversions of monitoring. Those lofty ideals often may be subverted in reality, and 'The Onion Router' is a recurring example of that cruelty as shown in the continuing efforts of threat authors. One case of a Trojan making use of Tor for bad ends is the Tarocrypt Ransomware, which utilizes it as part of its ransom scheme.
The Tarocrypt Ransomware doesn't install itself, and may enjoy an installation from an exploit kit or as part of the payload of another threat. The Tarocrypt Ransomware uses standard Registry exploits as a means of launching itself automatically, which may be evident in a spike in your disk usage. After its launching, the Tarocrypt Ransomware targets files of various formats within sub-directories of the Users folder, as well as the Documents and Settings folder, and runs them through an encryption process.
Malware experts can confirm that the Tarocrypt Ransomware targets multiple drives, which leaves removable devices equally vulnerable if they're plugged in at the time of the attack. Although the Tarocrypt Ransomware has an expansive list of targets, significant examples include JPGs, DOCs, AVIs, XLS spreadsheets and ZIP files.
The Tarocrypt Ransomware recommends using Tor as a means of communicating with its authors and purchasing a file decryptor for restoring your data. Malware experts also have seen some versions of the Tarocrypt Ransomware using Tor independently, which could be for updating itself, transferring system information or giving a remote attacker a backdoor to your machine.
Taking the Fear of Encryption out of a File Encryptor
The Tarocrypt Ransomware's current ransom message targets themselves towards Russian residents, and the Tarocrypt Ransomware, itself, only is designed for Windows machines. However, threat authors often are noted for taking the time to re-release old Trojans with minor, local modifications, allowing for deployment in entirely new countries with almost no effort. This issue is especially problematic in smaller file encryptors like the Tarocrypt Ransomware, which lacks the global publicity to encourage security companies to work on releasing decryptors for its attacks. When bereft of such tools, the safest course always is to use remote backups and restore any encrypted files as needed.
The Tarocrypt Ransomware represents both a danger to your hard drive's data and a potential network security hole for letting con artists conduct other attacks. No matter how valuable your files are, deleting the Tarocrypt Ransomware and removing any traces of its settings changes from your system should be your first concern. The Tarocrypt Ransomware has no documented, advanced features for avoiding detection or removal, such as rootkit exploits, and should be straightforward for being uninstalled by most anti-malware products.
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