0kilobypt Ransomware

The 0kilobypt Ransomware is a file-wiping Trojan that pretends that it encrypts files and holds them hostage. Its attacks overwrite the affected data altogether, and users have no benefit from paying any ransoms. Users can recover from secure backups, if they're available, and let anti-malware services safely block or delete the 0kilobypt Ransomware.

Handing Trojans Money for Nothing

Threats coming out of Russia's well of programmers can be more unpredictable and, sometimes, destructive, than their counterparts in more streamlined 'business environments' in the threat landscape. The 0kilobypt Ransomware shows the predatory diversity of Russia's Trojan scene, which encompasses espionage-based spyware and a range of for-profit ventures, including both threatening encryptors and file wipers. The 0kilobypt Ransomware belongs to the latter but tricks victims into believing their work is recoverable.

The 0kilobypt Ransomware is Russian explicitly, including its victims – malware researchers find only Cyrillic ransom notes in its campaigns, from 2016 up to this year. Most, and possibly all variants appear to have connections to a single threat actor, with variations in extension-naming conventions such as '.leph0uxo,' '.mechu4Po,' '.CRYPT,' or '.Aebaih6i,' and a corresponding series of updates to any e-mail addresses. The Trojan's goal is ransoming fake decryption after attacking the victim's media files, such as documents.

A critical difference between the 0kilobypt Ransomware and threats like the Scarab Ransomware or Hidden Tear is that the 0kilobypt Ransomware doesn't encrypt files or move them into archives. It imitates an encryption feature for locking media but does so by overwriting data with zeroes. Consequentially, there's nothing restorable. Whether or not victims pay the ransom, they have no decryption or unlocking solutions available to them.

Wiping Out the Business Opportunities of a Data Wiper

The 0kilobypt Ransomware isn't the first and is unlikely to become the last case of a Trojan mimicking encryption but causing permanent damage instead of a temporary 'lock.' The GermanWiper Ransomware, the ZeroAdypt Ransomware, and the TotalWipeOut Ransomware are other demonstrations of how taking Trojans at their word can lead to losing money over nothing. While the 0kilobypt Ransomware's family's campaigns are monetization-focused, this limitation doesn't make anything safer about its attacks for the victim's media.

A non-local, secured backup should offer comprehensive recovery for any victims without involving the threat actor or the Trojan's business model. Concerning any infection exploits at play, malware experts suspect the use of fake software updates on corrupted websites or illicit content-themed torrents, such as game cracks. It also is possible that the 0kilobypt Ransomware might arrive through disguised e-mail attachments or use browser-exploiting packages like the RIG Exploit Kit.

Safe users can correct all of the above vulnerabilities and risks, such as deactivating features like JavaScript and avoiding unsafe downloads. They also can take advantage of anti-malware programs for making deleting the 0kilobypt Ransomware an efficient and secure process.

The 0kilobypt Ransomware is the most extreme example of a ransom-at-digital-gunpoint way of doing business. When one asks whether paying a criminal is safe, a helpful followup question is 'Is there any benefit to doing so?'