Arestocrat Virus

Posted: June 4, 2013

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:	1/10
Infected PCs:	65

First Seen:	June 4, 2013
Last Seen:	February 2, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Arestocrat Virus is an upgraded variant of the ransomware Trojan that's responsible for generating the United States Department of Justice Pop-up Alert, which is itself, based on earlier forms of European ransomware Trojans. Other than the addition of a new pop-up that displays prior to the main Department of Justice alert, the Arestocrat Virus doesn't show any major differentiations from its ancestors, and SpywareRemove.com malware experts still suggest the usual methods of disabling and removing the Arestocrat Virus that they would recommend for most kinds of ransomware Trojans. In no circumstance should you ever pay the fine that Arestocrat Virus requests or assume that its accusations of criminal activities related to your computer hold any accuracy whatsoever – the Arestocrat Virus is incapable of detecting such crimes and isn't linked to the Department of Justice in any way.

The Arestocrat Virus: Not Exactly a King Among Trojans

The Arestocrat Virus is a very recent addition to the ever-increasing category of ransomware-based Trojans, and issues the usual threats about your PC being used for child pornography-related activities, downloading copyright-protected content, etc. The Arestocrat Virus's attacks are confirmed to have compatibility with Windows 7 systems, as well as other versions of Windows, and have been an active malware campaign since at least March 2013. Because the Arestocrat Virus's attacks are fairly generic for its type of PC threat, SpywareRemove.com malware experts easily can point to very similar types of ransomware Trojans, such as the FBI Green Dot Moneypak Virus, the United States Department of Justice Pop-up Alert, the Federal Department of Justice and Police Virus, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Virus, Police Central e-crime Unit (PCEU) Ransomware and the 'Metropolitan Police Ukash Virus.

In fact, the only symptom to separate the Arestocrat Virus from other ransomware Trojans is its brief implementation of an 'Arestocrat' pop-up, which displays before the primary ransomware attack. The main ransomware attack, as usual, asks you to pay a fee to the authorities to unlock your computer, and claims to have legally blocked your PC as a penalty for a series of online crimes. However, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers stress the importance of understanding that the Arestocrat Virus is not affiliated with any nation's law enforcement agency and does not have the ability to detect crimes on your computer. The bluff's only purpose, therefore, is to frighten its victims into paying an Arestocrat Virus's ransom.

Humbling a Not-So-Noble Arestocrat Virus

Since the Arestocrat Virus blocks your ability to launch most other applications, working around the Arestocrat Virus' software-blocking attack and pop-up should be your initial worry. From long experience with similar system-barricading PC threats, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts can recommend booting into Safe Mode, using a dual-boot setup or booting from any USB flash drive to resolve this seemingly insurmountable barrier.

With Arestocrat Virus's blockade out of the way, most anti-malware applications should be capable of removing the Arestocrat Virus in perfect safety. Since the Arestocrat Virus is a newer variant of preexisting forms of Police Ransomware Trojans, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers do suggest making certain that all anti-malware tools being used are operating from the most recently-updated threat databases as is possible to acquire.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

ubersearch.co