Azor Ransomware

The Azor Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan that's a part of the GarrantyDecrypt Ransomware family. As usual, infections can result in losing access to digital media, including documents, and leaves ransom notes promoting questionable decryption service. All users may remove the Azor Ransomware safely with appropriate anti-malware programs, and server administrators should remain vigilant against traditional vulnerabilities.

A Lesson in Ransoms Paid in Vain

Outcroppings of smaller Ransomware-as-a-Services and equivalent Trojan families aren't as widely-prolific as, for instance, the standard variant of the Dharma Ransomware. But for owners of infected PCs, they're just as problematic – and, with the Azor Ransomware, even more than usual. This threat is one of many file-locking Trojans that gathers ransom money after blocking files but doesn't deliver on the skeleton key for unlocking that media afterward.

Victims of the Windows-based Azor Ransomware are, so far, server owners using vulnerable configurations, such as open RDP or bad login passwords. Like other versions of the family (such as the COSANOSTRA Ransomware, the Cammora Ransomware, the Charmant Ransomware, and the recent Horseleader Ransomware), it targets digital media and encrypts it. This encryption routine impacts various documents, pictures, audio, and other data and prevent it from opening.

The Azor Ransomware sells an unlocking service through a Notepad file that it creates, with malware experts finding no more than minor adjustments to the text from old iterations. However, victims paying the Azor Ransomware's fee download a buggy decryptor, which leaves most blocked files garbled and unreadable, instead of decrypting them back to their old states.

Why Even Free Help from Hackers can be Too Expensive

While malware researchers see criminals giving back bad-faith 'services' regularly, the Azor Ransomware has another point for distinguishing itself from the pack – in a negative way. Its threat actors are using the traditional 'free sample' for a limited number of files' restoration as a lure to trick users into infecting their PCs with additional, unexamined payloads. Victims should avoid taking the no-charge demonstration and be mindful about not opening supposedly restored files that are executable.

Although the Azor Ransomware may circulate through random means like torrents or with the help of a corrupted advertising campaign, server administrators have additional infection vectors worth guarding. Admins should always patch their server software as expediently as possible for taking exploitable vulnerabilities out of any attack scenario. Passwords also are at constant risk from brute-forcing, which could give a hacker access to the victim's account.

Fortunately, the GarrantyDecrypt Ransomware isn't a family defensive or obfuscate aggressively. A dedicated anti-malware program should eliminate the Azor Ransomware even if it can recover the files that it blocks.

A business transaction is as trustworthy as the business involved in it. While the Azor Ransomware looks just like any other Ransomware-as-a-Service, it's taking a shot on its credibility for the sake of ransoms that, hopefully, other victims aren't paying.