BlackMist Ransomware

Posted: September 29, 2017

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:	10/10
Infected PCs:	12

First Seen:	September 29, 2017
Last Seen:	August 17, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The BlackMist Ransomware is a Trojan that locks your files with the AES encryption so that it can force its victims to pay Bitcoin fees for restoring them. Decrypting media with free software is sometimes possible, but most users with valuable data at risk should protect it by storing backups that this Trojan can't affect. Recommended responses to an infection include having anti-malware programs detecting and removing the BlackMist Ransomware as soon as possible before implementing any other solutions regarding unlocking your files.

The Shaky Testing Grounds of Extortionist Software

As of the last week of the month, a new Trojan with prospects for damaging and locking files is under inspection by malware researchers. The BlackMist Ransomware's status is only complete partially, with a limited payload that attacks just one folder on the user's desktop. Current builds of the BlackMist Ransomware also self-terminate without concluding their attacks. However, even its half-built release shows the substructure of a Trojan campaign for taking your PC's media captive in return for money.

The BlackMist Ransomware includes an encryption attack that can encode files in any directory accessible from the infected PC, although the Trojan's author is limiting current builds to impacting a desktop profile folder. Although malware experts find no initial symptoms associated with this feature's search and AES encoding functions, the BlackMist Ransomware does insert '.blackmist' extensions onto the names of all locked content, afterward.

The BlackMist Ransomware also includes a pseudo-unique, screen-locking feature with a new ransom message that malware experts have not seen in deployment with other Trojans. The Trojan maximizes this window to lock the screen and delivers demands for 100 USD in Bitcoins to the threat actor's wallet. While the text also claims that the BlackMist Ransomware may delete the entire operating system, the BlackMist Ransomware has yet to display any legitimate, disk-wiper properties that would allow it to cause this level of damage.

Clearing Up the Murky Weather in Your File Directory

Thanks to its bad code contributing to crashes that prevent all of its features from fully loading, the last samples of the BlackMist Ransomware's executable are of minimal danger to any victims. Its threat actor also will need to make other changes for broadening the parameters of its encryption attack, for this Trojan to be a significant danger to any victims in a live environment. However, malware experts caution that such changes could take place at any time and without much development work from the author. The BlackMist Ransomware is not a member of previously-noted families of similar Trojans, such as the Globe Ransomware or Hidden Tear, and may not be compatible with any freeware decryption tools.

As an in-progress Trojan campaign that's in its earliest stages, malware experts can't confirm that the BlackMist Ransomware's installation exploits will use already-known vulnerabilities, like email attachments or brute-force attacks. Users with a BlackMist Ransomware infection should restart their PCs with protocols for preventing the Trojan from re-launching and blocking their screens again automatically. Most, conventional operating systems, including Windows, provide Safe Mode or similar startup menu-based features for such purposes. After you regain access to the user interface, let your anti-malware products quarantine or delete the BlackMist Ransomware before trying to restore any encoded media.

The BlackMist Ransomware may be taking only its tentative, first steps, but a coding a program that encrypts automatically isn't significantly harder than snatching a purse out of a pedestrian's hands. However, backups, security updates and the presence of anti-malware products all can contribute to making your files harder to target than they're worth to a con artist.

Technical Details

File System Modifications

Tutorials: If you wish to learn how to remove malware components manually, you can read the tutorials on how to find malware, kill unwanted processes, remove malicious DLLs and delete other harmful files. Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.

The following files were created in the system:

dir\name.exe

File name: name.exe
Size: 1.7 MB (1709056 bytes)
MD5: 0bd3c20690a758eab3830a41e10a6578
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: dir
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 17, 2022