Copa Ransomware

The Copa Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan from the family of the STOP Ransomware, a Ransomware-as-a-Service. The Copa Ransomware can wipe backups while blocking files with encryption so that the victim pays a ransom for their recovery. Appropriately-secured backups will circumvent this extortion scenario, and most users should remove the Copa Ransomware through dedicated Windows anti-malware tools.

The Trojans that Always are in Season

Ransomware-as-a-Services may wax and wane in importance and favor, but some RaaSes retain a long-term position in the dark Web. Thanks to its low skill barrier to entry and affordability, the STOP Ransomware's family is one of these persistent RaaSes, with new cases caught in threat databases or reported by new victims weekly. The Copa Ransomware operates as another 'update' or variant of the business with little updated but a new brand name for endangering Windows users' files.

The Copa Ransomware's name might come from Portuguese. However, it bears minimal geotargeting significance, given that most versions of its family use random titles of four characters (such as the Djvu Ransomware, the Kolz Ransomware, the Kvag Ransomware or the Vari Ransomware). The Windows Trojan sets up persistent through non-consensual Registry changes after its introduction through various, possible exploits. Of the more likely latter attacks, malware experts point to e-mail attachments or obfuscated links, torrents, and the brute-force hacking of server admin accounts being very probable.

The more crucial features of the Copa Ransomware include:

• The Copa Ransomware searches for digital media files and encrypts them with a secure routine that can use either a network-downloaded or offline, internal key. Users can best identify any non-opening, encrypted files by searching for the Trojan's particular extension addition, such as the 'copa' of the Copa Ransomware.
• The Copa Ransomware issues a system command securely that deletes backups associated with the Windows Restore Points automatically.
• The Copa Ransomware can terminate some security features that would interfere with the payload, such as the Windows Defender.
• Victims may see additional text messages that use the traditional STOP Ransomware template. These instructions ask for a ransom of hundreds of dollars and give a short deadline before the cost rises.

Paying the ransom has non-negligible risks for any 'customers.' Buying a decryption service from the threat actor may return corrupt data, additional attacks or no reply at all. In general, malware experts discourage it and recommend creating extra copies of any files due to receive decryption.

Turning the Clock Forward on Trojans Trading Data for Money

A database leak resulted in a free decryption service that can undo the impact of many file-locker Trojans from the Copa Ransomware's family. This cure, unfortunately, isn't available for the recent updates from 2020. Users should keep any documents, pictures, and other irreplaceable files backed up to servers or storage devices that can't experience these attacks, whether due to credential requirements or air-gap security.

As a rule of thumb, malware researchers also recommend that users at home or the workplace monitor their e-mail for attacks, which could include attachments imitating invoices, printer alerts, internal office communications, etc. Some users also may compromise their PCs after downloading illicit content like game cracks, which is a preferred method among some threat actors who use the STOP Ransomware RaaS. However, Ransomware-as-a-Services have a high potential for flexibility of exploits.

Reliable anti-malware programs should identify many Ransomware-as-a-Service families. These products display high effectiveness against the STOP Ransomware variants currently and are ideal for uninstalling the Copa Ransomware and similar threats.

Among so many Trojans, just like it, the Copa Ransomware might not raise eyebrows, but its activity is a signpost of the profit remaining in the Ransomware-as-a-Service sector. Those who forget to take the right safeguards for their data in Windows can, all too readily, find themselves becoming just another statistic.