Dishwasher Ransomware

The Dishwasher Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan without a known family. The Dishwasher Ransomware can block the user's files, create pop-ups, and make other system changes, including potentially altering Internet settings through the Registry. Users should keep backups for recovering any digital media and let their anti-malware solutions delete the Dishwasher Ransomware as a danger to their computers.

Washing Your Files with Extra-Encrypting Soap

A file-locking Trojan that could be either a programming test, a prank, or the start of an extortion campaign is finding itself in the nets of the cyber-security industry. The Dishwasher Ransomware, a .NET Framework-based Windows program, uses encryption attacks for blocking content and creates pop-ups while doing so. Although its symptoms aren't unusual, what it's missing is crucial: the unlocking feature.

The Dishwasher Ransomware isn't a part of either a 'free' family such as EDA2 or a Ransomware-as-a-Service like the Asia-ravaging STOP Ransomware. It does, however, target the same, Windows environments, as most of its competition in that industry. After compromising the computer, the Dishwasher Ransomware establishes various Registry changes and starts encrypting files to keep them from opening.

The Dishwasher Ransomware uses the extension 'clean' for labeling these files, which is in keeping with the executable's 'dishwasher' theme. It also creates a unique pop-up window with a decryption UI and drops a currently-unused JPG picture into a temporary folder (possibly, for use as a wallpaper or ransom note element). While malware researchers confirm the unlocking button's non-functionality, the Dishwasher Ransomware does create a 'dump.key' file that contains encryption information related to the user's data that could be invaluable for an unlocking solution.

All versions of the Dishwasher Ransomware that malware researchers can see are in partial development, with features incomplete or missing. They can, despite this impediment, verify the Dishwasher Ransomware's having other attacks, such as changing Web-browsing and proxy settings through the Registry. Most users should avoid correcting these issues without guidance from an appropriate security expert – since inappropriate Registry changes can damage programs, including Windows, itself.

Washing Your Hands Off the Dishwasher Ransomware

For the moment, the Dishwasher Ransomware doesn't erase the Windows Restore Points, which provides a possible solution to any damage it causes. Future updates are very likely to cover over this weakness, and most users shouldn't depend solely on that feature for saving their media. Documents, images, and similar content should have another backup on a secured device that the Dishwasher Ransomware, and other Trojans of its type, can't attack.

Any infection strategies for the Dishwasher Ransomware are theoretical ones strictly, for now. Threat actors may introduce Trojans of this type to a server that hasn't secured its RDP settings or is using a brute-force-weak password. Users also could bring attacks upon themselves by downloading torrents or browsing the Web on sites using Web scripts. E-mail is a third, and especially likely option for business entities.

With a majority of anti-malware vendors identifying this Trojan as a danger, most security products threat removal features should delete the Dishwasher Ransomware immediately.

There's nothing hygienic about encryption happening automatically, and an unusable file isn't any cleaner than a working one. Just as one shouldn't hire a dishwasher off the street, one shouldn't download corrupted files without double-checking them for lurking problems like a Dishwasher Ransomware installer.