Error Ransomware

Posted: August 20, 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:	96

First Seen:	August 20, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The ERROR Ransomware is a variant of the CryptMix Ransomware family with an updated ransom note and changes to the names of any media it blocks. Malware analysts still recognize non-consensual encryption and the accompanying loss of file data, as the primary risk of this threat, which also may cause symptoms related to disabling the Windows security features. Keeping backups or using free decryption software are both working strategies for undoing the effects of an infection, although you always should have your anti-malware programs block or delete the ERROR Ransomware as needed.

The New File Errors of Unknown Cost

The CryptoMix or CryptMix Ransomware family still is growing and, with continuing trends, may compete with the likes of Hidden Tear and the Globe Ransomware for proliferation eventually. Unlike many of the Trojan samples malware experts examine, the ERROR Ransomware isn't a partially-built or unfinished threat, and its campaign does appear to be in the public deployment phase. The Trojan uses slightly updated ransoming components and can block the victim's files automatically, even without a network connection.

The ERROR Ransomware encrypts files on the compromised PC with an AES-based cipher and protects the key with the RSA encoding. The entire name of each locked file also is encoded, making it resemble a string of seemingly random alphanumeric characters, while '.ERROR' replaces the default extension. The ERROR Ransomware also creates a new text message with limited data other than asking the victims to contact the threat actor's e-mail for help with recovering their files (presumably, at a cost in Bitcoins or another cryptocurrency).

Equally significant, but easier to miss features that malware analysts confirm with its payload include:

The ERROR Ransomware can erase the Shadow Copies that Windows stores for default data backup and recovery.
The ERROR Ransomware closes processes related to potentially interfering Windows security features automatically, such as Windows Defender.
The ERROR Ransomware changes the startup policy settings not to display error messages during boot-up, to suppress symptoms of its installation apparently.

Storing Your Files for Freshness against Old Mixes of Trojans

The ERROR Ransomware is not yet compatible with the available decryption programs that different entities in the PC security sector provide for no charge currently. While victims may upload samples of quarantined ERROR Ransomware files to appropriate researchers out of hope for a breakthrough in the decoding process, they should refrain from being too reliant on decryption. Malware researchers find more guaranteed data restoration strategies through saving backups to remote drives and cloud servers consistently, which threats like the ERROR Ransomware have more difficulty attacking.

Besides disabling Windows features that should be active, the symptoms of the ERROR Ransomware's attacks while it's encrypting your files can be limited. Users should have anti-malware protection to delete the ERROR Ransomware before its payload can finish, and maintain their alertness around infection vectors like email attachments and websites that use potentially corrupted scripts. Previous attacks from threats like the ERROR Ransomware often use infection strategies that hide their installers as content such as invoices or work-related documents.

Data-locking campaigns like the ERROR Ransomware, which need no more than a few minutes of effort for updating, only will stop when it's no longer profitable to wage them. Individuals can do their parts by making sure to backup everything worth paying for on their hard drives, instead of assuming that a cure-all for threats like the ERROR Ransomware always is available.

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:

file.exe

File name: file.exe
Size: 241.15 KB (241152 bytes)
MD5: 447ce7e1ec662d31053dd31705558156
Detection count: 4
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 20, 2017