Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware

Posted: April 6, 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:	9

First Seen:	April 6, 2017
Last Seen:	October 18, 2020
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware is a Trojan that takes your files hostage by encrypting them with an AES-256 algorithm. The Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware asks its victims to pay a Bitcoin ransom to have their media decoded, although such payments may not induce any provision of a working recovery solution. Backups and free decryption efforts from trustworthy anti-malware researchers may restore your files, although you always should try to detect and remove the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware before it attacks.

The Updates with Results You wouldn't Expect

Hiding until it can deliver the full impact of its payload is a priority for most Trojans, although their disguises can take a variety of formats. One Trojan campaign malware experts are just beginning to analyze in depth uses two methods of concealing itself temporarily, after which it can take your files hostage and withhold them for ransoms. This threat, the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware, offers easily configurable options in its end-of-file data, and its authors even chose to use disposable e-mail addresses.

As per its name, the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware's core executable mislabels itself as an update service for the Microsoft's Windows OS. Since some samples of the Trojan also use incorrect extensions implying that they're text documents for financial data, malware experts can point to e-mail spam as being a highly likely means of propagation. After the installation, the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware searches all drives for over six hundred formats of data, including many major types of media. The Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware encrypts and locks any appropriate files with an AES algorithm using the ECB mode and a 256-bit size key.

The Trojan also contacts a C&C server to upload the system and attack data, including the victims' identifying code and the key for deciphering their encrypted media. One of its last symptoms launches a pop-up window asking for 0.02 Bitcoins to give you the decryption code and unlock the files.

Transitioning from Cheap to Free File Salvaging

The Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware asks for under thirty US dollars in cryptocurrency, a sum that makes it clear that its threat actors only are comfortable attacking recreational users, rather than corporate entities. However, surveys of all samples from malware experts have determined that the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware is at high probability for being decryptable without any help from its threat actors. Contact trustworthy anti-malware industry analysts for decryption aid, if you need it, or use backups to overwrite the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware's locked files.

This Trojan is a possible relative of the also new GX40 Ransomware. E-mail spam, exploit kits, inadequately cautious Remote Desktop settings, and even torrent downloads all are sources of file encryptors like these threats. A robust and updated anti-malware solution can block them at their installation points, and deleting the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware after an attack always presents a gamble with the integrity of your files.

A filename is as much a point for deception as any other data you might glean from a download. PC users too eager to do what a file tells them to do by default always will be potentially vulnerable targets for attacks like the Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware campaign.

Fake WindowsUpdater Ransomware

Threat Metric

The Updates with Results You wouldn't Expect

Transitioning from Cheap to Free File Salvaging

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