HDD Encrypt Ransomware

Posted: September 15, 2016

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:	67

First Seen:	September 15, 2016
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The HDD Encrypt Ransomware, also detected as Mamba, is a Trojan that encrypts your PC's data at the disk level instead of isolating individual files. Because these attacks block you from both your information and your operating system, alternate system boot-up strategies may be mandatory for restoring the affected machine. When prescriptive security steps can't prevent an infection, use your anti-malware products for identifying and deleting the HDD Encrypt Ransomware before it can complete its attacks.

When the First Thing Your PC Boots to is an Extortion Message

The clear majority of file encrypting Trojans to date focus on targeting relatively small numbers of files, most often of specific data types and saved in very particular locations. This technique lets con artists cause the most damage to a victim in the least amount of time (such as by encrypting work documents), while also guaranteeing the rest of the PC's overall stability. However, some threat authors choose a broad-sweeping method of data encryption. Malware experts see this philosophy at work with the Petya Ransomware and, as of August, the HDD Encrypt Ransomware.

Details of the HDD Encrypt Ransomware's infiltration methods are yet to be revealed, although its campaigns seem to generate minor variants of the Trojan for business entities with significant server infrastructure. Information unique to each scenario, such as the victim ID, most likely is hard-coded in the HDD Encrypt Ransomware's ransom message. For now, the files associated with this threat follow a numerical naming pattern, such as '141.exe' or '152.exe.'

Unlike the Petya Ransomware, the HDD Encrypt Ransomware uses a third-party program, DiskCryptor, for encrypting the disk. It also creates a new Windows user account. The next system restart loads the HDD Encrypt Ransomware's ransom message, instead of the Windows OS, which asks you to contact the con artists for a decryption key. The payments currently run at one Bitcoin (six hundred USD) per infected machine.

The Ideal Anti-Venom for a Trojan's Bite

Based on the contents of their associated Bitcoin wallet, the HDD Encrypt Ransomware's authors seem to have been collecting at least five ransom payments, so far. The observable operating methodology and choices of targets in this Trojan's campaign make it likely that corporations are being compromised by brute force attacks or e-mail infection vectors, with its threat actors exploiting any relevant network vulnerabilities for giving the HDD Encrypt Ransomware access to as many servers as possible.

An individual PC's compromise requires booting in a way that bypasses the Master Boot Record modifications made by the HDD Encrypt Ransomware, such as by booting from a removable USB device or DVD. Since no decryption solutions yet exist for the HDD Encrypt Ransomware, besides paying its ransom and hoping its con artists deliver their side of the transaction, there may be no recovery options for any encrypted data.

Network security almost always is at fault for allowing threats like the HDD Encrypt Ransomware to gain a position for damaging a company or individual's files. Keep accounts protected with complex, rotating passwords, and use anti-malware tools for scanning all incoming e-mail attachments to remove the HDD Encrypt Ransomware before it can turn into a problem for the most essential of Windows components.

HDD Encrypt Ransomware

Threat Metric

When the First Thing Your PC Boots to is an Extortion Message

The Ideal Anti-Venom for a Trojan's Bite

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