Hollycrypt Ransomware

Posted: November 7, 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:	5

First Seen:	November 7, 2016
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Hollycrypt Ransomware is a file-encryption Trojan: a threat that encodes your files to block you from using them. Its attacks include generating extortionist messages offering help with decrypting your media, although malware experts always advise taking other recovery options when they're available. If your anti-malware software is updated regularly, it should detect and delete the Hollycrypt Ransomware before any encryption occurs.

A Trojan with a Taste for Drink

With programming continuing to be a life skill that requires long-term dedication and a certain amount of natural inclination, threat actors often look for ways to avoid the 'hard work' of coding their threats. Readers can see evidence of such activity with many of the samples malware experts identify based off of prior families and code projects, including the different versions of Hidden Tear. The Hollycrypt Ransomware is one of the newest Hidden Tear-based Trojans, with a payload remaining oriented towards blocking data for the sake of extorting money.

The Hollycrypt Ransomware uses what most likely remains the same AES-based algorithm for encrypting your hard drive's media, such as documents while avoiding components required by the Windows OS. The Trojan appends a '.Hollycrypt' extension to the end of their names, helping you detect which files it's blocking.

The Hollycrypt Ransomware's other function of any significance is its ransoming message generator, which creates Notepad files (with the name 'Read_this_shit.txt') on your desktop. The instructions ask for 'some bitcoins or vodka' for assisting with your data recovery and include no additional details besides the threat actor's e-mail address. Although the unprofessional tone of the extortion message, and the author's use of a public e-mail account, makes the Hollycrypt Ransomware the likely work of an amateur, the Trojan retains all of the file-encrypting capabilities of any Hidden Tear program.

The Hollycrypt Ransomware Antidote that will not Cost a Thing

One of the dangers of encryption as a technology is its capacity for abuse by con artists who have no significant programming experience. Even though the PC security sector has developed decryption utilities intended for restoring data subjected to Hidden Tear-based ciphering, decryption isn't always a practical possibility. Giving reputable security researchers samples of the Hollycrypt Ransomware, along with copies of non-encrypted and encrypted files, may help speed the development of decryptor updates against this Trojan and others like it.

When decryption is unavailable, data restoration still may be possible for PC owners protecting their content with backups. Many threats of this classification will erase Windows restore points and shadow volume copies, but fewer will target your cloud storage or peripherals. Outside of any recovery options you consider appropriate, always use a designated anti-malware product to uninstall the Hollycrypt Ransomware and stop any further attacks.

As a source of code available to the general public, Hidden Tear, clearly, is going nowhere, which means that Trojans like the Hollycrypt Ransomware are also likely to retain indefinite positions as part of the harmful software industry.

Hollycrypt Ransomware

Threat Metric

A Trojan with a Taste for Drink

The Hollycrypt Ransomware Antidote that will not Cost a Thing

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