iLock Ransomware

Posted: January 10, 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.

Ranking:	17,340
Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	17,477

First Seen:	January 10, 2017
Last Seen:	August 23, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The iLock Ransomware (also aliased as Lortok or the iLockLight) is a Trojan that encrypts your files to block them from being used and profits off of selling the decryption service back to its victims. Although malware analysts can't vouch for the veracity of the iLock Ransomware's threat actors or their decryptor, they recommend that PC users with invaluable data keep backups to make the offer of decryption irrelevant. Many brands of anti-malware solutions also have high detection rates against this threat that should let them delete the iLock Ransomware automatically.

Problems from Russia Spreading Abroad

For the threat industry, Russia has a somewhat unique position. Although the origins of various Trojan campaigns often tie into that region, most threat actors explicitly 'filter out' Russian victims, as a form of localized legal protection for their activities. In 2016, the iLock Ransomware began to break this soft rule to no apparent purpose besides the same as other file-encrypting threats: collecting ransom money by stopping victims from accessing their files. However, malware experts see what may be new versions of this Trojan targeting other regions in 2017.

The iLock Ransomware uses the same, basic techniques as other Trojans in its category: searching for data on your PC, filtering it by extension or directory, and encrypting it with an AES-256 algorithm. The Trojan may drop different Web page-based ransoming messages on your PC, with earlier variants using Russian, while newer versions use English. In all cases, the contents of the messages direct you to the iLock Ransomware's website payment-processing infrastructure via the Tor Browser.

The iLock Ransomware's threat actors also include a 'live chat' feature for any negotiations, reminiscent of the PadCrypt Ransomware. The feature also may be meant as a backup for the rest of the website service, which is down currently.

Unlocking a Lock that's No Longer Limited by National Borders

The past year experienced the iLock Ransomware attacks adhering strictly to Russian targets, which is an unusual reversal of typical threat deployments. However, the recent updates to the iLock Ransomware incorporating English content are indicative of its threat actors moving to compromise such regions as Europe and the Americas. Because this Trojan has no existing, free decryption application, victims without adequately protected backups may have no alternative but to pay the ransom and accept the risks entailed with it, or lose all documents, images and other media.

The only extension malware experts verify as in use for the iLock Ransomware is the '.crime' tag, which it adds to newly-encrypted files. However, since this Trojan has shown new variants, changes to any extensions also can be anticipated. In all cases, preventing the infection and removing the iLock Ransomware with anti-malware products is preferable to noticing the symptoms and having to deal with the consequential file damage.

National borders and other, legal boundaries often are more nebulous on the Web than they are in real-world geography. Assuming that your living space makes you invulnerable to threats like the iLock Ransomware is a mistake that you may only make once before losing your files for it.

iLock Ransomware

Threat Metric

Problems from Russia Spreading Abroad

Unlocking a Lock that's No Longer Limited by National Borders

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