Kappa Ransomware

Posted: August 21, 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:	34

First Seen:	August 21, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Kappa Ransomware is a version of Hidden Tear based on the OXAR Ransomware branch. Its attacks can encrypt media on the victim's C drive, and Windows account folders particularly and create interactive pop-ups asking you to pay money to decrypt them. Other unlocking methods always should be attempted before paying a con artist for data recovery, and most versions of Hidden Tear are compatible with free decryption software. Anti-malware products can help you protect your PC by uninstalling the Kappa Ransomware or blocking this threat when it's installing itself.

Japanese Demons Dragging Your Files in Their River

Despite Hidden Tear's being an easily identified threat with only a few features for attacking a PC, threat actors remain obstinate about using it as a primary basis for the code of their campaigns. One of the newer versions that malware experts have identified appears to a production of the OXAR Ransomware's toolkit, with limited programming knowledge evidenced by the author. The new Trojan in question, the Kappa Ransomware, wields the full encryption capabilities of the HT family, but also comes with drawbacks that could help victims circumvent the file damage.

The Japanese mythology-named the Kappa Ransomware is a .NET Framework Trojan that can install itself within most Windows environments. When running, the Trojan tries to encrypt all media on the victim's PC, using a white list format for attacking content such as documents, pictures or databases. Malware experts can confirm a hard-coded configuration setting in this attack that prevents the Kappa Ransomware's attack from working, if the Windows OS is on a drive other than C. If it does succeed, you can identify the encrypted and locked media by the '.OXR' extensions the Kappa Ransomware adds to their names.

The Kappa Ransomware also includes some basic C&C networking communications for transmitting infection statistics and can generate an HTA pop-up. This window displays the threat actor's ransoming demands for helping you recover your files: a set amount of Bitcoins to transfer to the provided wallet address. Current builds of the Kappa Ransomware contain 'placeholder' data for these fields, depriving any victims of the ability to pay for decryption, even though the encryption feature is working.

Stopping Your Files from Turning into Drowned Rats

Japan's kappa demon is sometimes a whimsical piece of imagery but sees use in warning signs about the dangers of swimming in unsafe areas typically. Similarly, the Kappa Ransomware, while being based on one of the least sophisticated families of file-encrypting threats, is no less capable than more advanced Trojans of causing file damage that can be difficult or impossible to cure. Since encryption ciphers aren't always breakable, all PC users should protect their media by backing it up to a safe place that Trojans can't compromise. Freeware decryption software for the Hidden Tear family also may provide possible recovery options for the Kappa Ransomware's victims.

Malware analysts can only confirm in-development builds of the Kappa Ransomware and see no current use of infection vectors for distributing it. Threat actors often prefer attaching installers for threats like the Kappa Ransomware to spam e-mails, although other techniques, from bundled torrents to exploit kits and brute-force attacks, also are possibilities. Like most versions of Hidden Tear, anti-malware programs of major brands are capable of identifying and deleting the Kappa Ransomware at any phase of its attempted installation or afterward.

The Kappa Ransomware's threat actor may never return to this project and leave the Trojan as a half-finished piece of threatening software. On the other hand, even a crippled Kappa Ransomware is a genuine file encryptor, which may make a case for the value of avoiding the default locations for your Windows installations.

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: 266.75 KB (266752 bytes)
MD5: b674fd0512212b07a1dd529622d5d6f5
Detection count: 60
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 23, 2017