KoKo Locker Ransomware

Posted: December 26, 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:	12

First Seen:	December 26, 2016
Last Seen:	August 17, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts your files to block them and asks you to pay to recover them within a time limit. Until third parties can host appropriate decryption software, malware researchers encourage making backups that can let you recover from any file damage without needing to reverse-engineer the encryption process. High-quality anti-malware products also may quarantine or uninstall the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware without letting it complete its file-locking function.

The New Bird that's the Word in Threats

The people designing or renting threatening software often lean on social engineering-based manipulations for provoking a wanted response from a victim. Although such cases make up the majority of file-encrypting Trojan campaigns, malware analysts sometimes see Trojan admins using more whimsical brand ideas. The 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware, as a recent example, is threatening software supposedly named after its administrator's pet parrot.

The 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware, like most threats of its category, uses attacks targeting English speakers by extorting money after blocking specific types of data. Content that the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware may quarantine includes documents, images (JPG, GIF, PNG), audio, or spreadsheets, among others. The encryption procedure guarantees that all data that the Trojan targets is unreadable until you decrypt them individually, which requires the key that the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware generates.

Malware analysts also observe a ransoming message-based feature in the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware's payload that resembles those of other campaigns this week. The use of an advanced HTML pop-up lets the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware embed its Bitcoin-paying ransoming process into the same window as its time-limited demands. The 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware claims to delete the decryption code if a seventy-eight-hour timer expires, although malware analysts have yet to confirm the functionality as being built-in.

Quieting a Cyber Parrot's Squawks for Money

The 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware's threat actor is reliant on installing the Trojan through fake Windows updates currently, which he may be circulating on compromised ad networks or corrupted websites. Many anti-malware products should include browser security features for detecting any drive-by-downloads harboring the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware, and, as always, refusing Windows updates from non-Microsoft domains always is commendable for your PC's safety. PC users without backups may or may not be able to recover their data through the premium decryption solution the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware provides.

Symptoms of the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware infections are easily identifiable pop-up warnings and the appearance of '.kokolocker' extensions on the filenames of all encrypted data. Since both symptoms occur after the Trojan locks your files, malware analysts encourage using anti-malware products that may block the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware and remove it before the attack's occurrence.

While the 'KoKo Locker' Ransomware has a ransom price of under one hundred USD value, the use of Bitcoins guarantees that its author faces no penalties for refusing to provide his help, even after getting the payment. For some PC owners, the punishment for not taking care of their files may be more than just having less money, as campaigns like this one continue demonstrating.

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: 40.96 KB (40960 bytes)
MD5: dbac4f4e6c9ef15ccda593ced4408b17
Detection count: 79
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 17, 2022