KratosCrypt Ransomware

Posted: June 27, 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.

Ranking:	13,512
Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	953

First Seen:	June 27, 2016
Last Seen:	October 8, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The KratosCrypt Ransomware is a variant of Hidden Tear, an open source file encryptor. Symptoms expected in any the KratosCrypt Ransomware infection includes changes to your file's names, being unable to open the encrypted content, and the presence of HTML messages asking for ransom money. The PC security sector has software-based solutions both for removing the KratosCrypt Ransomware and undoing the effects of its attacks, which is why malware researchers urge against spending your money on its ransom.

Tearing a New Variant Off of Old Trojans

Open source code is the preferred resource for many developers who are building off of previous foundations of knowledge to create new applications quickly. However, a threat author also can make productive use of such information as is especially evident with the Hidden Tear project. This baseline of code has been responsible for a small fountain of modern threats, including the KimcilWare Ransomware, the 8lock8 Ransomware and the GhostCrypt Ransomware. the KratosCrypt Ransomware is one of the recent additions to this pseudo-family.

By and large, the KratosCrypt Ransomware's symptoms fall within the standards malware analysts see with previous 'Hidden Tear' Trojans. Aftereffects of a KratosCrypt Ransomware attack will include:

Media is sent through an AES-based encryption algorithm, causing the associated files to be unreadable.
Each file experiencing this attack also is appended with a new extension, the '.kratos' tag, which does not overwrite the original extension.
The KratosCrypt Ransomware requires a working network connection to contact pastebin.com for its final symptom: downloading and displaying a Web page-based ransom message. Current samples of the KratosCrypt Ransomware use this message for identifying themselves by name and ask for data decryption fees of 0.03 Bitcoins (or nineteen US dollars).

Pulling the Simple Solution to the KratosCrypt Ransomware out of Hiding

Using open source code is a tactic that many threat authors turn to when they lack the talent to write their Trojans from the ground up. This crutch, in its turn, often gives PC security researchers viable starting points for creating both accurate identification entries and other security solutions. Malware researchers are pleased to note that previous anti-Hidden Tear solutions, such as the Hidden Tear Decryptor, continue being viable resources for reversing all encryption-related effects of the KratosCrypt Ransomware infections.

The potential variations of this open source threat make most installation vectors especially unpredictable. In 2016, corrupted file encryption campaigns clearly have favored e-mail infection methods, such as disguising Trojan installers as invoice attachments, although not to the point of avoiding alternatives entirely. Malware researchers recommend using anti-malware tools to scan any suspicious files before opening them, even when they seem to be using non-executable formats (such as documents that can include corrupted macros).

The security sector already has developed ample solutions to the KratosCrypt Ransomware, both with limiting its attacks and removing the KratosCrypt Ransomware from any PC. It still is up to the PC's user to take these precautions, or other solutions, such as backups, for bypassing conventional ransom-based attacks. Clearly, the KratosCrypt Ransomware and other 'Hidden Tear' threats are nowhere near ceasing development in 2016.

KratosCrypt Ransomware

Threat Metric

Tearing a New Variant Off of Old Trojans

Pulling the Simple Solution to the KratosCrypt Ransomware out of Hiding

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