'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware

Posted: December 14, 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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	148

First Seen:	December 14, 2016
Last Seen:	August 23, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts your files and stores them in a compressed archive to block you from using them. Dropped text messages also encourage its victims to communicate with its threat actor for the probable purpose of paying a ransom. Besides backing up your data to make it unnecessary to decrypt it, you also can protect yourself by scanning incoming files to delete the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware before it scans your computer.

Trojans Bundling Up All of Spain's Files with Love

Most file-encrypting Trojans operate via a predictable format that includes encoding data in specific locations while adding visually-identifiable tags, and, then, creating a ransom note. However, this payload methodology is as much a convention of convenience as anything else, and some threat actors can choose to implement their attacks differently. The 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware exemplifies a way Trojan attacks can differentiate themselves from the 'competition,' by using data-compressing features in its attacks.

While malware analysts do verify multiple cases of the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware operating in the wild, its campaign appears to target Spanish-based traffic. Whether it's using proactive e-mail spam or more passive measures, such as a watering hole exploit on a Spain-oriented website, the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware installs itself automatically.

The 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's attacks include both encrypting your files (documents, spreadsheets, etc.) and compressing them. It moves all encrypted content into a single archive ('BACKUP DONT DELETE') with the extension removed to prevent the victim from identifying the format. Since malware experts find minimal cases of the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware excluding content from its encryption sweep, the resulting 'storage container' can have a size ranging from megabytes to gigabytes, depending on the amount of data on your hard drive.

Keeping Your Files out of a Cage of Love

Since most decryption research relies on individual 'before' and 'after' samples of encoded data, the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's compression throws an additional impediment in the way of any third-party security investigation. Data recovery is optimally achievable through backups that you save in locations not vulnerable to the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's scans, such as a removable USB device. Alternately, a victim can take the risk of paying the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's ransom, although malware analysts warn of high failure rates with these transactions.

Scanning downloads and avoiding downloads from often-compromised resources, such as pirated software networks, can limit the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's easiest infection methods. Spanish PC users should be especially cautious regarding any potentially threatening content, although the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's ransom messages do use English text. Professional anti-malware tools, particularly if using their latest database updates, should eliminate the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware before it begins attacking your files.

Innovations in Trojan payloads may slow the rate by which PC security researchers can offer solutions. However, the 'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware's greatest vulnerability is before its installation, and safe Web-browsing behavior can put up a substantial defense against this threat's campaign.

'Love.server@mail.ru' Ransomware

Threat Metric

Trojans Bundling Up All of Spain's Files with Love

Keeping Your Files out of a Cage of Love

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