LowLevel04 Ransomware

Posted: November 3, 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:	21

First Seen:	November 3, 2016
Last Seen:	July 6, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The LowLevel04 Ransomware is a Trojan that solicits Bitcoin ransoms after blocking your local content through encryption-based attacks. Its remote attackers distribute it directly after gaining access to a network-open system, such as a business server with remote desktop support currently. Using backups, protecting your network systems with secure login credentials, and having anti-malware products for uninstalling the LowLevel04 Ransomware all are essential defenses against this Trojan.

A New Level of Worries for the Workplace

Many threat attacks are traceable back to obvious mistakes ultimately, such as opening fake documents found in e-mail attachments or links. Other cases, however, can be the fault of much more subtle and difficult to identify security issues, such as the mistake of using a slightly too simple password to protect an online PC. As a Trojan whose campaigns are targeting the latter, the LowLevel04 Ransomware demonstrates the importance of intelligent password use.

The LowLevel04 Ransomware, first referenced by the alias of the 'Help recover files.txt' Ransomware' (a reference to its ransom note), is a file-encrypting Trojan spreading through brute-force attacks against business entities in Europe. Malware experts can corroborate multiple attacks against Bulgarian and Greek organizations, all of which seem to have been using weak RDP passwords. Insufficiently complex passwords allowed the remote attacker to gain access to the system and install the LowLevel04 Ransomware, along with collecting additional data.

The LowLevel04 Ransomware uses executables with seemingly non-threatening names like 'date.exe' that it drops into a sub-folder of the user's account directory and then subverts the Windows Task Scheduler for self-launching purposes. A successful attack blocks a range of files, including ones over networks or on removable devices, with an AES encryption algorithm. Victims have the decision of either paying the 4 Bitcoin ransom from its text extortion instructions or trying other recovery tactics.

Getting Up a Level against the LowLevel04 Ransomware

Although e-mail, still, is the most prominent infection vector for a majority of file-encrypting Trojans, the LowLevel04 Ransomware isn't the only threat whose campaign prefers alternative installation exploits. The LowLevel04 Ransomware, the Smrss32 Ransomware, and other Trojans targeting business server-based systems are dependent on a weak password use that lets remote attackers gain access before installing any threat. Setting a password rotation and using passwords consisting of long, multi-case alphanumeric strings are two, simple means of reducing the success rates of these brute-force attacks.

The LowLevel04 Ransomware's encrypted data includes a name-modifying feature that prepends the string 'oorr,' instead of the typical route of appending a new extension. While the LowLevel04 Ransomware is not an extremely new threat, malware experts find no insecurities in its encryption method that would provide its victims with a reasonable hope of free decryption. However, some versions of the LowLevel04 Ransomware do fail to delete SVC data, and advanced file restoration software may be able to assist with recovery.

Organizations interested in keeping their network-accessible data safe should continue using anti-malware protection for stopping the LowLevel04 Ransomware and deleting it preemptively. Campaigns like this Trojan's also show the high value of attending to having high standards for network security, which always is much cheaper than paying decryption ransoms to con artists.

LowLevel04 Ransomware

Threat Metric

A New Level of Worries for the Workplace

Getting Up a Level against the LowLevel04 Ransomware

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