Madlerax

Posted: October 3, 2012

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:	9/10
Infected PCs:	9

First Seen:	October 3, 2012
Last Seen:	June 16, 2020
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Madlerax is a Trojan that locks your PC with a fraudulent pop-up alert (typical to police ransomware-based PC threats) which claims that the law requires you to take additional steps to end the lockdown – such as sending a premium SMS message or making a cash transaction through Ukash, etc. As SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have found to be common with recent types of police ransomware, Madlerax's pop-up claims to have legal authority over your computer because of crimes that supposedly have been detected in association with it. However, Madlerax is a simple scan that doesn't try to detect specific kinds of computer activity and doesn't have any form of legal backing from any type of law enforcement or government agency. SpywareRemove.com malware research team recommends to disable and then remove Madlerax with an anti-malware program, as described further in this article.

Madlerax: the Fake Police are Coming for Your Computer

Madlerax was identified in early September of 2012 as one of the latest members in an incoming tidal wave of brand-new police ransomware Trojans, with their numbers more than doubling over a period of two years. Anti-malware software may detect Madlerax by Trojan.Win32.Madlerax, Trojan:Win32/Madlerax.A or Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Autoit.h. Even though Madlerax doesn't have the ability to distribute itself, Madlerax may be installed by other PC threats that include their own distribution capabilities.

After being installed, Madlerax disables admin account-related security measures, which allows all programs to run with admin-level access without causing prompt requests for the security risk. Madlerax proceeds to display a fraudulent pop-up warning that claims to be sent from a law enforcement organization regarding computer-based crimes, such as involvement with spambots, viewing child pornography or viewing copyrighted media. This pop-up blocks you from interacting with the rest of Windows or using other applications, including those that could delete Madlerax.

Why it's Madness to Submit to Madlerax's Ransom

Trying to unlock your PC by means that Madlerax recommends is both a waste of money and uncertain to disable Madlerax's pop-up. However, as is true of other police ransomware, Madlerax can be removed safely as long as you're willing to remain calm and undertake standard disinfection tactics, as SpywareRemove.com malware experts have delineated:

Boot in Safe Mode or use a USB device to boot your computer, which will disable Madlerax.
Use anti-malware products to scan your PC for Madlerax's components and delete Madlerax.
The type of anti-malware software that's used will determine if you may need to undo Madlerax's admin-related changes after the scan. The methods for reverting your system settings to their normal values can vary with the version of Windows that's been compromised by Madlerax.

Above all else, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts emphasize that Madlerax isn't linked to any type of police agency and has no ability to punish you for evading its lockdown-enabled ransom attack – regardless of whether or not you've committed the crimes that Madlerax accuses you of being guilty of performing.

Madlerax

Threat Metric

Madlerax: the Fake Police are Coming for Your Computer

Why it's Madness to Submit to Madlerax's Ransom

Leave a Reply