Maykolin Ransomware

Posted: May 10, 2017

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:	9

First Seen:	May 10, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Maykolin Ransomware is a Trojan that holds your files hostage for ransom money. Media attacked by the Maykolin Ransomware may be unusable permanently, and users are strongly advised to protect their local content with backups stored on other devices or servers. Although decryption isn't publicly available, many anti-malware programs can delete the Maykolin Ransomware, when afforded the opportunity.

The Framework of an Unflinching File Locker

Previous versions of .NET Framework-based Trojans often included simple or payloads secured inadequately that third-parties could crack with not much effort. Nevertheless, reversing the problems accompanying a Trojan infection is never a certainty, as malware experts, unfortunately, are confirming with the Maykolin Ransomware. This .NET Trojan uses the AES and RSA algorithms in conjunction to lock the victims out of their files while it sells the unlocking key.

Although the majority of the data the Maykolin Ransomware encrypts uses AES, the first 300 bytes of each file uses the RSA-4096. The Maykolin Ransomware also adds its threat actor's AOL-based e-mail address onto the filenames. Its payload finishes by creating an HTA (advanced HTML) ransom message along with a TXT duplicate. Both of them give the victims a custom ID number for contacting the threat actor over e-mails to begin the negotiations for unlocking their files. Although the amount is flexible, the Maykolin Ransomware asks for Bitcoins, which turns getting refunds for no decryption help into a practical impossibility.

Malware experts also warn that the Maykolin Ransomware may be subject to mistaken identification. Some security tools are reporting the Maykolin Ransomware as being a variant of the Dharma Ransomware or another member of the Crysis Ransomware family inaccurately. Even though they employ a different file-locking routine, the symptoms of the Maykolin Ransomware infections also are highly in line with the above Trojans.

Timing Your Self-Defense from a Time-Oriented Trojan

The Maykolin Ransomware blocks content including Word DOCs, Adobe PDFs, and other, work-related formats of data. Although limited data is present for determining its ransom prices, the Trojan's authors are employing a common social engineering tactic: claiming that delays will cause their prices to increase. The additional, unspecified time limitation could lure victims into paying before realizing that Bitcoins aren't safely refundable.

Since decrypting your files requires the goodwill of the Trojan's threat actors, malware experts recommend that you keep backups to prevent this campaign from having any potential for causing permanent damage particularly. Backups on external drives or cloud servers are less at risk for being deleted or enciphered by threats like the Maykolin Ransomware notably. Anyone without such a backup will need to remove the Maykolin Ransomware with anti-malware tools before it finishes installing itself and running its payload.

Causing harm to your PC may be easier than healing those same wounds. Files worth paying for also are worth backing up, particularly when malware analysts see Trojans like the Maykolin Ransomware that can provoke permanent injury regularly.

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:

%PROGRAMFILES%\ID 1004\NET 3.5\crypt.exe

File name: crypt.exe
Size: 474.62 KB (474624 bytes)
MD5: 48f2575912041482ca316ee3092e44b6
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %PROGRAMFILES%\ID 1004\NET 3.5
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 16, 2017