MMLocker Ransomware

The MMLocker Ransomware is a Trojan that uses data encrypting attacks for extorting money from any victims. While malware experts see no free decryption applications for the MMLocker Ransomware currently, backing up your information can keep the MMLocker Ransomware from being able to cause permanent data loss. This threat creates files in multiple, easily-overlooked locations, and you should use the services of your anti-malware products to find and remove the MMLocker Ransomware in full.

A Not-Quite Poignant Story of a Threat Author

The boom in the black market industry of ransom-based Trojans, including both screen-locker and file encrypting types, has led to a variety of examples of how con artists may use social engineering. In some ways, the MMLocker Ransomware's ransom notes offer the most emotive showcases yet, with its extortion demands coupling themselves with unusually autobiographical information and an overall informal tone. However, the choice of words in its ransom messages doesn't change the MMLocker Ransomware's core functions, which malware experts consider in-line with typical file encryption attacks.

The MMLocker Ransomware targets data types not associated with your operating system's essential functions and uses AES-based encryption standards to modify them into being unopenable. Each file so affected can be detected by the '.locked' flag, which the MMLocker Ransomware shares with unrelated threats, such as the Stampado Ransomware and the Zyklon Ransomware. The Trojan also loads a static image that redirects the PC's user to its ransom note, which is a lengthy text file.

The ransom message uses standardized methods for threats of this type, including demanding Bitcoin currency, putting the victim under a deadline before the remote attacker deletes the decryption key, and providing general instructions on how to make a payment and (potentially) decrypt the data. The message also includes information that malware analysts outlined as being unusual for this archetype of Trojan, including warnings about the inefficacy of the law enforcement, boasts about the developer's experience in threat campaigns, and even some generic security advice.

Depriving a Threat Author of an Unearned Living

The personal, colloquial tone that the MMLocker Ransomware uses could persuade some PC users to pay its three hundred USD (once converted from Bitcoin currency) fee, particularly since the author claims to need the money solely for living expenses. However, the MMLocker Ransomware's author disregards the risks of paying for a decryption program that may not function as advertised and offers no new solutions to victims who pay but can't recover their information. Keeping data stored in safe locations that can't be decrypted, such as backups not connected to your PC at the time of the infection, is the standard solution to a hostile file encryption like the MMLocker Ransomware's payload.

Malware experts have seen moderate evidence associating the MMLocker Ransomware with cracks for triple-A video game downloads, such as the latest entry in the Far Cry series. Torrents, while a theoretically neutral download resource, remain a highly likely source of Trojan droppers and downloaders that could install the MMLocker Ransomware. Avoiding illegal downloads offers a high degree of safety from most threats of these types; otherwise, scanning legal files with anti-malware tools should detect any remainders.

Since the start of its campaign, the PC security industry has had months to analyze this Trojan. Removing the MMLocker Ransomware should need no unusual precautions besides having anti-malware products capable of identifying the infection. No matter how many appeals to emotion a Trojan's author gives his victims, the best response always is to ignore advice from a con artist.