Mzlq Ransomware

The Mzlq Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan that can take your documents, pictures, music, and other media hostage by encrypting each file. The Mzlq Ransomware may supplement this attack by leaving ransom notes in TXT format, creating fake Windows update prompts, deleting the Restore Points and blocking some websites. Anti-malware products should remove the Mzlq Ransomware by default, but secured backups are mandatory for a conclusive recovery without uncertainty.

Permanent Troubles from a Supposedly Temporary File

Out of all the hiding places a Trojan might choose, one of the simplest, but still effective ones is that of using a different format from its 'real' one. The Mzlq Ransomware, a member of the much-explored Ransomware-as-a-Service, Djvu Ransomware, is circulating with a fake 'TMP' extension that hides it while it executes. In contrast to truly temporary files, the Mzlq Ransomware is, unfortunately, software with long-lasting repercussions.

The Mzlq Ransomware searches the user's drives for files that match its 'ransom-appropriate' list of formats, including JPGs, BMPs, GIFs, DOCs, PDFs, XLSXs and others. After finding them, it runs an encryption routine with another algorithm for securing the key to the first one, as per the norm for its family and most RaaSes. The conversion to an encrypted format keeps all of the user's files from opening, whether or not the victim removes the extra name extensions that the Mzlq Ransomware inserts.

The Mzlq Ransomware also creates ransom messages using the format of the rest of its family's recent releases, in the same style as the Lalo Ransomware, the Mpal Ransomware, the Remk Ransomware, the Rezm Ransomware or the Sqpc Ransomware. These notes place a deadline on the reader for getting the 'best' ransom price, use a periodically-updated e-mail from free services for negotiations, and ask for just under one thousand dollars in payment consistently. Victims should remember that threat actors may not honor their agreements in these transactions, and there are historical cases of Black Hat decryption solutions being buggy.

The Extra Difficulties of Landing in a File-Ransoming Crisis

The blocking of files is, by and large, the source of infamy for nearly all families of file-locker Trojans, whether they operate on a hired basis like a RaaS or not. The Mzlq Ransomware's family, however, includes additional features that malware researchers find worth noting due to their security implications. The Mzlq Ransomware may block websites like microsoft.com through changes to the Hosts file's domain to IP address mappings, as well as destroy the Shadow Volume Copies or the Restore Points. Finally, there are instances of the Mzlq Ransomware's family dropping other threats, including spyware.

Users should save backups of their work to external devices, ideally, ones with additional security measures like password protection. Doing so offers an always-available restoration opportunity for any files without jumping through the risky hoops of a ransomed decryptor. In emergencies, malware experts also can recommend using advanced Shadow Volume Copy-based recovery utilities, since there are a minority of Djvu Ransomware infections that don't delete this data completely.

Most anti-malware tools should detect the usual means of this Trojan's circulation (such as fake torrents or weaponized documents) and contain them, along with deleting the Mzlq Ransomware safely after its installation, should it be necessary.

The nature of a Ransomware-as-a-Service always is a commercial one. Users not wanting to fall victim to the Mzlq Ransomware's campaign should make every preparation possible for keeping their files from being at a Trojan's mercy – since, no matter what else, the Trojan is lying about, it's all about money.