Ninja Ransomware
Posted: September 21, 2015
Threat Metric
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 |
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Infected PCs: | 66 |
First Seen: | September 17, 2015 |
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Last Seen: | March 21, 2020 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The Ninja Ransomware is a file encrypting Trojan that holds your files hostage in return for cash payments. Since paying third parties to decrypt your files has no guarantee of reciprocation, malware researchers consider almost any other means of preserving or restoring your files to be a preferable solution. As with other threatening programs that may try to block their deletion, removing the Ninja Ransomware may require using dedicated anti-malware software and strategies, such as scanning your computer from a sterile system boot environment.
A Stealthy Program's Exfiltration of Your File Data
The well-developed infrastructure for threat authors operating out of Russia may be anything but covert, but the individual distribution methods in use by these for-profit operations may use low-key, clandestine strategies for installation. The Ninja Ransomware is one Russia-based Trojan that may be using multiple means of installing itself to random targets, including mislabeled e-mail file attachments or compromised advertisement networks hosting exploit kits. Scanning any suspicious files prior to opening them and having strict browser security settings are, as usual, the most convenient methods of blocking attempts to install this threat automatically.
The Ninja Ransomware shows no inclinations towards being a product designed by well-funded ill-intended groups for infiltrating profitable targets like government branches or energy corporations. Instead, the Ninja Ransomware is expected to be targeting civilians in the wild with attacks that block their files. In theory, the Ninja Ransomware reverses its payload after a ransom payment is processed through an as of yet unidentified service.
Some of the standard symptoms of a Ninja Ransomware infection may include:
- The Ninja Ransomware may modify your desktop by replacing it with a new image that delivers its ransom instructions via Cyrillic text.
- The Ninja Ransomware may encrypt files on your computer – although essential operating system components should be unaffected. File encryption prevents the relevant file from being read or opened until you can reverse the process, usually by a specialized file decryptor application. Encrypted files also may have their names modified for identification purposes.
How to Keep Your Files from Being a Con-Artist's Profit Margin
Although past file-encrypting Trojans may have made a point of excluding Russia-based victims from their campaigns as a form of preemptive legal protection, the Ninja Ransomware explicitly targets victims of that region. While its strategy may be at odds with previous threats, the Ninja Ransomware does use similar techniques to these past threats, and, like them may be thwarted by the simple solution of a remote file backup. In some cases, free decryption utilities provided by various PC security institutions also may be able to recover any lost data.
The Ninja Ransomware shows no signs of being an especially advanced member of its threat category. However, the Ninja Ransomware still can cause meaningful damage to the contents of your PC and render your data potentially unrecoverable. Other than its most visible symptoms, the Ninja Ransomware will not leave telltale signs of its presence like legitimate software, such as an obvious memory process. As a result, uninstalling the Ninja Ransomware should use appropriate anti-malware tools when available.
PC users outside of Russia also may wish to keep in mind that most ransomware campaigns examined by malware experts eventually develop branches specific to multiple nations around the world, including most of Europe and North America.
Technical Details
Registry Modifications
Regexp file mask%PROGRAMFILES%\desk.bmp%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\desk.bmp
header keeps popping up update browser and java