Ordinal Ransomware

Posted: October 24, 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:	85

First Seen:	October 24, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Ordinal Ransomware is a Trojan that locks files of personal interest to the user, such as documents, by encoding them with AES encryption. Its Hidden Tear-based payload also includes generating text messages that ask you to pay Bitcoins for restoring this media, although malware experts caution against ransom payments, which are, at best, non-guaranteed recovery solutions. Both free decryption utilities and backups can restore your files from these attacks, and dedicated anti-malware software can delete the Ordinal Ransomware to halt all ongoing symptoms.

Freeware Trojans with a Few After-the-Fact Precautions

More threat actors are showing an interest in turning the readily-available code of Hidden Tear towards real campaigns of first, blocking digital content, and then collecting ransoms. Unusually, for its family, the new the Ordinal Ransomware variant isn't a direct copy-paste that only has edited ransom-collecting information. Its still unidentified administrators also have added some minor, extra features to the Ordinal Ransomware that aren't in the original Hidden Tear, which could help the threat sidestep being detection.

To lock any files, which includes such formats as XLS spreadsheets, PDF or DOC documents, JPG or GIF images, and ZIP archives, the Ordinal Ransomware uses a conventional, AES-256 algorithm to encipher content while searching your hard drives. Like most Trojans of its type, the Ordinal Ransomware displays no ongoing symptoms while scanning for files to lock. However, malware experts did find the Ordinal Ransomware appending '.Ordinal' extensions to both all blocked data and (possibly due to an oversight) its text ransom note.

The Trojan provides instructions for paying one Bitcoin to buy its threat actor's decryption program and key and also resets the desktop image to an abstract picture from its payload. However, the Ordinal Ransomware's most creative feature is an anti-debugging function customized for avoiding detection by network-monitoring utilities and related analysis tools, of which malware experts are pointing out Wireshark, Fiddler, dnSpy and ILSpy. This precaution isn't standard to Hidden Tear and implies a bare-bones degree of familiarity with security practices on the part of its creators.

Coordinating a Safe Escape from Inordinate Demands

While the Ordinal Ransomware is fully functional and can damage files with its locking feature indefinitely, malware experts have yet to confirm which distribution exploits the Trojan's campaign is using. Threat actors trying to lock content on either business networks or recreational systems can compromise them through brute-force theft of logins, disguised email spam, or an exploit kit run through a corrupted website. Following standard password security recommendations, scanning new downloads with appropriate security software, and disabling content like in-browser scripts may interrupt the Ordinal Ransomware's installation process.

The Ordinal Ransomware has more functions grafted onto its attacks than the average, quick clone of Hidden Tear. Its payload, however, is susceptible to being mitigated by any PC users who make backups of their files similarly, on removable devices or cloud servers that the Trojan can't harm particularly. Many anti-malware programs also are capable of removing the Ordinal Ransomware and identifying it as a threat before it starts locking any media.

To some extent, the Ordinal Ransomware protects itself from analysis, but even the most advanced Trojans can't damage files that they can't access. Keeping copies of work and personal belongings somewhere safe is more than a little cheaper than paying over five thousand dollars in cryptocurrency.

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:

file.exe

File name: file.exe
Size: 47.1 KB (47104 bytes)
MD5: 8bcffc24d7a50cdff0c52c46a7a124fa
Detection count: 27
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: October 26, 2017