Panda Ransomware

The Panda Ransomware is a Trojan from the family of the Globe Imposter Ransomware, a collection of file-locking threats that use messages imitating the Globe Ransomware. Although the Panda Ransomware misrepresents its identity indirectly, it does include features that can block the user's files, such as documents or pictures, while concealing its presence until afterward. Victims should take all appropriate steps to restore their work freely once they've deleted the Panda Ransomware safely with any qualified anti-malware program.

A Trojan Type that's Far from Being Extinct

With shopping habits ramping up for the holiday season, the second to last month of the year is one of significant transaction activity for cybercrooks, as well as legitimate businesses. Threat actors like those leveraging the Globe Imposter Ransomware family, a group of Trojans that block files and drop notes pretending to be from another file-locking threat, continue attacking a diverse range of corporate networks and casual Web surfers. Samples that malware analysts can confirm most recently within this collection of Trojans include the ABC Ransomware, the Decoder Ransomware, the ONI Ransomware, the Sexy Ransomware, and the just-isolated Panda Ransomware.

According to the formatting of its ransom note, the Panda Ransomware is a variant of the Globe Imposter 2.0 Ransomware branch of its family, although many of the changes between the two editions are cosmetic. After installing itself, the Panda Ransomware runs automatically and silently by creating a background process without a visible UI and proceeds with searching the PC's directories for media. When the Trojan finds content such as TXT texts, JPG pictures, WAV audio clips or PDF documents, it encrypts them and adds a '.PANDA' extension in their names after the default ones.

Since other applications can't read the encoded content correctly, the Panda Ransomware instigates a digital 'hostage' scenario and supports the attack by dropping a local Web page on the PC. Its instructions imitate the basic format of the Globe Ransomware, despite not being of that family, and demand that the victims e-mail the provided address with their client ID to buy a file-unlocking solution. Malware analysts only are confirming English versions of the Panda Ransomware's payload although its file-ransoming attacks are effective against PCs using other language settings similarly.

Putting the Panda Ransomware on the Endangered Software List

Most releases of file-locking threats using the Globe Imposter 2.0 Ransomware platform, instead of the original, Globe Imposter Ransomware, also employ secure data cryptography standards. Users should double-check the formats of any messages that the Panda Ransomware creates; HTML is indicative of the most recent build of this Trojan family and a probable indicator that your media is not compatible with existing, free decryptors. Malware experts advise that all users with vulnerable PCs or valuable digital data keep their work saved to secondary drives for backup purposes, which eliminates the Panda Ransomware's leverage.

The Panda Ransomware's attacks may occur through any of several vectors, with the highest-traffic ones for traditional, file-locking campaigns including corrupted websites running exploit kits and spam e-mails. Users browsing unsafe sites should take appropriate precautions, such as disabling JavaScript and Flash, as well as updating all relevant software for reducing the presence of notable vulnerabilities. They also can delete the Panda Ransomware before or after its installation with dedicated anti-malware tools.

Giving a sum of money to the same people that are attacking your computer out of the hope that they'll respond generously is a high-stakes gamble for any PC user. However, with Trojans like the Panda Ransomware using secure encryption standards, victims without backups or the right defenses may have no other options.