Home Malware Programs Ransomware '.potato File Extension' Ransomware

'.potato File Extension' Ransomware

Posted: January 26, 2017

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 283
First Seen: January 26, 2017
Last Seen: July 3, 2020
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The '.potato File Extension' Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts your files so that you can't open them and uses the opportunity for extorting a ransom. Most PC users can defend themselves from these attacks by updating a non-local backup regularly and being cautious about common infection methods, such as e-mail attachments. Standard anti-malware products, while they're incapable of decryption, can remove the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware before it begins encoding your information.

A Trojan Happy to Turn Your Files into Vegetables

Colloquially, referring to a PC as a 'potato' is a common way of denigrating its hardware capabilities, but a new Trojan soon may put a different emphasis on the term. Malware researchers are starting to see evidence of a recent file-encrypting campaign operating under the moniker of 'Potato,' hence the threat's title of '.potato File Extension' Ransomware. Its threat actors are staying close to old, proven methods of protecting their income stream and identities while locking their victims out of their files simultaneously.

Its authors have built a dedicated website infrastructure for the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware, which handles the payments the Trojan extracts by force from its victims. However, before getting the money, the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware, first, compromises the PC by such methods as e-mail spam, brute-force cracking of RDP systems or drive-by-downloads. Then, the Trojan encrypts your local files, such as documents, with what it claims to be a 'military-grade' AES encryption. Any victims of these attacks should note that this is a common and almost always fraudulent claim by file-encrypting threats and malware experts can't confirm the data-scrambling cipher that the Trojan uses.

To supplement its file-locking encryption, the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware also drops other content on your PC that includes:

  • One text file displays a custom ID number for your machine, which the threat actor uses for tracking payments (and, potentially, any decryption help he chooses to render).
  • Its second piece of text lists all of the content that the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware encrypts, although you also can detect them by searching for data with the '.potato' extension that the Trojan appends to them.
  • Lastly, the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware also includes an executable program with a DLL file that, in theory, functions as a decryption solution, but only after the victim pays for the code.

A Cyber Vegetable Garden Worthy of Weeding

The sample size of the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware is highly limited, although the Trojan's threat actors do show initial signs of being semi-experienced. Using a 'darknet' e-mail service, Tor-protected websites and custom ID strings are all characteristic signatures of con artists with some level of professionalism for the industry. However, these traits don't increase the likelihood of you getting working decryption solutions after paying them, and malware experts always stress the viability of backups for crippling the file-encrypting or deleting attacks of any threats of this category.

Trojans of the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware's class may be in distribution via e-mail campaigns that compromise businesses with falsely-labeled attachments, such as fake delivery notices, invoices or internal memos. In some cases, these attachments are executable files that use the extensions and icons of text content, while others may embed drive-by-download exploits within the macros of actual text documents. In all cases, dedicated, active, and up-to-date anti-malware protection can catch these installers and remove the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware without its payload being active.

No matter how reasonable and streamlined the ransoming messages of the '.potato File Extension' Ransomware (or similar Trojans) may be, they still are extortion. As such, they're demands that should be regarded with all due suspicion until you can verify any facts they assert.

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:



%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\winlogon.exe File name: winlogon.exe
Size: 1.59 MB (1595904 bytes)
MD5: 7d24e960023c7aefe6377e3cf5e7f996
Detection count: 187
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\winlogon.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 27, 2020
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\silent.exe File name: silent.exe
Size: 1.46 MB (1460958 bytes)
MD5: ad9f6e9022d4abe2447c21c7fc59bdba
Detection count: 40
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\silent.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: July 3, 2020
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