Project34 Ransomware
Posted: March 15, 2017
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: | 8/10 |
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Infected PCs: | 349 |
First Seen: | March 15, 2017 |
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Last Seen: | March 19, 2023 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The Project34 Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts your data by placing it into a password-protected archive. Despite the difference in attack methodology from other encryption-based threats, the Project34 Ransomware does pose a direct risk to your saved files and may lock them without recourse. While intercepting and removing the Project34 Ransomware with anti-malware protection is ideal, PC users needing more in-depth recovery methods should rely on their secure backups.
A New Number for a Numberless Series of Ransoming Attempts
Encryption-focused attacks persist as a central part of the underground marketplace for Ransomware-as-a-Service, as well as a theme in independently-designed samples of threatening software. Some of the most recent cases have taken to exploiting non-threatening applications to reduce the overhead investment in programming, such as using WinRAR to archive content instead of encrypting each file individually. The Project34 Ransomware is the latest of these Trojans using this method.
The encryption method of choice raises questions about possible connections between the Project34 Ransomware and other, recent threats, such as the 'All_Your_Documents.rar' Ransomware and its update, the Roshalock Ransomware. However, malware experts have been unable to corroborate links in either the threat actors or the software. Like them, the Project34 Ransomware enumerates your drives and places non-essential files (ones not related to your operating system), such as documents, into a WinRAR archive.
The Project34 Ransomware password protects the archive to keep the victim from regaining access to their files, and also drops a Notepad file on the PC. The enclosed message asks you to contact the threat actor's e-mail address, most likely to pay any demanded ransom in exchange for the Project34 Ransomware's password. Although the message uses Russian, the language uses poor grammar and appears to be the product of an automatic translation tool, meaning that the Trojan's administrator isn't targeting his native country.
Because of the threat's low distribution rate, malware experts can provide no further details of any ransom quantities or the feasibility of recovering the password without paying manually.
Updating Your OS Straight into Extortion
Threat actors are concealing the Project34 Ransomware's executable files as fake updates for Windows. While these mislabels could be to keep the user from identifying the threat, post-download purely, it also may be indicative of the Trojan installing itself through Exploit Kits, Trojan downloaders, and compromised websites that ask you to update your OS. Always obtain updates for software, including the operating system, only from a trusted URL like microsoft.com, and avoid trusting 'patches' that appear to be coming from advertising networks or other, indeterminate sources.
Giving con artists ransom money to recover passwords and decryption solutions for your data is a solution with certain drawbacks, considering the abuse of cryptocurrencies whose transactions confer limited or no legal protections particularly. Malware experts also often see local backups as targets for erasure by threats of the Project34 Ransomware's classification. Store copies of your files in safe locations, such as separate USB drives, and use anti-malware utilities to delete the Project34 Ransomware automatically without leaving time for any attacks.
Besides showing that Russia no longer enjoys being excluded from the favorite targets of cyber-extortionists clearly, the Project34 Ransomware exhibits few qualities of note. However, that doesn't hamper the potency of its attacks against any PC owners who aren't making full use of their backup strategies.
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