Ransirac

Posted: October 3, 2012

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:	9/10
Infected PCs:	26

First Seen:	October 3, 2012
Last Seen:	May 20, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Ransirac is the technical name for what's casually called the Gema 'Access to your computer was denied' Virus. Evidence of Ransirac's existence was found in February of 2012, and uses the HTML style sheet standards of the German GEMA organization to make its fake pop-up alerts look realistic. By displaying a pop-up alert that claims that your computer has been used to download copyrighted media, Ransirac attempts to extract a hundred Euro ransom from the PC's user. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers suggest keeping your money and deleting Ransirac with an anti-malware product that you trust since Ransirac isn't affiliated with GEMA and can be considered just one of the most eye-catching examples of recent (and thoroughly illegal) police ransomware.

Why the Real Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs is Washing Its Hands of Ransirac

Ransirac is an example of a ransomware Trojan that tries to make its ransom scam look believable on first glance. After being installed (and SpywareRemove.com malware experts have noted that even Ransirac's file name for its primary executable file is 'Gema.exe'), Ransirac makes contact with a remote server to display an HTML-based pop-up alert. This alert is formatted to look similar to real GEMA content, along with including various retailer logos in reference to its ransom process. This pop-up prevents you from accessing other parts of Windows, and Ransirac also makes explicit efforts to disable Windows Task Manager and Process Explorer.

Cleverly, the Ransirac pop-up claims that your PC's lockdown is due to very common crimes: downloading, uploading or viewing of copyrighted media such as music files. Additional text instructs you to use Paysafecard to pay a fake legal fee lest you face extra penalties in the future. As an artists' rights management organization, the German GEMA plays a role similar to that of the United States' RIAA (Recording Industry of America) and has been known to sue violators of intellectual property, which makes this ransom semi-believable even though SpywareRemove.com malware researchers can strongly corroborate that Ransirac isn't affiliated with the real GEMA.

The Cheapest Way Out of a Ransirac Problem

Since Ransirac is an illegal program that locks your PC without any attempt to detect the crimes that Ransirac says are the root of the lockdown, there are no legal penalties for avoiding Ransirac's ransom, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers always encourage the quick removal of ransomware Trojans like Ransirac. Given Ransirac's default behavior of launching when Windows starts, you should try to deactivate Ransirac and its pop-up before you do anything else.

Generally, disabling Ransirac can be handled through Windows Safe Mode or via a USB drive-based system boot. Deleting Ransirac should use anti-malware software when it's available, since Ransirac, like most Trojans, makes changes to your Registry that must also be removed without risking any harm to your operating system.

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:

win.ini

File name: win.ini
Mime Type: unknown/ini
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\{Value}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "gema" = "\gema.exe"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\winlogon "userinit" = "\gema.exe,\userinit.exe,"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "gema" = "\gema\gema.exe"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon "shell" = "\gema\gema.exe,explorer.exe"