Ransom-AAY.gen.b

Posted: December 28, 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:	9

First Seen:	December 28, 2012
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Ransom-AAY.gen.b is a generic label for ransomware Trojans from the Reveton family or other ransom Trojans that share strong similarities with members of that family. Ransom-AAY.gen.b attacks your PC by loading a screen-sized borderless pop-up that displays a fake legal warning (with the content localized for the country that's designated by your computer's IP address). Typically, Ransom-AAY.gen.b's pop-ups will threaten you with jail time and other legal issues unless you pay a fine through Ukash, Paysafecard and other payment services. However, no version of Ransom-AAY.gen.b is affiliated with law enforcement of any sort and you never should feel the need to pay Ransom-AAY.gen.b's ransom to get your computer back. Ransom-AAY.gen.b may be disabled by standard anti-malware techniques as listed in this article, after which any anti-malware product should be able to delete Ransom-AAY.gen.b in perfect safety.

Ransom-AAY.gen.b and the Crime that You (Hopefully) Didn't Commit

Ransom-AAY.gen.b uses fake legal alerts to make its victims believe that their computers are being locked down due to illegal activities such as downloading copyright-protected movies or sending spam, but Ransom-AAY.gen.b actually isn't capable of detecting any of the crimes that its pop-ups may mention. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have observed Ransom-AAY.gen.b attacks, identified specifically as variants of Reveton Trojans or Ukash Viruses, throughout most first-world countries – especially Europe. Ransom-AAY.gen.b will detect your IP address to determine your country and load an appropriate pop-up – for example, an Italian-language alert for PC users in Italy, and so on.

Samples of some of the many variants of Ransom-AAY.gen.b that SpywareRemovbe.com malware analysts have observed include, but aren't limited to Police Central e-crime Unit (PCEU) ransomware, the Metropolitan Police Ukash Virus, the FBI Green Dot Moneypak Virus and the FBI Ultimate Game Card virus. Although the exact accusations, payment methods and legal/nationalistic trappings may vary from one pop-up to the next one, Ransom-AAY.gen.b always will make false accusations about criminal activities and always will request money before Ransom-AAY.gen.b lifts the lockdown that Ransom-AAY.gen.b places on your computer.

Tearing Up Ransom-AAY.gen.b's Pop-Up to Find Your Desktop Beneath It

Ransom-AAY.gen.b's screen-covering pop-up will prevent you from accessing your Windows desktop, and Ransom-AAY.gen.b also may take additional actions to block other applications (such as the Task Manager). These complications, ultimately, make removing Ransom-AAY.gen.b a little more tedious than other programs, but still very possible without paying Ransom-AAY.gen.b's ransom. SpywareRemove.com malware research team recommends that you firstly resort to Safe Mode for this purpose, and then use a system boot from a removable USB drive if Safe Mode doesn't disable Ransom-AAY.gen.b.

After Ransom-AAY.gen.b is disabled, you can delete Ransom-AAY.gen.b with any suitably powerful anti-malware product. Because Ransom-AAY.gen.b isn't affiliated to any law enforcement agency or government, you never should hesitate to do this – despite the legal details of its pop-ups, Ransom-AAY.gen.b is just as illegal as any other Trojan and never should be paid.

Aliases

Trj/OCJ.A [Panda]W32/Kryptik.ALTS!tr [Fortinet]Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Foreign [Ikarus]Dropper/Win32.Injector [AhnLab-V3]Troj/Swisyn-AW [Sophos]GenericTRA-BJ!52B9B8BC9042 [McAfee-GW-Edition]TR/Graftor.44588 [AntiVir]UnclassifiedMalware [Comodo]Gen:Variant.Graftor.44588 [BitDefender]Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Injector.fvyp [Kaspersky]Win32:Dropper-gen [Drp] [Avast]Trojan.Gen.2 [Symantec]Trojan [K7AntiVirus]Ransom-AAY.gen.b [McAfee]

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:

ca345ca28cacd612f7010f60707c4270.DLL

File name: ca345ca28cacd612f7010f60707c4270.DLL
Size: 230.2 KB (230204 bytes)
MD5: ca345ca28cacd612f7010f60707c4270
Detection count: 98
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/DLL
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 7, 2013

42da9279b305806ea9ea79880ada9166

File name: 42da9279b305806ea9ea79880ada9166
Size: 225.28 KB (225280 bytes)
MD5: 42da9279b305806ea9ea79880ada9166
Detection count: 97
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 7, 2013

http_revt_20121120-10-20

File name: http_revt_20121120-10-20
Size: 241.66 KB (241664 bytes)
MD5: 96578f08ae75e5d87eac002c116569e2
Detection count: 43
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 7, 2013

%SystemDrive%\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\notepad.dll

File name: notepad.dll
Size: 188.41 KB (188416 bytes)
MD5: 52b9b8bc9042bee1ff7ddf3b81f59570
Detection count: 9
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Path: %SystemDrive%\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 28, 2013

Lock.dll

File name: Lock.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

[startup folder]\[RANDOM FILENAME].dll

File name: [startup folder]\[RANDOM FILENAME].dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

[startup folder]\[RANDOM FILENAME].dll.lnk

File name: [startup folder]\[RANDOM FILENAME].dll.lnk
File type: Shortcut
Mime Type: unknown/lnk
Group: Malware file

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\[RANDOM FILENAME].[dll]

File name: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\[RANDOM FILENAME].[dll]
Mime Type: unknown/[dll]
Group: Malware file

[STARTUP FOLFER]\runctf.lnk

File name: [STARTUP FOLFER]\runctf.lnk
File type: Shortcut
Mime Type: unknown/lnk
Group: Malware file

[RANDOM FILENAME].dll.lnk.

File name: [RANDOM FILENAME].dll.lnk.
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\{Value}HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main "NoProtectedModeBanner" = "1"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableTaskMgr" = "1"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar "Locked“ = "1"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\1 "1609" = "0"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones "1609" = "0"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\2 "1609" = "0"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\4 "1609" = "0"HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\3 "1609“ = “0"