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RansomCuck Ransomware

Posted: September 6, 2016

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 1
First Seen: September 6, 2016
OS(es) Affected: Windows


The RansomCuck Ransomware is a data encryption Trojan that enciphers your media and holds it hostage to force you to pay a ransom. The results of paying these fees to extortionists are unreliable and often cause further damage or lack a real decryption solution. To counter these risks, malware experts recommend using durable data storage strategies, as well as anti-malware protection that can delete the RansomCuck Ransomware from your PC.

The Trojan Forcing Your Files to Cheat on You

Con artists and threat authors are just as willing as any Internet user to capitalize on memes and shifts in recognizable social phenomena, which they may abuse for distributing their threats. Examples from the recent past include Trojans themed after the Pokemon GO, Trojans referencing television shows, and, now, the RansomCuck Ransomware. The RansomCuck Ransomware's choice of name seems to imply that its attacks make the victims 'cucks' or cuckolds by taking control of their files.

Malware researchers have yet to identify the RansomCuck Ransomware's family firmly, although the Trojan bears the strongest resemblance in general format and functionality to the DetoxCrypto Ransomware. Whatever the truth about its point of origin might be, the RansomCuck Ransomware conducts encryption attacks that encode your data with a custom algorithm, thus, preventing you from opening the files.

Data attacked by the RansomCuck Ransomware is detectable by new extensions that it adds at the end of any preexisting ones. Malware experts verified the RansomCuck Ransomware's use of more than one extension, '.the RansomCuck' and '.cuck,' although any possible extra differences between payloads are under analysis. As with most Trojans of this classification, the RansomCuck Ransomware has not been seen targeting essential Windows files required by the operating system.

The RansomCuck Ransomware also creates ransom instructions for the supposed purpose of buying your information back through the threat actors' decryption service. You can view them in HTML and TXT formats, and the RansomCuck Ransomware generates them on the user's desktop or in any directories also containing any encrypted files.

The Least Expensive Way out of Digital Data Infidelity

Although the RansomCuck Ransomware takes control over your data by blocking your use of it and including a time limit before deleting the key for decrypting them, PC users sufficiently prepared do have options besides paying its extortion fee. In addition to keeping backups on protected servers or hard drives, which malware experts always recommend for this class of threat, you also may utilize free decryptors offered by various PC security vendors. Victims often can decode the encrypted content of prominent Trojans, including the Troldesh Ransomware and the RansomCuck Ransomware, with free software.

Most of the RansomCuck Ransomware's symptoms have a high visibility, but appear after the encryption attack finishes encoding and blocking your data. Adequate protection from threats of this category hinges on avoiding network security vulnerabilities, including easily-cracked account passwords, e-mail attachments concealing Trojan installers, and excessively permissive RDP settings. Having anti-malware products that provide active monitoring features also can identify this threat and remove the RansomCuck Ransomware before its attacks finalize.

Like the much-derided cuckold of popular imagination, the responsibility for avoiding RansomCuck Ransomware infections can be said to be at least partly the victim's responsibility. Without that initial security failure, the profitability of this Trojan's campaign is nil.

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