Relock Ransomware

Posted: November 6, 2017

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:	10/10
Infected PCs:	5

First Seen:	November 6, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Relock Ransomware is an update to the AES-Matrix Ransomware that changes the types of media the Trojan locks through encryption, in addition to creating text documents demanding payment for the unlocker. Users can block localized attacks by file-locking threats with secure backups to keep their digital media safe, as well as appropriate security precautions for avoiding the most well-known infection exploits. If the Trojan already has breached your PC's defenses successfully, many anti-malware products also may uninstall the Relock Ransomware.

Going Back to the Matrix Again

Retooling the attacks of a previously-known threat does put a con artist's campaign at risk of being identified by various brands of AV software easily, but also saves extensively on the work effort required for any given payload. What the newest Relock Ransomware loses in obfuscation may not be a problem necessarily, thanks to its relatively meager rates for detection by AV databases. In the meantime, this variation of the old AES-Matrix Ransomware still locks files but chooses different types of information to harm.

Early estimates place the Relock Ransomware's campaign as being active in Russian-oriented sectors particularly, although malware experts can't yet verify whether or not the Relock Ransomware is using the RIG Exploit Kit or other models of distribution. Since its executable is utilizing semi-randomized names, it most likely is not installed directly by the user, although a disguised download could use another threat, such as Zlob, as a 'go-between' that installs this Trojan.

The Relock Ransomware blocks the user from opening various formats of data by targeting each file with its encryption feature individually and may include network-accessible drives. Unlike the AES-Matrix Ransomware, the Relock Ransomware limits this function to encoding and blocking compressed archives and text documents. There may or may not be new extensions appended for determining which files are encoded visibly; some sources are reporting of variants of the AES-Matrix adding '.matrix' tags, although malware experts confirmed otherwise with their samples.

Rejecting a Trojan's Reality

The Relock Ransomware retains the signature feature of the AES-Matrix Ransomware: a ransom note that uses an RTF format, instead of TXT, HTML or HTA, all of which are more common alternatives. While its threat actors are using a slightly different set of instructions from those of the past Trojan, the document remains borrowed from other sources primarily, only with new e-mail addresses for negotiating and paying the ransom. Due to the suspect nature of these transactions, malware experts suggest trying other recovery possibilities and leaving ransoms for a final solution only to reserve in desperate circumstances.

Only one-quarter of all notable AV vendors are identifying the Relock Ransomware accurately, although the Trojan's campaign still is young. Updating your security software routinely can improve their odds of detecting new Trojans and decrease the chances of false-positives (the inaccurate detection of a safe file as being unsafe). Along with the use of anti-malware products for disabling or deleting the Relock Ransomware, users also may want to copy their media to protected locations that this Trojan can't damage.

To an extent, PC owners have no one other than themselves to blame for the profits that Trojans like the Relock Ransomware can create with not much work. When something as easy as backing up your files can save you hundreds of dollars or tens of thousands of rubles, no excuse is sufficient to put it off.

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:

file.exe

File name: file.exe
Size: 611.32 KB (611328 bytes)
MD5: c97075cf1f28b322da460adfd404310f
Detection count: 53
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: November 6, 2017