Salam Ransomware

Posted: March 30, 2016

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:	70

First Seen:	March 30, 2016
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Ransomware is a Trojan that encodes your files and uses an escalating ransom demand to force you to pay for a decryptor. However, even data encoding Trojans without any free decryptors can be prevented from causing long-term harm by making preventative use of good backups. For deleting the Salam Ransomware, malware experts advise using nothing other than dedicated anti-malware products, unless instructed otherwise by a trained and certified professional.

Peace Be with Your PC... or Not

The Salam Ransomware is a file encryptor that malware experts have seen the greatest number of infections for in Lithuania, although its campaign is currently spreading to other regions. With its distribution preferences unconfirmed, the Salam Ransomware's installation should be guarded against by paying attention to common infection routes, such as e-mail attachments and in-browser scripts. As a threat, the Salam Ransomware may not ask for consent before installing itself and never will identify itself or its features beforehand accurately.

Most file encryptors follow a simple but effective routine for attacking new PCs: scanning for files and detecting vulnerable ones by their formats and locations, sending any data with appropriate extensions through a supposedly impermeable encryption process, and then renaming them all for easy identification. Victims then read the provided instructions for becoming informed about what happened to their files, as well as who to pay to undo the damage.

The Salam Ransomware follows this same protocol in all but one respect: the Salam Ransomware fails to use any renaming function. This unusual divergence makes it more troublesome to identify any encrypted files. However, most files in the same directory as the Salam Ransomware's text ransom messages can be assumed to have been encrypted. As always, you can no longer use other, previously compatible programs to open a file that's encrypted by the Salam Ransomware.

Rejecting the Offer to Buy Your Way to a Peaceful Hard Drive

The Salam Ransomware's relatively pedestrian payload is marked by a characteristic common to modern file encryptors like the CryptoBit Ransomware and the Booyah Ransomware: a warning that each passing day will result in increases of its ransom demands. As of the current exchange rates at this article's authorship, the Salam Ransomware's decryption service fees begin at roughly 465 USD, with an additional 464 penalty added each day the ransom is unpaid. Malware experts have found no public decryptors available for the Salam Ransomware for free, although ongoing research into this new threat's campaign may result in that fact changing in the coming months.

Instead of placing yourself in the position to consider paying the Salam Ransomware for your files back, use simple data protection strategies to block the Salam Ransomware from having any capacity to do damage. With almost no encryption Trojans capable of accessing cloud server accounts, using online backups can provide a more certain way of preserving your files than using local, Windows-based defaults. Keeping copies of your content in safe locations will allow you the opportunity to remove the Salam Ransomware without worrying about needing a decryption key or service.

Despite its superficial references to the Islamic culture, the Salam Ransomware's campaign has shown no distinct preferences for targeting regions that only have large Muslim populations. Based on current data, malware experts have rated European nations as being somewhat more likely of being exposed to this file-ransoming threat.

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: 45.05 KB (45056 bytes)
MD5: a1e28d31872bba1c8e4c0e01182034ed
Detection count: 38
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 30, 2016