Home Malware Programs Ransomware Santa Encryptor Ransomware

Santa Encryptor Ransomware

Posted: December 11, 2017

Threat Metric

Ranking: 13,908
Threat Level: 2/10
Infected PCs: 304
First Seen: August 8, 2022
Last Seen: September 20, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The Santa Encryptor Ransomware is a Trojan that delivers ransom-themed pop-up messages that mimic the members of WannaCryptor Ransomware's family. Future releases of the Trojan also may include updated support for locking your files, although it has no currently-working encryption. Always use free solutions, when possible, for recovering any content that Trojans of this classification block, and have your anti-malware protection uninstall the Santa Encryptor Ransomware.

Your Files are this Santa's Cookies and Milk

Copycats of Trojans like the '.wcry File Extension' Ransomware are more than happy to duplicate the visible signs of such infections, but, usually, lack many of their internal design elements. For the Santa Encryptor Ransomware, a new imitative Trojan in this vein, its threat actor's low-effort programming may give the victims a better chance than usual of recovering the files it's attacking. Still, the Santa Encryptor Ransomware's campaign is in the middle of its early development, and the details of its payload may change over the coming weeks.

The Santa Encryptor Ransomware is a small, Windows-compatible executable that only has one significant, working function: an automatically-generated HTA window. This pop-up includes a ransom note that claims the Trojan is blocking your digital media, gives you a countdown timer, and also provides a wallet address for paying Bitcoins to 'buy' the unlocker. While the current note is in English, significant and basic grammatical errors raise the point that the Santa Encryptor Ransomware's author may not be a native speaker of that language.

While the Santa Encryptor Ransomware's message claims that it's using an AES-256 cipher for locking your files, malware experts only are finding the skeleton of an XOR encryption feature. Current samples don't lock any content at all, although most anti-virus solutions are detecting the Santa Encryptor Ransomware as a supposed variant of Hidden Tear (a working, AES-based file-locker) currently.

Taking Your PC Back from Santa's Sack

The Santa Encryptor Ransomware is bare bones and unfinished but, despite its limitations, may be capable of damaging a victim's files in the future. XOR-based encryption is often relatively quick for third-party decryption applications to break, and malware analysts recommend sampling these, and other, free solutions before taking any risky steps, such as paying the ransom. Backing up files is also a dependable, default way of protecting content like documents and other media from the payloads of all Trojans sharing the Santa Encryptor Ransomware's classification.

Although the Santa Encryptor Ransomware is under examination with the name of 'ChristmasPresent.exe,' other names and disguises are almost sure to be implemented in later stages of this Trojan's development cycle. Cybercrooks using casual targeting methods may hide this threat inside of a torrent or compromised advertisement's fake software request, but e-mail is the infection vector that dedicated threat actors prefer. Updated anti-malware solutions should eliminate the Santa Encryptor Ransomware before its encryption feature can trigger and lock any files.

'Happy holidays' from a Trojan is no more festive than an attack from threatening software at any other time of the year. PC users should remember never to let celebrations distract them from the daily requirement of securing their computers and their files from the Santa Encryptor Ransomware and similar, potential looters.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:
findallincomesurvey.top
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