ShinigamiLocker Ransomware

Posted: August 15, 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:	90

First Seen:	August 15, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The ShinigamiLocker Ransomware is a Trojan that uses a DES-based encryption to block your files and coerce you to pay a ransom for recovering them. Other symptoms correlated with the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware attacks include the presence of screen-locking pop-ups and extensive filename changes. If free decryption solutions are unavailable, malware experts recommend using your last unaffected backup to restore any content while removing the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware with a qualified anti-malware product.

A God of Death Wants to Reap Your Files

Both mainstream and niche media continues being influences on how threat actors choose their branding strategies, which can give Trojans a sense of identity and, potentially, encourage payments from the victims. Although the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware is a thematic follow-up to threats like DeathNote Hackers Ransomware, it has no connection to the DNRansomware family and uses a different encryption method. PC users under attack still can identify it afterward through its use of a Japanese animation-themed pop-up.

The ShinigamiLocker Ransomware's core functions include the following attacks, focusing on blocking data to ransom it later:

The Trojan searches any locally accessible drives for files it can encrypt, which could include documents, pictures, or archives, among other types. Unusually, the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware's threat actor chose DES as the algorithm basis for encryption, which is a symmetrical algorithm that's considered non-secure by modern cryptography standards.
Any files that the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware blocks with the above feature also are affected by an additional name-overwriting function. It replaces the original name with a string of eight hex characters and the '.shinigami' extension.
The Trojan also implements a significant but less-obvious feature for attacking any of the above content: it adds semi-random values to the written data and access fields. Malware experts estimate that this change is meant to impede any data recovery by confusing the system's dating of file states
The ShinigamiLocker Ransomware also creates a screen-blocking message, in interactive HTA format, that provides the titular 'shinigami' Asian cartoon mascot, along with its ransoming instructions The window implies that terminating the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware will damage your PC falsely, and, as usual, demands that the user pays in non-refundable Bitcoins.

Data Restoration without Any Help from Japanimation

As a DES-based encryptor, the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware could be compatible with free decryption solutions, although using a decryptor no designed for this threat explicitly only will cause further file damage. Users may wish to quarantine this Trojan and contact any interested, reputable researchers for help with investigating the possibilities of decoding their media. However, malware analysts recommend that all PC users also keep non-localized backups, which can give file-recovering options that are compatible with all file-locking threats, along with the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware.

Although the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware uses English-based ransoming messages, its infection vectors aren't identifiable currently. They may include targeted techniques, such as e-mail attachments and brute-force attacks, as well as randomly-distributed ones, such as fake torrents and software updates. A combination of appropriate security practices and the active use of anti-malware programs should identify and remove the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware before it threatens to block any local files.

The extra work the ShinigamiLocker Ransomware's author put into its file-modifying features could pay off and keep PC users from taking advantage of the closest backups they have on hand. It also goes to show that, even if a Trojan outwardly looks just like all the competition, it still could find interesting ways to damage your media.

ShinigamiLocker Ransomware

Threat Metric

A God of Death Wants to Reap Your Files

Data Restoration without Any Help from Japanimation

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