Skeleton Ransomware

Posted: December 18, 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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	39

First Seen:	October 28, 2022
Last Seen:	October 28, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Skeleton Ransomware is a fork of the Blind Ransomware, a file-locking Trojan with the ability to block content via encryption. Files of arbitrary media formats not opening, the presence of text messages requesting ransoms, and non-consensual changes to your files' names are symptoms of an infection. Professional anti-malware products should eliminate the Skeleton Ransomware automatically, but users without backups may not be able to regain their media necessarily.

A Trojan's File-Locking Work from Blind to Bony

The cybercrooks that are working with the source of the Blind Ransomware are making substantial changes to it for creating a new Trojan, albeit one with a highly similar payload. The update, the Skeleton Ransomware, uses a low-technical format of ransoming message, which may help its compatibility with more system types. The Skeleton Ransomware also, still, locks files to hold them hostage with a custom encryption algorithm.

Although sample size with the Skeleton Ransomware remains small, malware researchers did determine that the Trojan is beyond its initial development stage. Threat actors are distributing the Skeleton Ransomware to unknown users, possibly by using spam e-mails or brute-force tools and using it to lock different digital media kinds. The Skeleton Ransomware's file-locking feature, as usual, doesn't display a pop-up, notification window, or other UI elements that could warn the victim while it's ongoing. Besides blocking your files, the Skeleton Ransomware also adds the '.[skeleton@rape.lol].skeleton' as a reference to its ransom method.

The Skeleton Ransomware uses a Notepad note for its ransoming instructions, which tell the user how to pay in return for getting a decryption solution. Malware experts have no data on any current asking prices but do discourage paying these ransoms, which are unreliable inherently, when possible. Readers should note that the e-mail address is for a real, small-scale service and not a joke or a placeholder.

Stop Your Work from Going All Skin and Bones

Some of the Blind Ransomware's family members and variants are compatible with decryption programs that different AV vendors develop and distribute without charge. Users without other options, such as a backup, may wish to contact reputable researchers or companies for extra help with updating a decryptor for the Skeleton Ransomware. However, this solution is never as reliable as backing your work up to a device that isn't at risk of infection, such a detachable USB drive.

Most file-locking Trojans arrive via e-mail spamming campaigns that can disguise their installation files as being 'safe' content like invoices. PC users should be willing to scan their downloads for any potential security risks, which include macro-based vulnerabilities launching from inside actual text documents. Anti-malware programs may delete the Skeleton Ransomware from your computer safely but don't provide any file-unlocking capabilities.

For a threat actor, if an attack works once, it makes sense to recycle it until it doesn't. The common-sense solution to the Skeleton Ransomware and the Blind Ransomware's other variants is to back up your files, practice safe behavior online, and use prevention-based security solutions.

Skeleton Key

Skeleton Ransomware

Threat Metric

A Trojan's File-Locking Work from Blind to Bony

Stop Your Work from Going All Skin and Bones

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