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Striked Ransomware

Posted: July 11, 2017

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 10/10
Infected PCs: 87
First Seen: July 11, 2017
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The Striked Ransomware is a Trojan that locks your files by encrypting them, an attack that generates profits for its threat actor by selling the victim a decryption solution. While malware analysts have yet to confirm whether or not they can decrypt at no cost, PC users can protect themselves with standard security protocols and backups. Always delete the Striked Ransomware with anti-malware tools able to identify related threats, whether or not you need to recover any blocked content.

Striking Your Files into Illegibility

Not every introduction of a Trojan to a vulnerable PC is, necessarily, a dramatic attack. A campaign that malware experts only just see starting, by the name of the Striked Ransomware, is conducting file-based extortion tactics after using semi-subtle means of compromising the system. Victims are reporting instances of accompanying Remote Desktop exploits, and the responsible threat actor also may be deleting other threats that he uses for introducing the Striked Ransomware or disabling various security features intentionally.

When launched, the Striked Ransomware uses encryption with an unidentifiable cipher to lock files, which can include documents, archives, pictures, and spreadsheets, as well as other formats. It also adds extensions showing the victim the e-mail address for negotiating a ransom for the unlocking solution, as well as an ID number custom-generated for the attack. Readers might note that this format is very similar, but not identical, to the tags of the Crysis Ransomware family as previously noted by malware analysts. A more subtle cue than the name edit is the minor increase in the file's size, up by thirty-six bytes (the Trojan stores all original size values as internal markers).

While the Striked Ransomware provides a highly visible HTML file alerting the victim to the attack and promoting its e-mail ransoming negotiations, the threat actor is opting to avoid providing any upfront provisions on how to pay. Withholding this information could help the con artist change prices or currency formats, as necessary, while keeping the victim from determining any standards or discrepancies, compared to other infections.

Making Sure that a Trojan Strikes out on Making Money

Because the Striked Ransomware infections often trace back to RDP attacks, users should monitor their network security settings for any vulnerabilities that could induce such dangers. In theory, threat actors also can use other ways to gain a foothold before installing threats like the Striked Ransomware, such as e-mail attachments carrying disguised, unsafe content. Exploit kits, which load through compromised websites, also are highly prominent infection vectors with modern day, file-encoding Trojans.

Having a rigorous backup policy that saves copies to locations that aren't vulnerable is the simplest way to defend any files against attacks of this nature. Although Windows does keep default backup data, it sometimes is the target of deletion by threats like Hidden Tear and others with payloads all but identical to that of the Striked Ransomware. Users with no backups could seek decryption help from third-party security researchers or delete the Striked Ransomware immediately with any qualified anti-malware tool.

One may think of a Trojan infection as always the fault of someone making an obvious mistake, such as clicking on a fake update pop-up. However, con artists are streamlining their methods for threat introduction, potentially resulting in cases like the Striked Ransomware, where an attack can happen with almost no forewarning.

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: 5.79 MB (5795397 bytes)
MD5: 96aae6a052f24089d13b1460577fc6c9
Detection count: 71
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: July 20, 2017
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