StrutterGear Ransomware

Posted: June 13, 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:	June 13, 2017
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The StrutterGear Ransomware is a variant of the Jigsaw Ransomware, a Trojan that can encrypt or delete your files until you pay its ransom. Conventional safeguards against file-encoding threats like the StrutterGear Ransomware include saving backups in places not often subject to attacks, such as detachable USB drives or cloud storage. Malware experts warn that a finished version of this Trojan could cause permanent data loss, and you always should use anti-malware products to disable or delete the StrutterGear Ransomware as quickly as is reasonable.

A New Picture for the Puzzle of an Encryption Attack

Various threat actor teams and individuals are making an efficient use of the code of the progenitor Jigsaw Ransomware, which earned its news headlines by combining attacks for locking your files with multiple triggers for deleting them. Previous, recent examples of variants on this theme include Trojans like the Ramsey Ransomware, which delivers similar attacks, or screen-locking threats like the Jigsaw 4.6 Ransomware that only imitates the symptoms. The StrutterGear Ransomware is the last example malware experts can add to this rapidly growing sub-group.

Just like the Ramsey Ransomware, the StrutterGear Ransomware is a legitimate variant of the Jigsaw Ransomware and reuses most of that Trojan's code. While the StrutterGear Ransomware does encrypt and lock various files on the infected PC, its author is configuring all attacks to do no more than target specific 'test' media currently. A full-release version of the StrutterGear Ransomware may scan the entire PC, attack folders like Downloads, or even compromise a local network-accessible drive on another machine.

Once the encoding attack concludes, the StrutterGear Ransomware loads a minor variant of the previous Jigsaw Ransomware pop-up. Like the old version of the Trojan, malware experts can confirm that the attack may lock your desktop and incorporate a timer, an encrypted file viewer, and various buttons associated with the ransoming process. The threat actors ask for the moderately expensive ransom of 500 USD in Bitcoins and threaten to delete your files if you don't do what they want.

Stopping Your Files from Becoming the Cogs Powering a Trojan's Profits

Users should remain cautious whenever dealing with Jigsaw Ransomware variants, like the StrutterGear Ransomware particularly, which could erase content under a variety of conditions. Malware experts recommend especially refraining from rebooting hastily, which could provoke automatic file deletion from the Trojan. Using bootable USB or CD storage also can bypass the exploits that let this Trojan load its attacks, including the pop-up, automatically.

There is a free decryption tool for the StrutterGear Ransomware's family, but, at this time, it isn't updated to encompass this latest fork of the program. Since the availability of decryption solutions are often subject to chance, backing up your critical files should be considered a better defense against threats like the StrutterGear Ransomware. Since threat-detecting rates for this variant are, overall, positive, most anti-malware programs should find few issues with removing the StrutterGear Ransomware at any stage of an infection.

The one, unwavering piece of the ransomware puzzle is the fact that the con artists need money to continue investing in their black market enterprises. Deprive them of that resource by keeping yours safely out of the StrutterGear Ransomware's wallet, by any means necessary.

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: 233.47 KB (233472 bytes)
MD5: a12e1bd4501d62ccf82729833afff6af
Detection count: 33
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 14, 2017