Styx 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.

Ranking:	1,628
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	18,163

First Seen:	October 24, 2022
Last Seen:	October 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Styx Ransomware is a Trojan that locks your PC's non-essential files so that it can force you to pay a ransom for the unlocking process. Users can best protect their media from these attacks by keeping spare backups and should ignore the extortion demands, if possible. This Trojan has minimal protection from conventional AV techniques, and most anti-malware programs should remove the Styx Ransomware safely.

Files Drowning in Netherworld River-Water

Threat actors already made great use out of the Greek mythological references within the EK sub-sector of the threatening software industry, thanks to the Styx Exploit Kit. The last month of 2017, however, shows a new meaning behind this brand's name, which implies data-locking attacks, instead of drive-by-downloads. However, the Styx Ransomware's attacks also target cybercrooks, which, arguably, makes the infection a potential case of 'just deserts.'

The Styx Ransomware's main executable is circulating as a fake hacking utility such as a Facebook account-hacking app. Users running this file infect their computers with a Trojan that locks a variety of media files, such as DOC, PDF, or GIF, with an AES cipher. Malware experts also emphasize that the Styx Ransomware includes less-visible, networking features associated with botnets. Threat actors use these distributed 'robot' networks for creating fake Web traffic, forcing systems to open compromised Web addresses and other attacks that hijack the infected PC's resources.

The potential for decrypting the Styx Ransomware's hostage media with any free software is under analysis. However, malware experts do highlight that the Styx Ransomware has no evidence of code-based relationships with other, 'cracked' families of file-locking Trojans, such as Hidden Tear, EDA2.

When not to Pay the Ferryman His Due

The funerary tribute to the river Styx's boatman may be an ancient tradition, but victims following the Styx Ransomware's referential example may find less than beneficial results. The Styx Ransomware's authors are using Notepad messages to sell their decryption application, along with the user-customized code, and specify Bitcoins for paying. Since there's no regulatory protection in Bitcoin for fraud, the paying users may never see their decryptor and have no legal recourse. For most attacks by file-locker Trojans, malware experts endorse backups as the most readily-available, albeit preemptive, solution.

The Styx Ransomware doesn't disguise its executable as being another format (such as the Godra Ransomware's choice of a fake PDF document) but does use misleading names for infecting your PC. Harmful activity-related downloads always are risky to the user inherently, although anti-malware products should detect the Styx Ransomware, regardless. Having your anti-malware programs available for deleting the Styx Ransomware can stop the encryption attack immediately, if not necessarily reverse any already-inflicted damage.

The Styx Ransomware campaign combines both relatively visible and less detectable elements to help cybercrooks maximize their profit per infection. As usual, taking proper protective actions before a Trojan's attack is much simpler than dealing with all the side effects, from data damage to loss of network security, in the aftermath.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

phenotypeguide.com