Trojan-Ransom.Cidox

Posted: January 11, 2012

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:	12

First Seen:	October 12, 2011
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Trojan-Ransom.Cidox is a ransomware Trojan-based variant of Trojan.Cidox that locks your computer and requests money before Trojan-Ransom.Cidox will allow you to go about your business. Paying into Trojan-Ransom.Cidox's scam is strongly-discouraged by SpywareRemove.com malware analysts, since the criminals behind Trojan-Ransom.Cidox have no reason to follow through on their word and are very-likely to pocket your cash without unlocking your PC. Moreover, competent anti-malware products are able to remove Trojan-Ransom.Cidox and its accompanying symptoms without forcing you to place money into criminal hands. Because members of the Cidox family have been known to possess rootkit functions, you should be certain to delete all components of a Trojan-Ransom.Cidox infection by scanning your PC as thoroughly as possible.

Trojan-Ransom.Cidox: Not Quite Top Threat of the Year, but Close Enough for Its Purposes

Trojan-Ransom.Cidox was recently-ranked as eighth on a list of the most-harmful PC threats of 2011 by VirusBlokAda, an anti-virus company. Although the distribution numbers of the original Trojan.Cidox PC threat that Trojan-Ransom.Cidox is based on are still low, Trojan-Ransom.Cidox can truly be considered to be a high-level threat to your PC and endangers your computer's security with its mere presence. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers also caution that Trojan-Ransom.Cidox may not be alone, since Trojans from the Cidox family are often installed in multiple components that cooperate to attack your PC. This can include rootkits and PC threats that attack your computer's boot sector so that your PC will load malicious software by default.

Despite the fact that specific worms, rogue security programs and spyware Trojans have ranked higher on the aforementioned list than Trojan-Ransom.Cidox, even Trojan-Ransom.Cidox at position eight still has an enormously-invasive and deadly payload. Like other ransomware Trojans, Trojan-Ransom.Cidox will attempt to block your PC from running most programs and, as Trojan-Ransom.Cidox holds your computer hostage, will insist that you transfer money to Trojan-Ransom.Cidox's criminal partners. However, giving in to the demands of any ransomware Trojan, including Trojan-Ransom.Cidox's, is ultimately self-destructive and a needless waste of your money.

Putting Trojan-Ransom.Cidox at the Bottom of the List for Effective PC Threats

Removing Trojan-Ransom.Cidox should be done with anti-malware scanners that are also capable of detecting and deleted associated PC threats, especially other Trojans from the Cidox family. Due to the high potential of rootkit infestation, you may be required to take extreme measures to provide a safe environment for scanning your PC – such as disabling system backup features temporarily – before your anti-malware software, however competent, can delete all portions of a Trojan-Ransom.Cidox infection. If Trojan-Ransom.Cidox stops you from using software that could remove Trojan-Ransom.Cidox, you should attempt to disable Trojan-Ransom.Cidox beforehand. This can often be accomplished via Safe Mode or by directly-booting into the Command Prompt.

Trojan-Ransom.Cidox may also be identified by other names, such as TR/Drop.Cidox.imza, Trojan.Mayachok.1, Win32:Cidox-M, Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Cidox, Vundo.UWH, BScope.Trojan-Ransom.Cidox.8121 and Trojan.Generic.KD.444100.

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:

%APPDATA%\logonbgpack.exe

File name: logonbgpack.exe
Size: 139.3 KB (139306 bytes)
MD5: f3c461d316005c5e57783b20ac626f13
Detection count: 12
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %APPDATA%
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: October 13, 2011