TROJ_RANSOM.AAF

Posted: November 22, 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:	14

First Seen:	November 25, 2012
Last Seen:	February 18, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

TROJ_RANSOM.AAF is a technical ID for a variant of 'FBI Your PC is blocked' Ransomware, a ransomware trojan that displays a fake FBI alert and plays an audio file to accuse your PC of being involved in online crimes. These attacks merely are the preliminaries to TROJ_RANSOM.AAF requesting a ransom fee. Because TROJ_RANSOM.AAF isn't affiliated with the FBI, doesn't respond to unlock codes and can't detect the crimes it claims you've committed, TROJ_RANSOM.AAF never should be paid, and SpywareRemove.com malware experts recommend that you treat it the same as any other type of illegal and malicious software. Because TROJ_RANSOM.AAF includes program-blocking functions, this article also outlines some of the extra steps that may be required before your anti-malware software can be used to delete TROJ_RANSOM.AAF safely.

Take Your Eyes Away from TROJ_RANSOM.AAF's Hypnotic Green Dot

The TROJ_RANSOM.AAF may be installed by a malicious website exploit (such as the Blackhole Exploit Kit) or by other trojans. Similar to other ransomware trojans that SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have spied of late, TROJ_RANSOM.AAF displays an HTML pop-up that blocks your screen and pretends to be a notification from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. This pop-up accuses you of copyright-related crimes and demands that you pay a two hundred USD fee by MoneyPak.

Besides its pop-up, the TROJ_RANSOM.AAF also blocks various programs on your computer, and takes particular care in blocking Windows utilities like the Task Manager and Registry Editor. All of this behavior is typical for ransomware trojans, and, overall, TROJ_RANSOM.AAF is reminiscent of other FBI-themed ransomware trojans that SpywareRemove.com malware analysts have researched such as the FBI Green Dot Moneypak Virus, FBI MoneyPak Ransomware, the FBI Ultimate Game Card Virus and 'FBI Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason' Ransomware.

TROJ_RANSOM.AAF and a minor variant, TROJ_RANSOM.CXB, also include an extra feature: they loop an MP3 audio file that makes additional announcements about fake criminal alerts regarding your computer usage.

Getting Rid of TROJ_RANSOM.AAF's Popup without Giving In to Its Fine

Since TROJ_RANSOM.AAF blocks other programs and launches itself automatically, you'll need to disable TROJ_RANSOM.AAF before you can begin the disinfection process. SpywareRemove.com malware research team recommends that you boot into Safe Mode or, in the worst case scenario, use a bootable OS that's loaded from a removable USB drive. Either method should be sufficient to prevent TROJ_RANSOM.AAF from being launched with Windows.

After getting into Windows without TROJ_RANSOM.AAF and its pop-up in the way, you can delete TROJ_RANSOM.AAF with any competent anti-malware product. Since TROJ_RANSOM.AAF isn't associated with the FBI and actually is at least as illegal as the crimes it rants against your committing, you shouldn't hesitate to protect your computer by removing TROJ_RANSOM.AAF without paying its illegal MoneyPak fee.

TROJ_RANSOM.AAF

Threat Metric

Take Your Eyes Away from TROJ_RANSOM.AAF's Hypnotic Green Dot

Getting Rid of TROJ_RANSOM.AAF's Popup without Giving In to Its Fine

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