Home Malware Programs Ransomware V8Locker Ransomware

V8Locker Ransomware

Posted: December 19, 2016

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 8/10
Infected PCs: 611
First Seen: December 20, 2016
Last Seen: June 14, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The V8Locker Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts your work-related media like documents and accounting software databases. This threat may run its payload multiple times to hinder any recovery efforts. Malware experts recommend using backups to limit the harm that an infection can cause while also using anti-malware tools to delete the V8Locker Ransomware before restoring any of your files.

The Digital Dart Aimed at Your Fiscal Bookkeeping

Appearances aren't always the best way to form an opinion of a Trojan, with threat actors using social engineering tactics to confuse their identities and intentions increasingly. The V8Locker Ransomware is a relatively mild example, as a file-encryption Trojan that uses filename-modifying format seen in other families of threats without being related to them directly. Its attacks are just as able to block your files, including some unusual choices specific to a workplace environment.

The V8Locker Ransomware scans for files such as documents, spreadsheets, and databases, including content related to the Sage 300 accounting software. It can include drives accessible over networks in this scan, letting it compromise the contents of multiple systems and servers simultaneously. Once it finds appropriate targets, the V8Locker Ransomware encrypts them with an AES-derived algorithm, stopping them from being readable.

The V8Locker Ransomware's second phase includes a ransom message delivered via Notepad text, as well as a 'backup' communication line in the form of the e-mail address it appends to the filenames of any enciphered data. However, malware researchers recommend ignoring all recovery methods advocated by this threat. Paying ransoms to anonymous people for their decryption help, while not always a failure, often results in omission due to a lack of sincerity on the part of the threat actor or their providing malfunctioning decryption tools.

Washing out the Flavor of the V8Locker Ransomware

Malware analysts classify the V8Locker Ransomware as a persistent threat that you should assume is active unless you take appropriate steps to disable it currently. The V8Locker Ransomware may relaunch its data-enciphering payload and encrypt additional content over staggered periods of time or after your PC restarts. While its distribution exploits are under investigation, its threat actors appear to be targeting installations of the Trojan against small and mid-sized business servers. Such attacks can occur through the hacking of RDP accounts or by bundling the V8Locker Ransomware's installer into an e-mail attachment.

The V8Locker Ransomware's lack of relationship to prior threats becomes important primarily for the lack of public decryption software compatible with it. However, malware analysts do see some versions of the V8Locker Ransomware failing to delete the Shadow Copy data that Windows stores automatically. This weakness could even allow victims without external backups to restore their content and ignore the decryption process.

Removing the V8Locker Ransomware completely with appropriate anti-malware software is the most reliable means of halting any possibility of further file damage. The V8Locker Ransomware's potential for striking twice (or more than that) makes it difficult to overlook that all victims should prioritize disinfecting their computers over undoing the immediate effects of an infection.

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