Venis Ransomware

Posted: October 12, 2016

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:	95

First Seen:	October 12, 2016
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Venis Ransomware is a piece of file encryption threat whose author is attempting to spread as a fake decryption tool for the Cerber Ransomware. An even more peculiar fact is that the Venis Ransomware doesn't appear to be an active threat at the moment. When it infects a computer, it doesn't do anything to encrypt the user's data but, however, it does drop a ransom note which contains some general information about the infection, as well as payment instructions. The Venis Ransomware's note warns victims that they have 72 hours to pay the ransom fee, or the data required to decrypt their files will be purged permanently. Furthermore, the note tells victims that the attacker has collected information regarding their Skype and Web browser history, usernames and passwords, and other sensitive data. However, the Venis Ransomware is not able to do this, and the messages are simply a scare tactic whose purpose is to convince the user. The last piece of the ransom note is the email, Venisransom@protonmail.com, that can be reached to contact the operators of the Venis Ransomware.

Although the Venis Ransomware is not active at the moment, there's no way we can be sure that the payload it drops on infected machines will not start encrypting data in the near future. Even if the Venis Ransomware is dormant right now, it may be simply waiting for its author to command it to start the encryption process. Since there's no accurate information about the encryption technique that the Venis Ransomware uses, it is impossible to tell potential victims of this threat whether they'll get a chance to restore their data for free. However, regardless if your files have been encrypted by the Venis Ransomware or similar crypto threat, you can rest assured that paying the ransom fee is one of the worst ways to approach the issue. The money you send to cyber crooks may be used to develop more sophisticated threats, and the worse part is that there's no guarantee that the ransomware operators will help you to recover your files. This is why cyber security experts advise ransomware victims to start by removing the infection from their computers with the help of advanced anti-malware software. As for the encrypted files, the best way to recover them is by using a recent backup. However, if a backup is not available, then restoring these files might not be possible unless malware researchers develop a free decryption utility, or if the ransomware operators decide to do a good deed and release free decryption instructions.

Venis Ransomware

Threat Metric

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