ViluciWare Ransomware

The ViluciWare Ransomware is a file-locking Trojan that uses encryption to block documents and other media and create a screen-blocking ransom pop-up. Users have no guarantee of receiving an unlocking service after paying and should depend on previously-established backups, in most situations. Anti-malware products can protect vulnerable Windows PCs by blocking installation exploits or uninstalling the ViluciWare Ransomware.

Strangers Staring Out at Windows Users with Implications of Extortion

An independent cyber-security researcher confirms the presence of a new file-locking Trojan that also holds pretensions towards the screen-locking properties of typical 'script kiddy' software. Although some sources claim strong similarities between the ViluciWare Ransomware and the Skidware Ransomware resources from previous months, malware researchers see no distinct connections in code between the two, and any common ground is cosmetic primarily. What makes the ViluciWare Ransomware a danger to Windows users isn't its looks but its behavior, which it shares with most Trojans of its category.

The ViluciWare Ransomware's executable appears with several, suggestive names, including sdiptronet and unrat1. Despite the latter, it's not a Remote Access Trojan or capable of creating a backdoor for any attackers). As usual, the Trojan has Registry-based persistence mechanisms while it sets up its encryption routine, which blocks media files, including documents, images, or audio from opening, and adds generic 'locked' extensions in their names. This symptom is an archetypal one that the program shares with countless other Trojans, such as 2017's Cyberdrill Ransomware.

The ViluciWare Ransomware's pop-up alert, which loads last, is both a ransom note for the victim and a screen-locker element that blocks access to the Windows UI. The image contains a crude mosaic of various streaming personalities, recommends contacting the threat actor over Discord, and includes an unlocking or 'unencrypt' interface for paying 'customers.' The poor grammar and other issues cause malware experts to estimate that the threat actor has low experience in the field and may not secure the encryption routine adequately, which emphasizes the importance of checking all recovery possibilities before giving in to any extortion.

Prying a Trojan's Advertising Off Your Monitor

The ViluciWare Ransomware markets its decryption assistance unusually aggressive, and the pop-up alert's format may prevent users from determining what files are at risk. Since most recovery paths require regaining access to the Windows interface, malware experts recommend several workarounds, including booting from USB devices or using Safe Mode for launching the OS without the ViluciWare Ransomware. Victims shouldn't rename any affected files since doing so increases the difficulty of identifying which data is encrypted.

Low-level threats like the ViluciWare Ransomware tend to use some of the simplest distribution models available to file-locking Trojans. They can hide as fake or bundle-based downloads of media like copyright-protected movies or software cracks. Coronavirus-themed tactics and application downloads, as well as workplace-specific attacks like fake invoices attaching themselves to e-mails, also are strong possibilities. Users also should pay attention to their password choices – a poor one can serve as a launching point for brute-force attacks and attackers gaining access to the digital media over a remote connection.

Despite its being new relatively and not a part of any well-established family, most cyber-security programs flag this Trojan through generalized detection metrics. Users protected by compatible anti-malware products should quickly delete the ViluciWare Ransomware and spare their files any encryption.

The ViluciWare Ransomware leaves its ransom demands open to questioning, but even a penny is too high for remedying mistakes that users shouldn't make in the first place. A little attention to backups and security goes a long way against Trojans of all origins.