WinLock2 Ransomware

Posted: December 28, 2017

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:	6/10
Infected PCs:	119

First Seen:	January 31, 2023
Last Seen:	July 3, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The WinLock2 Ransomware is a Trojan that locks your screen and creates fake police warnings specific to the Czech Republic. Although the Trojan uses various methods of blocking your screen while awaiting its ransom, malware experts recommend ignoring the demands, which aren't mandatory for restoring your PC. Follow the instructions in this article for disabling the Trojan's UI before letting your anti-malware software handle uninstalling the WinLock2 Ransomware.

The Scurvy on Your Screen from Attempted Software Piracy

Cybercrooks managing Trojan campaigns often are no less aware than marketing teams of what constitutes a worthy psychological tool for promoting a product. Although spam e-mails using a business-themed disguise are preferable for targeting corporate servers, Trojans with casual victims in mind often install themselves by pretending to be popular media. Such is the case with the WinLock2 Ransomware's campaign, which is more typical to the attacks of years ago, before the widespread adoption of encryption payloads.

The WinLock2 Ransomware is Windows software that circulates on piracy-related websites and networks, such as torrents, to compromise victims at random. Its installer's name misrepresents it as a crack for one of the new entries of the Call of Duty franchise, including a tag associated with a known hacker organization. When the user makes the mistake of launching it, the WinLock2 Ransomware makes Registry changes for persisting on the system, disables the Windows Task Manager, and loads a screen-sized pop-up.

The window displays full-screen without a border or any UI options for minimizing, closing or resizing it. This pop-up claims that the user's PC is under a blockade for its history with illicit activities (such as breaching copyright related to media like the previously-noted CoD) until they fulfill a PaySafeCard fee. While the text is in Czech, malware analysts also identify other campaigns using identical components with different languages, especially throughout Europe and North America.

Cracking a Fake Cracker

DRM-cracking software, key generators, and other, traditionally illicit programs are often associating with other, unsafe activity that may take advantage of their users, as much as any business entities. Even though the WinLock2 Ransomware's disguise is superficial and it has no endorsement from the Czech government, its attacks can disable your security applications and eliminate any access to the basic Windows interface. The monitor-unlocking tactics that our malware analysts recommend include:

Entering any sixteen-character-length string (such as '123456789abcdefg') should remove the WinLock2 Ransomware's window.
You also may restart your computer by booting it from a removable device, such as any DVD or USB.

In either case, the victim should have anti-malware products deleting all of the WinLock2 Ransomware's components before restarting their computers. The ransom should, as with any extortion-based Trojan, be left unpaid.

There are no legal repercussions from the WinLock2 Ransomware infection. However, breaking the law has a way of endangering the aggressor as much as any victims, even if the result is a coincidental, third-party threat, like the WinLock2 Ransomware.

WinLock2 Ransomware

Threat Metric

The Scurvy on Your Screen from Attempted Software Piracy

Cracking a Fake Cracker

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