X1881 Ransomware

Posted: October 16, 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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	19

First Seen:	October 16, 2017
Last Seen:	May 22, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The X1881 Ransomware is an upgraded version of the CryptMix Ransomware's Shark Ransomware branch. This Trojan can damage your files by encoding them with a cipher without requiring a network connection to complete its attacks and may create ransom-based messages asking you to pay for data restoration. As with other components of the family, the security precautions that malware experts encourage versus this threat include having non-local backups for keeping all media safe, and anti-malware applications for deleting the X1881 Ransomware immediately.

Mixing Up a Fresh Release of Trojans

Since the introduction of the Shark Ransomware variant of September, the CryptMix Ransomware family has been relatively quiet. By the middle of October, however, threat actors have begun releasing yet another update, with brand-new ransoming contacts for accepting money in exchange for their decryption help. Otherwise, this new version, the X1881 Ransomware, is very similar to the Shark Ransomware build and malware analysts emphasize especially that it still functions without an active Internet connection.

Standard installation exploits that may allow the X1881 Ransomware to compromise a new PC include spam e-mail attachments, brute-force attacks against network login combinations and Web browser-based threats, such as the RIG Exploit Kit. After installing, the X1881 Ransomware searches for media that it locks with an AES-based cipher and an additional layer of the RSA encryption. The X1881 Ransomware overwrites the names of all blocked data entirely (such as pictures or documents) with a pseudo-random string of alphanumeric characters. It also adds the '.x1881' extension to them, which malware experts confirm is the first use of this identifier within the CryptMix Ransomware family.

Since the X1881 Ransomware uses a stock set of public RSA keys (which it shares with the Shark Ransomware release), it doesn't require a network connection for downloading additional encryption parameters. This configuration makes the X1881 Ransomware more capable than other versions of its family for ransoming offline content.

Washing the Serial Number of Extortion Off of Your Work

The X1881 Ransomware uses a secure file-locking algorithm combination that malware experts have yet to see broken, including in previous releases, like Shark Ransomware. Its Notepad-based ransom notes, which require the victims to contact an email address to pay for unlocking their files, also implies that the X1881 Ransomware is under the management of a new affiliate, which increases the possible unpredictability of its infection strategies. All users should continue blocking suspicious website content, scanning new downloads with proper security tools, and maintaining secure passwords to keep the X1881 Ransomware from infecting their PCs.

Since there is no free decryptor functioning with the X1881 Ransomware or the rest of the Shark Ransomware branch, only having backups can guarantee that victims can restore their data safely. For added protection, malware analysts still recommend that you save backups to locations that are least likely of being compromised, which includes removable storage drives and protected cloud servers. Most brands of anti-malware programs also should eliminate the X1881 Ransomware automatically, before its encryption routine can finish.

This year, the X1881 Ransomware's family is one of the most active names in launching data-locking attacks for money. Shutting down its campaign's financial viability by doing the extra work needed to protect your documents and other work should be on the top of the 'to do' list for anyone using Windows.

X1881 Ransomware

Threat Metric

Mixing Up a Fresh Release of Trojans

Washing the Serial Number of Extortion Off of Your Work

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