‘.abc File Extension’ Ransomware

Posted: January 22, 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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	96

First Seen:	January 22, 2016
Last Seen:	March 26, 2020
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The '.abc File Extension' Ransomware is a new variant of the TeslaCrypt Ransomware that modifies files through encryption, making them unusable, and asks for cash in exchange for providing a reversal of the file formatting attack. PC security experts have been deploying new decryptors for the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware and other TeslaCrypt Ransomware variants for free, and malware researchers also recognize most backup strategies as being effective against this threat. Before recovering your files, you also should uninstall the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware from your system with a dependable anti-malware scanner.

The Rise of the Alphabet Soup of Ransomware

The '.abc File Extension' Ransomware is part of a still-growing series of upgrades and deviations from TeslaCrypt Ransomware, possibly due to updates from its primary developers or modifications made by third party groups. All changes aside, the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware shows the same type of scam as other versions of its ancestor, which bases itself on encrypting your private files with a theoretically unbreakable AES algorithm and offering to sell you a decryption service. Files affected by the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware and related threats no longer can open with their associated apps.

Although the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware is most obviously identified by the '.abc' file extension the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware uses as a tag for its encrypted data, this extension choice is unrelated to the encryption process, and is strictly cosmetic in nature. Victims renaming the modified file extensions to their defaults will experience no changes in their inability to open the files. Some examples of similar threats related to the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware include the '.xyz File Extension' Ransomware , the '.exx File Extension' Ransomware and the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomwa, all of which use the same tactic.

The Trojan may implement a delivery method for its premium decryption ransom through multiple formats, including locking your desktop to a BMP image or depositing a TXT or HTML file in your folders. Some PC users also have experienced cases of the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware infections without the appearance of a ransom file, which most likely is an error on the part of the threat's author.

Pouring Trojan Soup Down the Drain

It may be natural to assume that all of the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware's updates limit themselves to superficial, trivial changes. However, its authors also made other changes to the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware, calling for additional protection to the custom string required for decrypting your files. Storing your information in a safe place, such as a cloud server, is an easy way to overcome the risks of most file-encrypting attacks. Disinfecting a compromised machine should take priority over preserving any local data on it. The '.abc File Extension' Ransomware makes Registry changes that can be difficult for casual users to remove and includes references to randomly-named files as concealment for its true identity. However, anti-malware programs that are using updated databases should be able to remove the '.abc File Extension' Ransomware without any significant problems, particularly since this threat has shown no greater efficiency at detection evasion.

‘.abc File Extension’ Ransomware

Threat Metric

The Rise of the Alphabet Soup of Ransomware

Pouring Trojan Soup Down the Drain

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