AiraCrop Ransomware

Posted: October 26, 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:	46

First Seen:	October 26, 2016
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The AiraCrop Ransomware is a Trojan that encrypts your files to hold them hostage while it awaits a ransom payment through a series of websites. Possessing multiple copies of any unique content, especially in locations not vulnerable to being compromised, is an important aspect of defending your PC from both the AiraCrop Ransomware and threats like it. On uninstalling the AiraCrop Ransomware, PC users not interested in preserving samples for the benefit of the security community should let their anti-malware software delete the program.

More Software Cropping Your Control over Your Files out of the Picture

With the domination of the data-encrypting Trojan scene by fast-breeding families of threat, PC owners easily can overlook some of the lesser-known threats that are still equally threatening to their possessions. The AiraCrop Ransomware is one case of a seemingly independent Trojan campaign using infrastructure and code most likely unrelated to old threats (although some sources speculate that it may be another product of the CrySiS kit). It remains just as able at launching data-encoding attacks that can block content on one person's hard drive or an entire server.

Malware researchers can confirm the AiraCrop Ransomware's payload including encryption attacks against RAR archives, making compression-packed content just as vulnerable to being blocked as uncompressed files, such as documents. After detecting files of these formats, the AiraCrop Ransomware uses an AES-based cipher to encode them. It also changes their names by adding the '.__the AiraCropEncrypted!' suffix, which does not overwrite the original extension.

Symptoms through which malware experts recommend taking note due to potential AiraCrop Ransomware infections include:

Desktop hijackings. Your desktop's background may switch to a graphic informing you that the machine has been infected or encrypted.
The presence of ransom notes, either as text documents or HTML pop-up windows. Con artists will demand payment in exchange for supposedly providing their decryption assistance and restoring your files.

Interested parties with any familiarity with CrySiS-derived threats also may note that the AiraCrop Ransomware's campaign uses TOR website-based ransoms, instead of the e-mail responses that CrySiS-based threats most often prefer. Malware analysts have yet to corroborate any direct connections with the AiraCrop Ransomware and other, major families of file encryptor Trojans.

A Cyber Ransom that can Stay at Zero Rubles Collected

tTe AiraCrop Ransomware has been seen active 'in the wild,' meaning that threat actors are deploying it against live targets for the purpose of gathering ransoms. Although sample distribution of the AiraCrop Ransomware is extremely limited, malware experts associate the Trojan's campaign most closely with Russia and nearby regions currently. The AiraCrop Ransomware may be traveling via the usual infection vectors, such as e-mail or brute force attacks against RDP accounts with easily-cracked passwords.

Because of the wide range of possibly valuable data that their servers can hold, businesses with poor network security are at risk of attacks from file encryption Trojans like the AiraCrop Ransomware particularly. Employees should use complex passwords, exercise responsible e-mail-reading behavior, and let their anti-malware tools detect and remove the AiraCrop Ransomware or Trojans able to install it automatically.

The AiraCrop Ransomware is a very representative example of harmful file encryption threats put to the purpose of making money. While con artists continue seeing file encrypting Trojans as easy money makers, PC users of all stripes want to consider having more than one copy of any file that they value.

Technical Details

File System Modifications

Tutorials: If you wish to learn how to remove malware components manually, you can read the tutorials on how to find malware, kill unwanted processes, remove malicious DLLs and delete other harmful files. Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.

The following files were created in the system:

file.exe

File name: file.exe
Size: 332.8 KB (332800 bytes)
MD5: 54217c1ea3e1d4d3dc024fc740a47757
Detection count: 65
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 3, 2017