Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware
Posted: February 22, 2013
Threat Metric
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: | 2/10 |
|---|---|
| Infected PCs: | 40 |
| First Seen: | February 22, 2013 |
|---|---|
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
A spinoff of preexisting Police Trojans, Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware has a police pop-up warning with new details specific to British victims, but otherwise is identical to other PC threats that lock your computer in exchange for a ransom. Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware claims to have caught you in the act of using your PC for illegal purposes, but Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware actually is installed on random targets and isn't linked to any type of police force. Although Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware will block you from using your PC while Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware is open, SpywareRemove.com malware experts don't recommend paying the ransom that Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware demands – instead, you should remove Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware with a suitable anti-malware program.
The Tarnish on Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware's Not-So-Impeccable Badge
Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware is a variant of past PC threats and displays a fake pop-up warning for residents of the United Kingdom. While some of the symbolism that this pop-up includes is specific to that country, most of its format is identical to previous types of Police ransomware Trojans that SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have analyzed, such as Police Central e-crime Unit (PCEU) Ransomware, the FBI Cybercrime Division Virus, the CIBS Pol Virus, Polizia Penitenziaria Ransomware, the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance Virus, Rikspolisstyrelsen Ransomware and the United Kingdom Police Ukash Virus. Police Trojan malware like Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware is a global phenomenon, with a particular emphasis on countries in Europe, as well as the United States.
Once Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware is installed (an attack that usually is handled by website-based exploits), Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware generates a borderless HTML pop-up that covers your screen and remains on top of your desktop. The contents of Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware's pop-up warns you that you've violated various laws related to copyright protection and online behavior, and, as a result, may even face jail time. However, SpywareRemove.com malware experts are quick to note that Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware cannot send you to jail and isn't associated with the Cheshire Police Authority (or any other type of police).
Throwing Your Crooked Copper into the Recycling Bin
Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware's threats, although unable to be backed up with any type of legal action, is a simple social engineering attack that encourages victims to pay a Paysafecard or Ukash fee. Instead of rewarding criminals for their misbehavior without any benefits for your PC, SpywareRemove.com malware experts suggest disabling Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware without trying to pay Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware off for its trouble. Safe Mode or an OS loaded from a removable hard drive can help you access Windows without also launching Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware.
Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware will block you from using most other programs on your computer, and should be considered a security hazard to be removed immediately. Anti-malware applications capable of dealing with PC threats similar to Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware should be able to remove Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware, as well – provided that Cheshire Police Authority Ransomware is disabled in the first place.
Technical Details
Additional Information
| # | Message |
|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom Police Metropolitan Police – PCEU Cheshire Police Authority ATTENTION! Your PC is blocked due tout least one of the reasons specified below. You have been violating. Copyright and Related Rights Law. (Video, Music, Software) and illegally using or distributing copyrighted content, thus infringing Article 128 of the Criminal Code of Great Britain. …….. The amount of fine is £100. You can pay a fine Ukash or PaySafeCard. When you pay the fine, your PC will get unlocked in Ito 72 hours after the money is put into the State’s account. Since your PC is unlocked, you will be given 7 days to correct all violations. In case all violations are not corrected after 7 working days, your PC will be blocked again, and a criminal case will be initiated against you automatically under one or more articles specified above. |
My laptop won't even start in safe mode , the Cheshire police ransom ware just keeps coming up
Having the same issue laptop will not let me open windows in safe mode
I have same issue how do u take it off?
the chances are this firm is the same group of people who put the virus out there in the first place i hate all of these stupid viruses. keep crashing your machine until you get recovery options and wipe the whole thing - then once reloaded run malware bytes in safe mode. get proffesional advice
I have exactly the same problem, laptop completely locked by this program. How can it be removed?
hi I have this on my mobile after I opened a rouge tweet how do I solve this.
help my lap top is block by this same virus how do i get rid of it?
Have just received a pop-up EXACTLY like the one in the pic except it says I have been watching pornographic material. Different words, same requirement.
I was lucky (or quick) enough to be able to stop and remove 'Cheshire Police' - as soon as the screen popped up I opened Task Manager - I have a Windows 8.1 system btw - and noticed a so-called 'App' running called run.dll. I do know enough about PCs to know what the real run.ddl does and that it would not show up as an 'app' in this way; I was able to terminate it with Task manager and the screen closed - I could then load and use Malware Bytes Premium to remove what appear to be three related Trojans. The removal process needed a restart - which seemed to go on forever; when I could hear no disc activity,after about 45 minutes, I just did a hard restart. I hope this info is of help to people
@John Whitney - I found this a very helpful page - it might be worth just underlining for non-UK PC users hit by this particular ransomware that the Cheshire Police Authority ceased to function on Sep 22 2012 (being replaced by the Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire). This might help reassure victims that at least they haven't actually fallen foul of the law!
My Android 4.1 tablet is infected. As soon as it opens up, the Cheshire Police one comes up. How can I get rid on Android?