‘.ecc File Extension’ Ransomware

Posted: January 20, 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:	14

First Seen:	January 20, 2016
Last Seen:	August 30, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware is a threat that encrypts your files, making them unusable in the process, after which the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware attempts to sell its victims an expensive decryption service being run by its admins. There is a high likelihood of the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware removing local backup information simultaneously, but remote backups are a free alternative to using a file decryptor. Dedicated anti-malware tools always should be involved with uninstalling the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware.

The New Scope of Targets for Modern Ransomware

The '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware is a probable derivative of past threats basing themselves on the TeslaCrypt, and the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware uses the same style of attacks with only minor changes to its external symptoms. Although the TeslaCrypt Ransomware is perhaps most famous for targeting gaming software, malware analysts see the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware attacks against more conventional targets: Microsoft Office documents (DOC, DOCX, etc.). As usual, the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware scans the local drives for files of these types without the victim's input and immediately runs them through an encryption algorithm designed for making them unusable.

Although the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware's payload includes changing file extension names to its '.ecc' file type, this change is wholly cosmetic, and renaming your files will not reverse the encryption of their underlying data. The '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware also launches ransom messages simultaneously with any attempt at opening these files, which exposes the victim to a file-ransoming tactic processing itself through Bitcoin transactions. Local backup information and, in particular, any Windows restore points, also may be deleted, blocking the most direct means of recovering your files.

The '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware's administrators or affiliated third parties also have developed variants of this file-encrypting Trojan, which may use different extensions or encryption defenses. Some of these clones include '.ttt File Extension' Ransomware, the '.xyz File Extension' Ransomware and '.xxx File Extension' Ransomware.

Curbing Ransomware's Newest Extensions

Anyone considering paying the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware's ransom should be made aware of the availability of free TeslaCrypt Ransomware decryptors, such as TeslaDecoder, that are effective for the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware and some (but not all) variants of the same threat. However, malware development for file encryptors often includes updates for blocking old decryption utilities. Other methods of protecting your private data from a the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware attack include using removable hard drives or remote servers for backup purposes.

As always, resolving the consequences of a the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware infection is less important than knowing how to prevent one. General safety tips malware analysts recommend using include blocking browser scripts, scanning suspicious e-mail attachments and ignoring questionable social networking links. Most PC owners should remove the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware and all related threats before making any efforts towards restoring their files. Fortunately, despite the barrage of 2015 to 2016 updates, the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware has shown no signs of being any more difficult for anti-malware products to identify than usual.

Despite the implications of the ECC extension, the '.ecc File Extension' Ransomware has no formal relationship with elliptic curve cryptography or the mobile platforms that are most vulnerable to it.

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.bmp

File name: file.bmp
Size: 71.71 KB (71712 bytes)
MD5: c579341f86f7e962719c7113943bb6e4
Detection count: 21
Mime Type: unknown/bmp
Group: Malware file