'.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware

Posted: November 21, 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:	2/10
Infected PCs:	286

First Seen:	November 21, 2016
Last Seen:	June 13, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware is a fork of the Unlock92 Ransomware and continues blocking your files via encryption to sell you the decryption solution. Attacks are visibly recognizable by the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware's inclusion of new extensions on any encoded content, but the difficulty of reversing such attacks may mean that your data loss is permanent. As such, using anti-malware programs for blocking and deleting the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware beforehand is a highly recommended strategy.

A New Software Bug Birthed from Older Trojans

Taking the appearance of a file at surface value is one of the ways con artists exploit naiveté for spreading threats with minimal technical exploits. In many attacks, such as the latest Trojan droppers for the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware, nothing more is required than naming the original executable file into looking like something it's not, such as an XLSX Excel spreadsheet. Instead of receiving any spreadsheet data, PC users launching the file will infect their systems with the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware and put their files at risk.

The '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware launches with the same attacks malware experts previously saw from its closest relative, the Russian Unlock92 Ransomware. The '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware blocks your media by encrypting it, using an algorithm estimated as being the RSA-2046, and targeting data types such as spreadsheets, documents and pictures. Each encrypted file receives an extra extension, '.kukaracha' (an apparent misspelling of the Spanish word for 'cockroach'), that it adds behind any original ones.

Once it blocks your files with the encryption attack's cipher, the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware may create a ransom message in formats such as TXT, PDF or HTML Web page-based pop-ups. Threat actors may request differing quantities and types of payments for their help but always will demand the ransom before offering any decryption services, which may not restore any content.

Exterminating the Cockroach Infesting Your Files

The Unlock92 Ransomware family is not particularly large, especially when compared to other file-encryption Trojans like the Crysis Ransomware or Hidden Tear. Nor is the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware an especially original or creative update to that base program. However, its expansion to Bulgarian PC users and the use of infection vectors oriented towards business environments gives loud warnings of the intended demographics of its victims.

Workers using systems with network access should be cautious about often-used infection vectors for fake spreadsheets, such as e-mails, and be sure to scan these incoming files with proper security utilities. A slim majority of existing anti-malware solutions may detect and delete the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware through heuristic means. Doing so before the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware triggers its full payload is important since there are no freeware decryptions for the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware for decoding assistance.

Threat authors are doing their best to re-tool old, proven Trojans for new attacks specializing in particular regions and types of targets. Anyone who holds their hard drive's files at a premium would do well to follow the malware experts' routine recommendations of maintaining backups that can weaken the efficiency of data-based extortionists like the '.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware.

'.kukaracha File Extension' Ransomware

Threat Metric

A New Software Bug Birthed from Older Trojans

Exterminating the Cockroach Infesting Your Files

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