'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware

Posted: August 24, 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:	30

First Seen:	August 24, 2016
Last Seen:	April 18, 2018
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware is a Trojan that blocks your data with a file encrypting algorithm. The simplest means of disabling such attacks include possessing backups that overwrite the damaged content, as well as block all obvious infection methods. Although malware experts have noted no decryption solutions to this threat, victims should continue deleting the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware through appropriate anti-malware tools.

The Expensive Result of Hosting Donald on Your Hard Drive

Although many of the most publicized Trojans include threats that show few symptoms while hiding on your PC, others can do similar amounts of damage even when the infection is blatant. Of the second type, malware researcers could indicate the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware, a Trojan with many features associated with the Crysis Ransomware family. The 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware is one of many variants of the group seen this year, joining others like the 'Systemdown@india.com' Ransomware, 'Meldonii@india.com' Ransomware, 'Radxlove7@india.com' Ransomware, and the 'Drugvokrug727@india.com' Ransomware.

The 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware uses an encryption-based attack to modify the internal data of your PC's files, with the algorithm currently estimated as using asymmetric AES-256 and RSA techniques. In addition to this cipher, which makes the content unreadable, the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware also inserts its custom e-mail address into their names, along with other information, such as new extensions and identification strings.

The Trojan then locks the PC's background wallpaper to display a ransom message that asks for negotiations to proceed through e-mail. The threat actors responsible for this variant of the Crysis Ransomware will provide a decryption solution after the successful extortion supposedly. Unfortunately, malware researchers see no public decryptors in distribution for providing a free option.

Traveling Off the Old MacDonald Encryption Farm

The 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware operates under an attack strategy difficult to differentiate from other variants of file encryption Trojans. However, as a Trojan most likely under operation by a new threat actor, its distribution methods, extortion details, and other variables are unknown effectively. Many Trojans of the same category as the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware use e-mail attachments for installing themselves, with the corresponding Trojan droppers hiding their executable formats behind other extensions (such as JPG or XLS). Some attacks also can occur through inadequate RDP security, brute forced network passwords or drive-by-downloads from a website.

Although the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware's family is a favorite among remote attackers, PC security entities are struggling with creating a free decryptor. Instead of trying to decrypt your data after the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware attacks it, malware researchers suggest keeping backups elsewhere that the Trojan can't encrypt. Doing so allows your anti-malware programs to delete the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware with no data loss consequences.

As long as coders can find other con artists who are willing to pay for a third-party Trojan, cases like the 'Makdonalds@india.com' Ransomware will continue being a threat to any form of digital data that isn't preserved in multiple locations.

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:

%SystemDrive%\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Payload_c.exe

File name: Payload_c.exe
Size: 409.05 KB (409054 bytes)
MD5: 9dbe1c7e190a8f4383b5c5cf3624e7f1
Detection count: 23
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %SystemDrive%\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 17, 2022