Monument Ransomware

Posted: March 28, 2017

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.

Ranking:	14,974
Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	1,012

First Seen:	March 28, 2017
Last Seen:	August 10, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Monument Ransomware is a Trojan that can encrypt your files to lock them and may delete them periodically, supposedly until you pay its ransom. PC users compromised by this threat should take appropriate steps to disable it and use anti-malware products for removing the Monument Ransomware safely. Recovering any locked data can be done through free decryption software or, ideally, a backup, if available.

A Monument to the Jigsaw Ransomware's Continuing Danger

Although it should seem obvious for updates to old Trojans to be a bad thing for their victims, not all of these malware patches are equal. Some, such as the Jigsaw Ransomware renovation of the Monument Ransomware, include new features that can complicate any disinfection attempts significantly. While the Monument Ransomware possesses the file-encrypting and erasing attacks of the older Trojan, its threat actors also gave it a new feature that could lock you out of your operating system's UI completely.

Although its distribution strategies are unknown, malware experts are finding file data in the Monument Ransomware implying that its threat actors are disguising it as an installation file for unrelated freeware. The executable is a cracked version of the Imminent Monitor RAT (or Remote Access Trojan) that downloads and deploys its version of the Jigsaw Ransomware: the Monument Ransomware.

The Monument Ransomware's features of note include:

An encryption attack encodes different formats of files on your PC to block them from opening. The usual targets include documents, spreadsheets, archives and pictures.
In common with its predecessor, the Monument Ransomware also may delete a small number of your files selected at random, based on a timer, as well as whenever the PC restarts.
The Monument Ransomware's greatest shift away from the old Jigsaw Ransomware is the DarkLocker component that it uses for displaying its decryption-ransoming message. Although the Jigsaw Ransomware also includes a similar feature, the Monument Ransomware's version of it lacks any checks for ransom payments and will continue to lock you out of your desktop indefinitely.

The Monument Ransomware offers up all of the expected dangers of the Jigsaw Ransomware family with another impediment that could form a synergy with its file-deleting feature. Additional security risks posed by the Monument Ransomware's RAT-based Trojan downloader also could give con artists a degree of access to your computer for collecting information or installing new threats. Finally, even if the Monument Ransomware offers a ransom-based way of recovering your files, paying isn't certain to give you a real decryptor.

You should limit infected PCs from rebooting as much as possible, as well as sever any network connectivity temporarily. If necessary, restarting your PC through a recovery USB device can help you avoid loading the screen-locker window. Although free decryption options for the Jigsaw Ransomware variants are extant, you should prioritize disabling and quarantining or removing the Monument Ransomware to protect your PC from any further damage. The word from malware researchers is that the Monument Ransomware's threat actors are deploying the Trojan against both Spanish and English-speaking targets currently.

The classical 'rock and a hard place' situation that the Monument Ransomware puts its victims into is meant to make them act in haste and pay the ransoms without hesitating. Nonetheless, the reality of getting disinfection help from the same people who compromised your PC is often a price you pay both in money and files.

Monument Ransomware

Threat Metric

A Monument to the Jigsaw Ransomware's Continuing Danger

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