Ox4444 Ransomware

The Ox4444 Ransomware is a member of the Globe Imposter Ransomware family, which imitates the symptoms of the Globe Ransomware Ransomware-as-a-Service. Its attacks may, like those of both families, lock your files by encrypting them and create ransoming messages for the unlocking solution. Free recovery solutions may not be possible without backups, although anti-malware products of most brands should eliminate the Ox4444 Ransomware safely and block any non-consensual encryption.

Another Imposter that's Wielding Very Real Attacks

The often-neglected Globe Imposter Ransomware family, being a group of threats less numerous than free competitors like Hidden Tear or heavily-organized RaaS entities like the Scarab Ransomware, isn't extinct, yet. Another variant is seeing distribution through means uncertain, although file-locker Trojans with similar origins tend to propagate through brute-force attacks or spam e-mails. The Ox4444 Ransomware uses a new extension, but in other traits, it's typical for its family.

The Ox4444 Ransomware appends the string in its name as new extensions for each file that it locks, which it does by using an encryption routine that's similar to that of its other family members, such as the '.Gif File Extension' Ransomware, the '.SKUNK File Extension' Ransomware, the SuddenTax Ransomware and the Decoder Ransomware. Thanks to updates by the threat actors, an encryption attack from a member of the Globe Imposter Ransomware family isn't always decryptable via free software, although victims should consider testing decryptors with additional copies of any blocked files.

While malware researchers can't verify some of the usual cosmetic symptoms of this family, such as HTA pop-ups, the Ox4444 Ransomware does create Notepad text messages. These text files contain the instructions that the Ox4444 Ransomware provides for buying the threat actor's decryption help without specifying the cost. Most ransoms by file-locker Trojans are in Bitcoins, which gives the criminals some anonymity, along with giving them the option of taking the money without fearing refunds for lack of service.

Stopping the Globe of Ransomware from Continuing to Spin

While the Ox4444 Ransomware's family takes its title from imitating the payloads of its more successful Globe Ransomware competitor, the Ox4444 Ransomware is just as capable of endangering your files and impeding your access to them. The content at risk for being locked includes prominent personal and workplace media, ranging from spreadsheets and documents to pictures and audio, although the Ox4444 Ransomware shouldn't lock or corrupt the operating system's essential files. Like other Globe Imposter Ransomware Trojans, the Ox4444 Ransomware is a Windows-only software and doesn't represent a risk to Linux or OS X systems.

Server administrators should review their logins and settings for vulnerabilities that could assist brute-force or RDP-based attacks, which are very favorable infection vectors for file-locking Trojans. Other users also may be endangered by e-mail attachments, such as Word or PDF documents, usually, pretending that they're invoices or workplace memos. Most anti-malware products, while capable of deleting the Ox4444 Ransomware and other members of the Globe Imposter Ransomware's family easily, are not a viable solution for recovering or unlocking your media directly.

Although malware analysts can't confirm the Ox4444 Ransomware's belonging to the 2.0 release of this family, chances of it being decryptable freely are not very high. Users will want to take the simple expedient of backing up their work somewhere else if they don't want to struggle with finding more complex solutions to the Ox4444 Ransomware's attacks.