Trojan.ArchiveLock

Posted: March 14, 2013

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:	2,650
Threat Level:	9/10
Infected PCs:	16,022

First Seen:	March 14, 2013
Last Seen:	October 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The ArchiveLock Trojan is a ransomware Trojan that's spread through generalized attacks against PCs that use RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol, a default Windows feature). After encrypting your files to prevent them from being usable, the ArchiveLock Trojan displays a warning that requests that you pay a high fine to return your files to normal. However, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers note that there are free utilities available for decrypting the files that the ArchiveLock Trojan scrambles, and encourage you to ignore the ArchiveLock Trojan's ransom while removing your ArchiveLock Trojan with an appropriate anti-malware product.

The ArchiveLock Trojan: the File Imprisonment That You'll Need to Jailbreak

With the popularity of PoliceTrojans, anti-copyright theft Trojans and similar types of ransomware, the ArchiveLock Trojan stands out as an example of ransomware that prefers to state its intentions directly and without any obfuscation. After being installed on your PC, the ArchiveLock Trojan selects a wide range of common file types, copies them, deletes the originals and encrypts the copies. This encryption only can be bypassed by specialized utilities are by anyone who has the appropriate code – such as the criminals behind the ArchiveLock Trojan's attacks.

The ArchiveLock Trojan also displays a ransom message that asks you to pay a total of five thousand USD before your PC's files will be returned to their normal selves again. This rather staggering fee, even as far as ransomware-based ransoms go, should never be paid, as SpywareRemove.com malware researchers can recommend several ways of restoring your files to normal without rewarding the ArchiveLock Trojan for its attacks. Among other solutions, most prominent anti-malware companies include several decryption tools in their repertoire that are free to the public – although you'll still need to remove the ArchiveLock Trojan from your computer, as well.

The Easy ArchiveUnlock

The ArchiveLock Trojan spreads via the rather unorthodox means of brute force-guessing random RDP accounts. SpywareRemove.com malware research team recommends that you use strong passwords and user names to avoid being victimized by brute force attacks, which usually are statistically insignificant for PC users who practice proper computer security. However, PC users who use default or easily-guessed names and/or passwords are in danger of being major targets of ArchiveLock Trojan attacks, which have been found to spread widely throughout France and Spain.

Deleting the ArchiveLock Trojan should be done before you try to decrypt your files, and SpywareRemove.com malware experts encourage the usage of suitable anti-malware tools for the former. Once your PC is disinfected, free utilities can be used to restore the files that the ArchiveLock Trojan encrypted. On the other hand, you also may restore your files from a recent backup source.

Actual encryption attacks are less common than simple encryption threats, but the ArchiveLock Trojan isn't the only encryption-including ransomware that SpywareRemove.com malware experts have identified. The Reloadit Pack Virus is an example of a more conventional type of ransomware than the ArchiveLock Trojan that, nonetheless, issues the same basic threat for the same purpose.

Trojan.ArchiveLock

Threat Metric

The ArchiveLock Trojan: the File Imprisonment That You'll Need to Jailbreak

The Easy ArchiveUnlock

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