TROJ_POSHCODER.A

Posted: June 2, 2014

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:	9/10
Infected PCs:	28

First Seen:	June 2, 2014
Last Seen:	May 5, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

TROJ_POSHCODER.A is a file encryptor Trojan, or a variant of ransomware that scrambles file data, afterward requesting money to unscramble (or 'decrypt') your files. TROJ_POSHCODER.A is hard-coded to use default Windows scripts and utilities for much of its attacks, of which visible symptoms include changes to the affected files' names. You may overcome file encryption attacks relatively easily through proper file backup methodology and, of course, professional anti-malware programs that are able to remove TROJ_POSHCODER.A infections from your PC.

The PowerShell Trojan that's Anything but Posh

TROJ_POSHCODER.A is a new version of PC threats distributed in mildly divergent formats throughout the Web, differing from recent ancestors like the CryptoWall Ransomware and the BitCrypt Ransomware primarily in terms of its abuse of scripts. Although malware researchers previously have seen numerous Trojans exploiting the PowerShell utility, which may be installed (or 'dropped') by the Trojans, themselves, TROJ_POSHCODER.A is one of the few to use PowerShell to encrypt files. The file encryption attack modifies the first 81,920 bytes of the assaulted file, making the file effectively unreadable. Victims should be able to notice a change in file name that adds the extension '.POSHCODER,' along with the addition of a new HTML file including TROJ_POSHCODER.A's ransom demand.

TROJ_POSHCODER.A instructs its victims to use the Tor anonymity-enabling Web browser to generate a BitCoin Wallet for 1 BTC for use as a ransom payment. Although BitCoin's price fluctuates rapidly, at this article's writing date, current conversion rates are one to six hundred twenty-eight USD. Malware researchers, as per usual, suggest that you protect your files and ignore this ransom request, which relies on criminals honoring their word to decrypt your files for no additional gain.

The ranges of files targeted by TROJ_POSHCODER.A Trojans are extremely wide and include common formats such as TXT, JPG, MP3, DOC and AVI.

Keeping Your Files from Being Hostages of a BitCoin Thief

TROJ_POSHCODER.A currently targets English-speaking regions and is most widely seen in North America, though malware experts have taken notice of similar threats targeting other regions – or multiple ones at the same time. Because there's no guarantee that giving criminals what they want will return your files to their old selves, it's recommended that you use standard file backup protocols to restore any data encrypted by a TROJ_POSHCODER.A attack. In some cases, legitimate decryption utilities also are available freely from some PC security institutions.

TROJ_POSHCODER.A installs more than one threatening component onto your computer and habitually is, itself, installed by other Trojans. Hence, removing TROJ_POSHCODER.A always should be treated as a matter for anti-malware products, as long as they're available for use. Although TROJ_POSHCODER.A is relatively easy to spot (and even generates a pop-up error, in case you missed the file-encrypting attacks), TROJ_POSHCODER.A will try to prevent you from deleting TROJ_POSHCODER.A, like most other threat-for-profit.

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:

[filename].POSHCODER

File name: [filename].POSHCODER
Mime Type: unknown/POSHCODER
Group: Malware file

UNLOCKYOURFILES.html

File name: UNLOCKYOURFILES.html
Mime Type: unknown/html
Group: Malware file

%User Temp%\Quest Software\PowerGUI\{GUID}\crypter.ps1

File name: %User Temp%\Quest Software\PowerGUI\{GUID}\crypter.ps1
Mime Type: unknown/ps1
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\{Value}HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run {GUID} = ""HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft {GUID}0 = ""