‘Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice’ Ransomware

Posted: December 13, 2012

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:	859
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	111,636

First Seen:	December 13, 2012
Last Seen:	October 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware pretends to be a legal notification from the US government, but actually is a ransomware Trojan that aims to steal your money through the MoneyPak voucher system. 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware may pretend to be authorized to lock your computer and even will pretend to be monitoring your webcam feed for legal purposes, but 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware is, itself, a completely illegal and malicious program that never should be taken at face value. If you notice an easily-spotted 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware infection by its characteristic pop-up warning, SpywareRemove.com malware experts recommend that you take suitable measures to disable the 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware before you try to delete 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware with a dependable anti-malware product.

Why You Don't Need to Fear 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware's Ominous Judgment

While most ransomware Trojans will display pop-up alerts that involve threats regarding supposed activities based around A) illegal erotica or B) copyright infringement, 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware cites both of these reasons as excuses for locking your computer. Similar to many other recent ransomware-based PC threats, 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware also will attempt to capture your webcam feed and display it as fake evidence of your actions being monitored by legal authorities.

Along with its threats of other supposedly legal penalties, 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware insists that its victims pay a 300 USD fine to avert these problems. However, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers note that 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware isn't capable of penalizing your PC legally and isn't affiliated with any type of law-abiding organization.

SpywareRemove.com malware experts have noted that 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware bears many similarities to other ransomware Trojans, particularly the Celas Trojan, the SGAE Virus, the SIAE Virus and the Gema 'Access to your computer was denied' Virus. The same infection vectors that are responsible for these types of ransomware Trojans also should be considered potential entry points for 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware, which will install itself without your consent and while trying to disguise itself as another application (if its installation is visible at all).

Taking Away 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware's Stolen Gavel

Because the same vulnerabilities that introduce 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware to your computer also may install other forms of malware, SpywareRemove.com security analysts recommend that you consider your computer as potentially compromised by multiple threats until you can use anti-malware products to confirm otherwise. 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware may display its screen-blocking fake alert automatically, but you don't need to pay its fine to stop this attack – instead, you should use the Safe Mode feature of Windows to prevent 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware from starting and displaying its pop-up in the first place.

After having vanquished 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware's startup exploit, you can use anti-malware software to remove 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware and any other malware in perfect safety. In no case do SpywareRemove.com malware experts recommend paying 'Your computer has been blocked by the United States Department of Justice' Ransomware's MoneyPak fee, which has the sole purpose of funding the criminal development of malicious software.

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:

%CommonAppData%\MigAutoPlay.exe

File name: %CommonAppData%\MigAutoPlay.exe
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\{Value}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "MigAutoPlay" = %CommonAppData%\MigAutoPlay.exe

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

bomero.net

The following messages's were detected:

#	Message
1	ALL ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED THROUGH YOUR COMPUTER HAVE BEEN RECORDED IN THE POLICE DATABASE, INCLUDING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM YOUR CAMERA FOR FURTHER IDENTIFICATION. YOU HAVE BEEN REGISTERED FOR VIEWING PORNOGRAPHY INVOLVING MINORS.
2	AN ATTEMPT TO UNLOCK THE COMPUTER BY YOURSELF WILL LEAD TO THE FULL FORMATTING OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM. ALL FILES, VIDEOS, PHOTOS, DOCUMENTS ON YOUR COMPUTER WILL BE DELETED. To unlock your computer and to avoid legal consequences, you are obligated to pay a release fee of $300.
3	Amount of fine is $300. Payment must be made within 48 hours after the computer blocking. If the fine has not been paid, you will become the subject of criminal prosecution without the right to pay the fine. The Department for the Fight against Cyberactivity will confiscate your computer (After 48 hours).
4	Article - 113 The use of unlicensed software Imprisonment for the term of up to 2 years (The use of unlicensed software)
5	Article - 171 Copyright Imprisonment for the the term of up to 2-5 years (The use or sharing of copyrighted files)
6	Possible violations described below: Article - 184 Pornography involving children (under 18 years) Imprisonment for the term of up to 10-15 years (The use or distribution of pornographic files)
7	The United States Department of Justice The work of your computer has been suspended on the grounds of the violation of the law of the United States of America.