Zayka Ransomware

The Zayka Ransomware is a variant of the Cryptmix Ransomware and blocks your files by converting them into cipher-protected versions. While the Zayka Ransomware offers a Bitcoin-based payment method for restoring your content, malware experts always recommend trying all other options, such as any available backups, before providing con artists with ransom money. Appropriate network security protocols, and particularly, anti-malware protection that can delete the Zayka Ransomware immediately, are valuable defenses against this threat.

Trojans Dishing out Ransoms in the Summer Heat

Although the family has been active previously, July is a notably busy month for the CryptMix Ransomware (sometimes aliased as Cryptomix). New evidence of another version of the Trojan already is appearing, only days after malware experts verified other variants, like Exte Ransomware. It's not yet quantifiable whether the even newer release, known as the Zayka Ransomware, is the work of a separate team of threat actors or is intended to cover up issues in old versions of the Trojan.

When it's run, the Zayka Ransomware scans for file types that it can send through an AES-based encryption attack that it may protect from cracking with a secondary, RSA enciphering method. Along with making any appropriate files, such as documents, spreadsheets, or images unusable, the Zayka Ransomware also creates various symptoms that are minor variations on those of the rest of the Cryptmix Ransomware family, including:

• The Zayka Ransomware adds its personal 'signature' to every locked file: a '.zayka' string that it appends onto the end of any previous extensions.
• The Zayka Ransomware creates a Notepad-formatted ransom note for the victim to read. This message is a minor modification of a template already in heavy use by the CryptMix Ransomware variants and updates the e-mail address for negotiating. As usual, the threat actor only accepts a Bitcoin cryptocurrency-based payment and offers a limited trial of the decryptor, to prove that paying could restore the encrypted media.

The similarities of the Zayka Ransomware to old Trojans of its family make it probable that the Zayka Ransomware is deploying itself through a Ransomware-as-a-Service or RaaS model, where different threat actors can administrate Trojans while paying a percentage or upfront fee to the original authors.

Keeping the Zayka Ransomware from Hopping Its Way onto Your Drive

The Zayka Ransomware is not compatible with free decryption tools currently, and malware researchers rate backups stored remotely as being the best way to keep any media from being damaged by newly-released Trojans of this classification. Trojans using encryption-based attacks often use infection vectors with foundations in e-mail spam, brute-force compromises of server logins, or Web-browsing exploits. Rotating through complicated passwords can help eliminate brute-forcing vulnerabilities, and most anti-malware products include various defenses against other drive-by-download attacks.

Threat actors favor cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a means of protecting both their identities and their profits, by eliminating traditional refund protections. Since paying doesn't guarantee that the threat actor will give you a decryption solution, victims always should resort to backups or reputable freeware solutions beforehand. Due to its being a member of a thoroughly-analyzed family, multiple brands of anti-malware products should delete the Zayka Ransomware without letting it encrypt any of your local media.

While the Zayka Ransomware's name is one way of translating a Russian term for 'rabbit,' its messages are in English, and malware experts expect its infection methods to target native English speakers. Anyone without a recent backup may want to keep such details in mind as they read their email messages, download new files or surf the Web.

Technical Details