Ransom.MSIL.FAKEWCRY.A

This Ransomware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It adds certain registry entries to disable the Task Manager. This action prevents users from terminating the malware process, which can usually be done via the Task Manager.

It drops files as ransom note. It avoids encrypting files with the following file extensions.

Arrival Details

This Ransomware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Installation

This Ransomware drops the following copies of itself into the affected system:

• %User Startup%\Runtime Broker.exe

(Note: %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Windows\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 98 and ME, C:\WINNT\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows NT, C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 2003(32-bit), XP and 2000(32-bit), or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit), 10(64-bit).)

It drops the following files:

• %User Startup%\Ransomware Snc.exe - ransom note GUI
• {malware file path}\Ransomware Snc.exe - ransom note GUI
• {malware file path}\icon.ico - icon of "Ransomware Snc.exe"
• {malware file path}\logs.logs - contains the decryption key and error message (if connection to URL fails)

(Note: %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Windows\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 98 and ME, C:\WINNT\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows NT, C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 2003(32-bit), XP and 2000(32-bit), or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit), 10(64-bit).)

Other System Modifications

This Ransomware adds the following registry entries to disable the Task Manager:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
System
DisableTaskMgr = 1

(Note: The default value data of the said registry entry is 0.)

Other Details

This Ransomware connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

• http://recoverydata.{BLOCKED}sting.com/api/?hard={used disk space}&cpu={VolumeSerialID}&dkey={decryption key}&ip={public ip address}

It does the following:

• It avoids encrypting the following files:
  • C:\BOOTNXT
  • C:\bootmgr
  • C:\boot.sdi
  • C:\BOOTSECT.BAK
  • %User Startup%\Runtime Broker.exe%
  • %User Startup%\Ransomware Snc.exe
  • {encrypted folder}\ReadMe.txt
• It encrypts all drives.
• It executes the following files after encryption:
  • {malware file path}\Ransomware Snc.exe

(Note: %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Windows\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 98 and ME, C:\WINNT\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows NT, C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 2003(32-bit), XP and 2000(32-bit), or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit), 10(64-bit).)

Ransomware Routine

This Ransomware avoids encrypting files found in the following folders:

• C:\Windows
• C:\Windows.old
• C:\Boot
• C:\Windows10Upgrade
• C:\$Windows.~WS

It appends the following extension to the file name of the encrypted files:

• .[{VolumeSerialID}][recover13@protonmail.com].Snc

It drops the following file(s) as ransom note:

• {encrypted folder}\ReadMe.txt
  
• %User Startup%\Ransomware Snc.exe
  

It avoids encrypting files with the following file extensions:

• .Snc