RANSOM_CRYSIS.TICOAAY

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 is capable of encrypting files in the affected system.

It encrypts files with specific file extensions. It drops files as ransom note.

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:

• %System%\{Malware Filename}.exe ← (if admin)
• %Application Data%\{Malware Filename}.exe ← (if non-admin)

(Note: %System% is the Windows system folder, where it usually is C:\Windows\System32 on all Windows operating system versions.. %Application Data% is the Application Data folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

It adds the following mutexes to ensure that only one of its copies runs at any one time:

• Global\syncronize_8XT2IZA
• Global\syncronize_8XT2IZU

Autostart Technique

This Ransomware adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
{Malware Filename} = "%System%\{Malware Filename}"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
{Malware Filename} = "%Application Data%\{Malware Filename}"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
{Malware Filename} = "%Application Data%\{Malware Filename}"

It enables its automatic execution at every system startup by dropping the following copies of itself into the Windows Common Startup folder:

• %User Startup%\{Malware Filename}.exe
• %All Users Profile%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\{Malware Filename}.exe

(Note: %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 2000 and XP, and C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows Vista, 7, and 8.. %All Users Profile% is the All Users folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\ProgramData on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

Other System Modifications

This Ransomware adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
%System%\Info.hta = "mshta.exe "%System%\Info.hta""

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
%Application Data%\Info.hta = "mshta.exe "%Application Data%\Info.hta""

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
%Application Data%\Info.hta = "mshta.exe "%Application Data%\Info.hta""

Process Termination

This Ransomware terminates the following services if found on the affected system:

• FirebirdGuardianDefaultInstance
• FirebirdServerDefaultInstance
• sqlwriter
• mssqlserver
• sqlserveradhelper

It terminates the following processes if found running in the affected system's memory:

• 1c8.exe
• 1cv77.exe
• outlook.exe
• postgres.exe
• mysqld-nt.exe
• mysqld.exe
• sqlservr.exe

Other Details

This Ransomware does the following:

• It deletes shadow copies by executing the following command:
  • vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet
• It executes the following commands:
  • mode con cp select=1251
• It avoids encrypting files/directories with the following strings:
  • %Windows%
  • boot.ini
  • bootfont.bin
  • ntldr
  • ntdetect.com
  • io.sys
  • FILES ENCRYPTED.txt
  • Info.hta
  • {Malware Filename}.exe
• It encrypts files in all fixed, remote and removable drives.

It is capable of encrypting files in the affected system.

Ransomware Routine

This Ransomware encrypts files with the following extensions:

• .1cd
• .3ds
• .3fr
• .3g2
• .3gp
• .7z
• .accda
• .accdb
• .accdc
• .accde
• .accdt
• .accdw
• .adb
• .adp
• .ai
• .ai3
• .ai4
• .ai5
• .ai6
• .ai7
• .ai8
• .anim
• .arw
• .as
• .asa
• .asc
• .ascx
• .asm
• .asmx
• .asp
• .aspx
• .asr
• .asx
• .avi
• .avs
• .backup
• .bak
• .bay
• .bd
• .bin
• .bmp
• .bz2
• .c
• .cdr
• .cer
• .cf
• .cfc
• .cfm
• .cfml
• .cfu
• .chm
• .cin
• .class
• .clx
• .config
• .cpp
• .cr2
• .crt
• .crw
• .cs
• .css
• .csv
• .cub
• .dae
• .dat
• .db
• .dbf
• .dbx
• .dc3
• .dcm
• .dcr
• .der
• .dib
• .dic
• .dif
• .divx
• .djvu
• .dng
• .doc
• .docm
• .docx
• .dot
• .dotm
• .dotx
• .dpx
• .dqy
• .dsn
• .dt
• .dtd
• .dwg
• .dwt
• .dx;
• .dxf
• .edml
• .efd
• .elf
• .emf
• .emz
• .epf
• .eps
• .epsf
• .epsp
• .erf
• .exr
• .f4v
• .fido
• .flm
• .flv
• .frm
• .fxg
• .geo
• .gif
• .grs
• .gz
• .h
• .hdr
• .hpp
• .hta
• .htc
• .htm
• .html
• .icb
• .ics
• .iff
• .inc
• .indd
• .ini
• .iqy
• .j2c
• .j2k
• .java
• .jp2
• .jpc
• .jpe
• .jpeg
• .jpf
• .jpg
• .jpx
• .js
• .jsf
• .json
• .jsp
• .kdc
• .kmz
• .kwm
• .lasso
• .lbi
• .lgf
• .lgp
• .log
• .m1v
• .m4a
• .m4v
• .max
• .md
• .mda
• .mdb
• .mde
• .mdf
• .mdw
• .mef
• .mft
• .mfw
• .mht
• .mhtml
• .mka
• .mkidx
• .mkv
• .mos
• .mov
• .mp3
• .mp4
• .mpeg
• .mpg
• .mpv
• .mrw
• .msg
• .mxl
• .myd
• .myi
• .nef
• .nrw
• .obj
• .odb
• .odc
• .odm
• .odp
• .ods
• .oft
• .one
• .onepkg
• .onetoc2
• .opt
• .oqy
• .orf
• .p12
• .p7b
• .p7c
• .pam
• .pbm
• .pct
• .pcx
• .pdd
• .pdf
• .pdp
• .pef
• .pem
• .pff
• .pfm
• .pfx
• .pgm
• .php
• .php3
• .php4
• .php5
• .phtml
• .pict
• .pl
• .pls
• .pm
• .png
• .pnm
• .pot
• .potm
• .potx
• .ppa
• .ppam
• .ppm
• .pps
• .ppsm
• .ppt
• .pptm
• .pptx
• .prn
• .ps
• .psb
• .psd
• .pst
• .ptx
• .pub
• .pwm
• .pxr
• .py
• .qt
• .r3d
• .raf
• .rar
• .raw
• .rdf
• .rgbe
• .rle
• .rqy
• .rss
• .rtf
• .rw2
• .rwl
• .safe
• .sct
• .sdpx
• .shtm
• .shtml
• .slk
• .sln
• .sql
• .sr2
• .srf
• .srw
• .ssi
• .st
• .stm
• .svg
• .svgz
• .swf
• .tab
• .tar
• .tbb
• .tbi
• .tbk
• .tdi
• .tga
• .thmx
• .tif
• .tiff
• .tld
• .torrent
• .tpl
• .txt
• .u3d
• .udl
• .uxdc
• .vb
• .vbs
• .vcs
• .vda
• .vdr
• .vdw
• .vdx
• .vrp
• .vsd
• .vss
• .vst
• .vsw
• .vsx
• .vtm
• .vtml
• .vtx
• .wb2
• .wav
• .wbm
• .wbmp
• .wim
• .wmf
• .wml
• .wmv
• .wpd
• .wps
• .x3f
• .xl
• .xla
• .xlam
• .xlk
• .xlm
• .xls
• .xlsb
• .xlsm
• .xlsx
• .xlt
• .xltm
• .xltx
• .xlw
• .xml
• .xps
• .xsd
• .xsf
• .xsl
• .xslt
• .xsn
• .xtp
• .xtp2
• .xyze
• .xz
• .zip

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

• .id-{ID}.[decrypthelp@{BLOCKED}q.com].arrow

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

• %Application Data%\Info.hta
• %System%\Info.hta
• %User Startup%\Info.hta
• %All Users Profile%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Info.hta
• {Public User Desktop}\FILES ENCRYPTED.txt
• {All Drives}\FILES ENCRYPTED.txt
• %Desktop%\FILES ENCRYPTED.txt

(Note: %Application Data% is the Application Data folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.. %System% is the Windows system folder, where it usually is C:\Windows\System32 on all Windows operating system versions.. %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 2000 and XP, and C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows Vista, 7, and 8.. %All Users Profile% is the All Users folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\ProgramData on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.. %Desktop% is the desktop folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Desktop in Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\Desktop in Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

NOTES:
This ransomware displays the following ransom notes after encrypting the target files: