RANSOM_WMONEY.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 employs registry shell spawning by adding certain registry entries. This allows this malware to execute even when other applications are opened.

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 component file(s):

• %User Temp%\Want Money Ransomware.exe

(Note: %User Temp% is the user's temporary folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp 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.)

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
Want Money = {malware file path}

It drops the following shortcut pointing to its copy in the User Startup folder to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

• %Application Data%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Want Money.lnk

(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.)

It employs registry shell spawning to ensure its execution when certain file types are accessed by adding the following entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10\Shell\Open\
Command
{no value} = %User Temp%\Want Money Ransomware.exe

Other System Modifications

This Ransomware adds the following registry entries:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\
WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10\DefaultIcon
{no value} = %User Temp%\Want Money Ransomware.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney3
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney4
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney5
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney6
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney7
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney8
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney9
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney10
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10
EditFlags = 2

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney1
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\
.WantMoney2
{no value} = WantMoney1|WantMoney2|WantMoney3|WantMoney4|WantMoney5|WantMoney6|WantMoney7|WantMoney8|WantMoney9|WantMoney10

It modifies the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
System
EnableLUA = 0

(Note: The default value data of the said registry entry is 1.)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
System
Disableregistrytools = 1

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

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
System
DisableTaskMgr = 1

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

It changes the desktop wallpaper by modifying the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Wallpaper = %Windows%\×ÀÃæ±³¾°Í¼Æ¬.bmp

Process Termination

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

• taskmgr.exe

Information Theft

This Ransomware gathers the following data:

• Computer name
• Screenshot of computer

Stolen Information

This Ransomware sends the data it gathers to the following email addresses via SMTP:

• {BLOCKED}heng@{BLOCKED}.net
• {BLOCKED}601@{BLOCKED}.com

Other Details

This Ransomware sets the attributes of the following file(s) to Hidden and System:

• {malware file}

It does the following:

• After its encryption routine it opens the dropped ransom note text file "%Desktop%\_Want Money_.txt" using notepad:

  

• After its encryption routine it plays the dropped music file "%User Temp%\Want Money.mp3" in the background and opens the following window:

  

• It disables or turns off Windows Error Recovery Screen on Startup using the following command:
  • bcdedit /set {default} boostatuspolicy ignoreallfailures
• It disables Startup Repair from running using the following command:
  • bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled no
• It deletes the backup catalog using the following command:
  • wbadmin delete catalog -quiet
• It deletes shadow copies using the following commands:
  • vssadmin delete shadow /all /quiet
  • wmic shadowcopy delete
• After its encryption routine it opens the dropped image file which is set as wallpaper "%Desktop%\_Want Money_.bmp":

  

It performs DNS requests to the following sites:

• www.baidu.com
• smtp.yeah.net

Ransomware Routine

This Ransomware encrypts files with the following extensions:

• .zip
• .rar
• .7z
• .e
• .ec
• .bak
• .cpp
• .c
• .h
• .cs
• .doc
• .docx
• .xls
• .xlsx
• .ppt
• .pptx
• .mdb
• .php
• .gif
• .rtf
• .png
• .jpg
• .jpeg
• .txt
• .avi
• .msg
• .mp3
• .mp4
• .pdf
• .pps

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

• MNRAA-DRAZA-DVBAF-VHJAJ.Encrypted[{BLOCKED}601@163.com ].WantMoney{any value from 1 to 30}

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

• %Desktop%\_Want Money_.bmp
• %Desktop%\_Want Money_.txt
• %System Root%\_Want Money_.bmp
• %System Root%\_Want Money_.txt
• {all drives}\_Want Money_.bmp
• {all drives}\_Want Money_.txt
• %Windows%\×ÀÃæ±³¾°Í¼Æ¬.bmp
• %User Temp%\Want Money.mp3

(Note: %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.. %System Root% is the Windows root folder, where it usually is C:\ on all Windows operating system versions.. %Windows% is the Windows folder, where it usually is C:\Windows on all Windows operating system versions.. %User Temp% is the user's temporary folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp 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.)

NOTES:

To enable Windows Error Recovery Screen on Startup, Run cmd.exe as administrator and use the following command:

bcdedit /set {default} bootstatuspolicy displayallfailures

To enable Startup Repair, Run cmd.exe as administrator and use the following command:

bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled Yes