Cosakos Ransomware
The Cosakos Ransomware is one of the most recently spotted ransomware threats. When inspected, the Cosakos Ransomware revealed to be a variant of the very popular STOP Ransomware. This is a common practice among cybercriminals – instead of building a file-encryption Trojan from the bottom up they use the code of an already well-established threat like the STOP Ransomware and only slightly change it.
Propagation and Encryption
Malware researchers have been unable to determine the propagation techniques used by the creators of the Cosakos Ransomware. Some believe that the cyber crooks may have employed some of the most popular infection vectors in the spreading of the Cosakos Ransomware, namely mass spam email campaigns containing infected attachments, bogus application updates and pirated fake variants of popular software. When the Cosakos Ransomware infiltrates your computer, it will perform a scan quickly. The scan will show the locations of the files which the Cosakos Ransomware was programmed to go after. Then, the encryption process begins. When the Cosakos Ransomware locks a file, it changes its filename by adding a '.cosakos' extension at the end of its name. This means that a file you had originally named 'Hessian-Warrior.jpeg' will be renamed to 'Hessian-Warrior.jpeg.cosakos.'
The Ransom Note
In the next phase of the attack, the Cosakos Ransomware drops its ransom note. The note is called '_readme.txt' and states:
'ATTENTION!
Don’t worry, you can return all your files!
All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
What guarantees you have?
You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.
You can get and look video overview decrypt tool:
https://we.tl/t-o7ClqIH7RS
Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that’s price for you is $490.
Please note that you’ll never restore your data without payment.
Check your e-mail "Spam" or "Junk" folder if you don’t get answer more than 6 hours.
To get this software you need write on our e-mail:
gorentos@bitmessage.ch
Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
gorentos2@firemail.cc
Our Telegram account:
@datarestore
Mark Data Restore
Your personal ID:'M
The attackers demand $980 as a ransom fee. They also claim that if you pay them within 72 hours you will get a 50% discount and the price will drop to $490. The authors of the Cosakos Ransomware offer the victim to send them one encrypted file, which they will unlock for free. This is done so that the user is convinced that the attackers have a working decryption key. The attackers give out two email addresses where they can be contacted – 'gorentos@bitmessage.ch' and 'gorentos2@firemail.cc.' They also give out a Telegram contact - @datarestore.
We advise you strongly to avoid contacting shady individuals like the ones behind the Cosakos Ransomware. Nothing good can come out of it. Instead, look into obtaining a legitimate anti-malware tool, which will remove the Cosakos Ransomware from your system safely.
