Haze Ransomware

Encryption ransomware Trojans are designed to take over the victims' computers, encrypting their files and then stipulating the payment of a ransom in exchange for the decryption key that is needed to recover the files encrypted by the attack. They are considered serious threats that have the potential to affect computers significantly. Since these threats are quite scary, the appearance of a category of threat that pretends to carry out an encryption ransomware Trojan attack without encrypting the victim's files. Haze Ransomware is one of these fake ransomware Trojans. The Haze Ransomware, in its attack, will claim to encrypt the victim's files in the same way as most legitimate encryption ransomware Trojans. However, the Haze Ransomware cannot encrypt the victims' files.

The Haze Ransomware is not that Threatening as It Wants You Believe

The main purpose of the Haze Ransomware attack is to trick the computer user into believing that the Haze Ransomware has encrypted their files. The Haze Ransomware will claim to have encrypted the victim's files and then demand the payment of 25 Euros using Paysafecard, a payment method that was quite popular several years ago but that has declined in popularity in favor of using Bitcoins to carry out these payments. PC security analysts first observed the Haze Ransomware in the last days of August of 2017, and it seems to be designed to attack English speakers. However, there is nothing preventing Haze Ransomware from spreading to computers outside of English speaking regions. The Haze Ransomware is designed to scare the victim by pretending to be a more severe threat. In the case of Haze Ransomware, it is designed to imitate the Petya Ransomware Trojan, a ransomware Trojan that was publicized in 2017 widely due to its involvement in several high-profile threat campaigns and infections.

How the Haze Ransomware Threatens Its Victims

The Haze Ransomware will display a message designed to scare the victims after infecting their computers. The Haze Ransomware imitates the visual style of the message that is associated with Petya infections, which includes blinking screens with lots of red and yellow and the con artists' message displayed over a red screen.The full note of the Haze Ransomware message reads:

'Welcome to haze Virus
The harddisks of your computer have been locked with a military grade encryption algorthm. There is no way to restore your data without a special key. You can get this key for 25€ if you folow the steps below.
1.Enter your E-Mail address below.
2.Enter a 25€ Paysavecard code below.
3.Click on ok, after a few time you will get a E-Mail from us with the Key.
Enter your E-Mail address: [ ]
Enter 25€ Paysavecard code: [ ]
Enter your Key: [ ]'

Protecting Your computer From Haze Ransomware

The Haze Ransomware can spread in several ways, including spam email attachments and by taking advantage of unsecured Remote Desktop Connections. Making sure that your computer is properly secured and you are using a reliable security program that is fully up-to-date can help protect your computer from the Haze Ransomware and other harmful and fake ransomware Trojans. Although the Haze Ransomware is not capable of encrypting your data, there are plenty of encryption ransomware Trojans active today that are capable of carrying out effective ransomware attacks. PC security analysts advise computer users to ensure that their data is protected against these attacks. The best barrier against real ransomware Trojans is to have backup copies of your files either in the cloud or a detachable device, which allows an easy recovery if your files are encrypted by a real encryption Trojan.