QkG Ransomware
Threat Scorecard
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Threat Level: | 80 % (High) |
Infected Computers: | 1 |
First Seen: | January 29, 2022 |
Last Seen: | January 29, 2022 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The QkG Ransomware is a data encryption Trojan that was found on compromised machines on November 23rd, 2017. Analysis of the QkG Ransomware campaign revealed the malware payload is delivered via spam emails and links to compromised sites. The QkG Ransomware is perceived as a general data encryption threat that behaves a bit odd in comparison to the Panda Ransomware, the BASS-FES Ransomware, and many others. Lab tests showed that the QkG Ransomware is designed to encipher Microsoft Word files only. That means that data like audio records, video clips, presentations, spreadsheets, databases, and images is likely to remain clean. However, the programmers who created the QkG Ransomware might release a new variant that targets many other file formats.
The initial release of the QkG Ransomware appears to be equipped with a custom XOR encryption algorithm that is applied to data containers with the DOC and the DOCX file extension. There are malware researchers who suspect that the QkG Ransomware is likely the product of programmers with limited coding skills judging by the implementation of XOR encryption. The XOR algorithm can be broken with frequency analysis and threats like the Marlboro Ransomware that implement XOR code have been cracked in the past. We are positive that the data encoded by the QkG Ransomware can be recovered, but there is no decryptor on the Internet available yet. It might be possible to use the Shadow Volume Copies made by Windows and rebuild your files structure. Objects encrypted by the QkG Ransomware can be recognized in Windows Explorer by their generic white icon and lack of thumbnail. The QkG Ransomware Trojan is observed to generate a message box once the encryption process is complete that says:
'I'm QkG@PTM17! by TNA-MHT-TT2
Send $300 to BTC Address: 14zA1NdTgtesLWZxtysLQQtsuKzjFbpydg
Contact email: [Proton email account]
[UNIQUE ID NUMBER]'
The payment of 300 USD is equal to ≈0.03667 Bitcoin and may seem like a reasonable price to some users. As mentioned above, a decryptor may be published by AV companies, and you can recover from the QkG Ransomware attack by loading backup images, the shadow volume snapshots and using system recovery disks. You will need to clean your PC using a trusted anti-malware suite that is likely to display the following detection names:
- DOC.Z.Agent.58880.EC
- Doc.Dropper.Agent-6371959-0
- EXP/MSWord.njygp
- Heuristic-21!VBAMacro
- Ransom_CRYPTOQKG.A
- Trojan.Generic.D5EA4D1
- Trojan.GenericKD.6202577
- Trojan.Msword.NYX
- Virus.Msword.Blufish!c
- W97M.Melissa.Variant
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