Cybersecurity company Bitdefender dealt a fatality to some hackers by releasing a free decryptor for the Mortal Kombat-themed ransomware that has been targeting individuals and businesses since last year.
Anyone who fell victim to the ransomware can now use the free universal decryptor that Bitdefender released. It’s available for download on Bitdefender’s website and can be deployed silently and automated using the command line.
You can define a specific path for the decryptor and disable its file backup function. Previously encrypted files can also be replaced with the -replace-existing command, so you should be able to recover your data without any problems.
The malware, which is a variant of Xorist ransomware, is masked as payments from the CoinPayments cryptocurrency trading platform. The email they send contains an attachment that looks like a CoinPayments transaction number but is instead full of aggressive malware.
The attacks began in December without any clear goal. Meanwhile, small and large businesses alike, as well as individuals, have been the targets of the ransomware, which often comes bundled with other nasty viruses to steal data and cryptocurrency.
Once you click on the email attachment and it becomes deployed, the ransomware encrypts all of your files, including files in your virtual machines and the recycle bin, it also corrupts your Windows Explorer, disables the run command, and deletes content from your startup menu.
The attackers target exposed RDP instances and deliver malware through the BAT Loader. Then it sticks a Mortal Kombat themed wallpaper on your PC and generates a file with an extension that says,
“Remember_you_got_only_24_hours_to_make_the_payment_if_you_dont_pay_prize_will_triple_Mortal_Kombat_Ransomware.”
Researchers at Cisco’s Talos cybersecurity team published a report on the ransomware in mid-February, which provided an in-depth description of the threat and how it functions.
They also found that the majority of targets are located in the United States, but some are in the UK, the Philippines, and Turkey.