Article created to help you remove Mordor ransomware virus and restore files encrypted by this infection on your computer.
A ransomware virus deriving from the ransomware-as-a-service malware, known as Karmen ransomware family has been reported to cause infections in the wild. The virus aims to encrypt the files on the compromised computer using an AES-256 bit encryption cipher and does not change the file extensions. It then displays a wallpaper with Sauron’s eye which aims to notify the victim that a hefty ransom payoff must be paid to restore the encrypted files. In case you have been infected by Mordor ransomware, recommendations are to continue reading this article completely.
Threat Summary
| Name | Mordor |
| Type | Ransomware |
| Short Description | Encrypts files on the computers infected by it after which asks a fee to be paid to get them back. |
| Symptoms | A ransom note is seen with the eye of Sauron from LOTR. Demands are made to pay a ransom. |
| Distribution Method | Via an Exploit kit, Dll file attack, malicious JavaScript or a drive-by download of the malware itself in an obfuscated manner. |
| Detection Tool |
See If Your System Has Been Affected by Mordor
Download Malware Removal Tool |
| User Experience | Join our forum to Discuss Mordor. |
| Data Recovery Tool | Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive. |
Mordor Ransomware – How Does it Spread
The infection process of Mordor ransomware may be conducted in several different ways, the main of which may be via spammed e-mail messages. Such e-mails may contain either malicious attachments in an archive or malicious web links. They are also accompanied by deceptive statements, like a purchase the victim hasn’t made or a prize being won, for example:
Besides this method of infecting victims, there are also other methods by which the crooks can reach users. One of them includes uploading the infection file on torrent websites so that it resembles various different software updates, fake game patches, license activators for programs or key generators.
Whatever the infection scenario is, once an infection has happened, the Mordor virus may drop 3 different .exe files with various names in the following Windows folders:
Mordor Virus – Infection Activity
Once this multi-threaded infection attacks the victim, it may begin to scan for and detect the following software installed on the victim’s computer:
- Anti-debugger.
- Analyzers.
- Virtual Machines.
- SandBoxing software.
If the malicious file is ran on any of those, it may shut down and automatically delete it’s loader (infection file) and the malicious files. In addition to this, if the above mentioned are detected, the ransomware also deletes it’s decrypter.
Another activity Mordor ransomware performs on the infected computer is to connect to it’s command and control server which has a control panel which receives information about the infected machine. This control panel is in several languages and features a separate BitCoin wallet that is created for each infection.
Other activity of the virus includes the ability to use .NET 4.0 as well as PHP 5.6, MySQL and it may also automatically be updated on the go.
The price for the Karmen ransomware as a service from which Mordor ransomware derives is 175$ and it offers many different features to the cyber-criminals using it:
- Uses sophisticated AES encryption.
- Can encrypt removable drives.
- Self-deletes after ransom is paid and deletes the loader after encryption has completed.
- Has a minimal connection with it’s C2 server.
- Has obfuscation that avoids AntiVirus software..
- Does not change file extensions.
In addition to those activities, Mordor ransomware may modify the following Windows registry sub-keys so that the virus runs on system start-up:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
Mordor Ransomware – Encryption Process
Being a Hidden Tear ransomware variant on which the Karmen family of viruses is based, the Mordor ransomware uses AES-256 bit encryption algorithm. This cipher may be appended on widely used types of files on the victim’s computer, for instance:
→ “PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG ..CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG”Source:fileinfo.com
After the encryption process has completed, users may no longer be able to access their files, even though no file extensions are added to them.
Fortunately being a HiddenTear variant, the viruses from the Mordor ransomware family may be decryptable. To try decrypting files encrypted by this virus, follow the instructions below.
Mordor Ransomware Variant – Decoding Instructions
The file-decryption process of HiddenTear ransomware is not as difficult, but you need to be prepared and do it from a safe computer that is powerful. Let’s begin!
Step 1: Download the HiddenTear BruteForcer by clicking on the button below and open the archive:
Step 2: Extract the program onto your Desktop or wherever you feel comfortable to easily access it and open it as an administrator:
Step 3: After opening it, you should see the main interface of the brute force. From there, choose “Browser Sample” to select a sample encrypted file of the type of ransomware you are trying to decrypt:
Step 4: After this select the type of ransomware from the down-left expanding menu:
Step 5: Click on the Start Bruteforce button. This may take some time. After the brute forcing is finished and the key is found, copy it and save it somewhere on your PC in a .txt file, you will need it later.
Step 6: Download the HiddenTear Decryptor from the download button below:
Step 7: Extract it and open it, the same way with HiddenTear Bruteforcer. From it’s primary interface, paste the key copied from the BruteForcer, write the type of extension being used by the ransomware and click on the Decrypt button as shown below:
After these steps have been completed, you should immediately copy your files to an external device so that they are safe. After this has been done, we strongly recommend completely wiping your drives and reinstalling Windows on the affected machine.
Mordor Decryption – Conclusion
Viruses like the Mordor ransomware variant are becoming more and more common. Since the virus has been detected on multiple different underground forums being sold as Karmen ransomware. This means that more variants of this ransomware infection may appear soon. This is why we advise you to increase your overall protection from ransomware viruses by following these steps:
Advice 1: Make sure to read our general protection tips and try to make them your habit and educated others to do so as well.
Advice 2: Install an advanced anti-malware program that has an often updated real-time shield definitions and ransomware protection.
Spy Hunter scanner will only detect the threat. If you want the threat to be automatically removed, you need to purchase the full version of the anti-malware tool.Find Out More About SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool / How to Uninstall SpyHunter
Advice 3: Seek out and download specific anti-ransomware software which is reliable.
Advice 4: Backup your files using one of the methods in this article.
Advice 5: : Make sure to use a secure web browser while surfing the world wide web.
