Now understand how the virus infecting Word files works

A strain of the virus is called Astra Locker Recently released a new version that infects file attachments E-mail Through quick attacks, but capable of causing great damage. Keep reading and understand how this works. ransomware.

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How does ransomware work?

Ransomware like AstraLocker is basically malware that encrypts relevant files on a device’s local and network storage, and demands a ransom to decrypt them.

The most common way to spread malware is to trick users into opening malicious email attachments, or opening files downloaded via links in emails.

On the other hand, it is also common for ransomware to be hosted on pirated software download pages. Moreover, in other cases, users are able to infect computers when a person opens files from other untrustworthy sources or uses fake installers.

AstraLocker – How does a virus infecting emails work?

In short, the bait used by the AstraLocker 2.0 operators is a different Microsoft Word document, which hides an OLE object with the ransomware payload. In this sense, the embedded executable uses the file name “WordDocumentDOC.exe”.

According to a code analysis by ReversingLabs, the AstraLocker virus is based on the leaked source code of Papoc, which is in turn a buggy but still dangerous strain of ransomware that appeared in September 2021.

How does this virus usually infect the computer?

Emails designed to spread this malware are usually disguised as urgent/important messages from legitimate companies or other entities. In this way, a person receives the fact that there may be harmful content and does not pay attention to it.

In this sense, there are some examples of files that cybercriminals use to distribute MS Office malware, files such as ZIP and RAR, PDF documents, as well as JavaScript and executable files.

What can happen if your files are infected with this virus?

If your computer is infected with AstraLocker, some of the things that can happen are the following: it will not be possible to open files stored on the computer; Files that were working previously can be changed to a different extension (eg my.docx.locked).

Furthermore, you may see a ransom message on your desktop, as mentioned earlier, cybercriminals often ask for a ransom (usually in cryptocurrencies like bitcoins) to unlock your files.