Dropper.MsPMs

Posted: August 27, 2012

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Threat Level:	9/10
Infected PCs:	23

First Seen:	August 27, 2012
Last Seen:	October 27, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Further proving that even the most up-to-date security is imperfect, Dropper.MsPMs is a Trojan dropper that installs itself onto your computer by using unpatched (as of the time of this writing) Java exploits. Dropper.MsPMs is actively-distributed by at least one malicious website and can be used to install other malware onto your PC, such as worms, banking Trojans or adware. SpywareRemove.com malware experts recommend keeping Java and JavaScript disabled by default to help block Dropper.MsPMs attacks, although in scenarios where this isn't practical, anti-malware products should still be able to detect and delete Dropper.MsPMs – hopefully before Dropper.MsPMs can install its payload.

How Dropper.MsPMs Gets the Drop on Your PC Security

Dropper.MsPMs is distributed by the site ok.XXX4.net which exploits a new-found vulnerability in Java. So far, this exploit only has been used for Dropper.MsPMs, although it may be used to distribute other PC threats in the future. JRE 1.7x versions of Java are vulnerable to this attack regardless of patches, and you should assume that your PC has been attacked by Dropper.MsPMs and related PC threats if you've loaded the above site, regardless of the lack of symptoms involved in the attack. SpywareRemove.com malware analysts also note that these attacks can function through several browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox.

After its installation onto your hard drive, Dropper.MsPMs (downloaded as the file 'hi.exe') makes contact with a Command & Control server and may install other types of malware, such as the Poison Ivy RAT. Because Dropper.MsPMs is a newly-emerged PC threat, Dropper.MsPMs may contain other functions that haven't been identified, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers suggest deleting Dropper.MsPMs with anti-malware software as promptly as possible.

Why What Dropper.MsPMs Drops Should Be of Concern to You

Dropper.MsPMs and its accompanying exploit may be used for other purposes, but current analyses of Dropper.MsPMs point to Dropper.MsPMs being used to install variants of Poison Ivy Remote Administration Tools (backdoor Trojans). Some characteristic traits of Poison Ivy that SpywareRemove.com malware experts consider mention-worthy include:

Injection of malicious code into normal Windows processes.
Keylogging attacks that steal typed information, potentially including passwords.
Theft of Windows login information.
Browser hijacks that redirect you to hostile or undesirable sites.
Backdoor vulnerabilities that grant remote attackers a dangerous degree of control over your computer.

Because Dropper.MsPMs's vulnerability remains to be patched, SpywareRemove.com malware experts suggest disabling the Java Runtime Environment until Oracle Corporation gets around to closing the exploit. Anti-malware programs with live detection features may also be able to detect and block Dropper.MsPMs before Dropper.MsPMs can install any other PC threats. An already-installed Dropper.MsPMs payload should, of course, be considered a high-level threat due for immediate removal, since Poison Ivy RATs can cause significant security issues along with theft of private information.

Dropper.MsPMs

Threat Metric

How Dropper.MsPMs Gets the Drop on Your PC Security

Why What Dropper.MsPMs Drops Should Be of Concern to You

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