LNK.Exploit

Posted: January 2, 2012

Threat Metric

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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.

Ranking:	3,073
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	17,751

First Seen:	January 5, 2012
Last Seen:	October 13, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

LNK.Exploit is a Windows vulnerability that allows malicious shortcuts to run themselves whenever the shortcut's folder is viewed in Windows Explorer, but only while the feature to view file icons is enabled. SpywareRemove.com malware experts note that LNK.Exploit can be used to remotely-launch a variety of PC threats, but LNK-based exploits like LNK.Exploit have a history of being used by worms, rootkits and Trojans that should be considered high-level threats to your computer's security. Due to the risk of accidental activation of a resident LNK.Exploit file, you should use anti-malware products to prevent LNK.Exploit from accessing your PC in the first place, although, once identified, removing LNK.Exploit should be an easy task for any competent brand of PC anti-malware scanner.

Why You Don't Want to Peek into That LNK.Exploit Folder

LNK.Exploit attacks a Windows-specific security flaw that can be avoided by installing all available security updates for the operating system or by using a non-Windows OS (such as Linux or Mac). Because LNK.Exploit operates in the form of a shortcut and requires its presence on your system before LNK.Exploit can function, you should be cautious around potential vectors of LNK.Exploitinfection – such as suspicious file attachments or program installation routines that add unusual shortcuts to your desktop. Unfortunately, as SpywareRemove.com malware researchers note although preventing LNK.Exploit from accessing your PC is a simple task, once LNK.Exploit has access, chances of additional infections occurring are quite high.

LNK.Exploit shortcuts automatically launch themselves whenever they're viewed in Windows Explorer while icons are enabled. Launching LNK.Exploit can result in the download and installation of other PC threats, and LNK-based vulnerabilities like LNK.Exploit have been connected to:

The infamous and unique (for being an industrial saboteur) Stuxnet worm.
Sality viruses that infect .exe and .scr files.
Backdoor Trojans like Zeus that create critical security vulnerabilities on your PC so that remote criminals can access and control the computer. They may also attempt to steal private information such as passwords for bank-related accounts.

Ducking Beneath a LNK.Exploit Sucker-Punch

Disabling icons will also close the vulnerability that LNK.Exploit uses to attack your PC, although deleting LNK.Exploit itself, preferably with anti-malware products, is still recommended. Non-Windows computers, as SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have found, are also effectively-invulnerable to LNK.Exploit attacks. If you do detect a possible LNK.Exploit shortcut on your PC, you should assume the possibility of multiple PC threats being present until you've used anti-malware products to confirm otherwise.

Some variants of LNK.Exploit may also be used to propagate by USB devices and other types of removable hard drives, as well as through network-shared folders. To insure against any accidental contact with a LNK.Exploit-contaminated shortcut so that you never need to remove LNK.Exploit from your PC at all, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts recommend that you keep ongoing anti-malware programs at-the-ready to detect potential PC threats like LNK.Exploit as they attack.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

sweepstakessurvey.org