Troj/Agent-XIK

Posted: August 17, 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:	14

First Seen:	August 17, 2012
Last Seen:	January 20, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Troj/Agent-XIK is a Trojan that connects to malicious servers for the purpose of downloading and installing other PC threats, and may also be used to compromise your control over your PC. Attacks by Troj/Agent-XIK began along with the London Olympics, which were convenient excuses to send out fraudulent e-mail messages with fake Olympics news links; these links eventually paved the way to Troj/Agent-XIK. If you, as SpywareRemove.com malware researchers advise, avoid clicking on suspicious e-mail links, your chances of being infected by Troj/Agent-XIK should be low. However, if you've interacted with spam e-mail links that resemble the description included in this article, anti-malware scans should be enacted posthaste to find and remove Troj/Agent-XIK before any harm can come to your computer.

When Shocking Olympics News Turns Out to Be a Shocking Troj/Agent-XIK Infection

Like many PC threats that SpywareRemove.com malware experts have observed (such as the liveolympictickets.com scam or TROJ_ARTIEF.ZIGS Trojans), Troj/Agent-XIK is using recent news events as a way to infect fresh computers. The first part of a Troj/Agent-XIK attack begins with a spam e-mail message that claims that gold medal winner Gabrielle Douglas is facing a lifetime ban due to usage of illegal substances. This hoax is typical of spam-based news hooks, as it presents high-interest and controversial subject matter to entice you into clicking on an included link. Such e-mail messages should, of course, be deleted immediately to protect your computer.

This link takes the victim to a fake YouTube website that uses JavaScript-based PC threats (such as Troj/JSRedir-IA, a Trojan downloader) and includes a prompt to download Troj/Agent-XIK, which appears to be an update for Flash. Updating JavaScript, disabling it when it's not required or even keeping JavaScript uninstalled can help to protect your PC from such exploits, although SpywareRemove.com malware research team stresses that they can't provide protection against deliberate downloads of Troj/Agent-XIK under misleading circumstances.

Why You Should Not Rush to be the Agent of Troj/Agent-XIK's Destruction

Troj/Agent-XIK makes contact with a range of different servers that SpywareRemove.com malware analysts have confirmed to be used for downloading malicious software. Since Troj/Agent-XIK will bypass default network security to install said software without your consent, detailed anti-malware scans may be required to uproot both Troj/Agent-XIK and its payload. Under no circumstances should you allow Troj/Agent-XIK to remain on your PC, since Troj/Agent-XIK, like all Trojans with downloader and backdoor capabilities, is rated as a potential high-level threat.

Troj/Agent-XIK should be assumed to be open unless you boot your PC in a secure manner (such as by loading Windows from a USB drive) due to its inclusion of Registry-based startup exploits.

Because Troj/Agent-XIK and Troj/JSRedir-IA are both recently-detected PC threats, your anti-malware products may need to be updated to identify and protect against their attacks.

Troj/Agent-XIK

Threat Metric

When Shocking Olympics News Turns Out to Be a Shocking Troj/Agent-XIK Infection

Why You Should Not Rush to be the Agent of Troj/Agent-XIK's Destruction

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