Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra

Posted: April 20, 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.

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% 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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	31

First Seen:	April 20, 2012
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra is a generic identification for various types of Trojan PC threats, most notably including a Trojan downloader that's distributed by pizza delivery-themed e-mail spam along with a variant of the Zlob Trojan. Current Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra e-mail messages can be identified by their poor attempts to fake being sent by the reputable Girolamo Pizzeria, especially since the text misspells Girolamo as 'Gerolamo!' Like many types of spam, Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra's fraudulent e-mail claims that you've made an order and includes a link to cancel it (and, ostensibly, save your money). However, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have found that this link actually leads to an exploit to install Zlob and Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra automatically. Because both Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra and Zlob are often used to install other PC threats, especially rogue security programs, any contact with Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra or its associated link should be responded to by enacting a complete scan of your entire computer. In some cases, Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra may also be a false positive, and keeping your anti-malware programs updated should help keep fake Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra detections to a minimum. Other variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra can also be involved in other attacks, such as creating backdoors or stealing bank-related information.

Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra – a Serpent with More Types of Venom for Your PC Than You'd Expect

Although the latest Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra attacks involve its distribution via e-mail as a Trojan downloader, other variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra are capable of many other attacks. Some of the most noteworthy variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra (and fake Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra alerts) that SpywareRemove.com malware experts have found are included below:

Backdoor Trojan variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra, such as Backdoor:Win32/Bifrose.EY and Worm:Win32/Pushbot.QV, that create security vulnerabilities so that criminals can take over your PC and use it for a variety of illegal acts.
Spyware versions of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra like TrojanSpy:Win32/Bancos.WO and Trojan:Win32/Arpove.A. These variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra steal bank account information and other sensitive info, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers warn that they aren't likely to show obvious symptoms.
Variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra that disable security and anti-virus products, such as Worm:Win32/Brontok.FFV.
Some PC security programs may detect harmless software, such as Ashampoo PowerUp XP Platinum 2, as Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra. These false positives are often remedied soon after being reported, and can be stopped by updating your software or configuring your software to ignore a fake Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra.

What to Do with a Fake Pizza Topped with Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra

Although the above variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra are still in distribution at the time of this writing, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers especially note the danger of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra's Trojan downloader variant, which is often configured to scamware (fake defraggers, fake anti-virus scanners, et cetera). Trojan downloader variants of Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra are distributed by 'GEROLAMO’s Pizzeria' e-mail messages via an enclosed 'cancel delivery' link. This link leads to a Phoenix Exploit Kit (also known as the Phoenix_Exploit_Kit or PEK) that currently installs Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra and a second Zlob Trojan. Because the Phoenix Exploit Kit can be reconfigured to use multiple types of exploits for Java, Adobe software or Internet Explorer, SpywareRemove.com malware experts recommend that you have an anti-malware program that's capable of detecting and stopping these attacks, as well as completely updated software if you require any of the above programs on your PC.

Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra's installation by this method is typically a herald of other PC threats being installed on your computer. Zlob and Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra, in addition to their other attacks, are particularly noted to install fake security programs that display inaccurate infection pop-ups and other forms of fake security information. However, both Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra and all of its related PC threats can be easily removed if you have access to any anti-malware software of good repute.

Aliases

Bck/Qbot.AO [Panda]PSW.Generic9.CEQJ [AVG]W32/ZBOT.HL!tr [Fortinet]Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Carberp [Ikarus]Trojan/Win32.Zbot [AhnLab-V3]TrojanDownloader:Win32/Carberp.C [Microsoft]Troj/Zbot-BUT [Sophos]Mal_Ransom-1 [TrendMicro]TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen2 [AntiVir]Trojan.Carberp.340 [DrWeb]TrojWare.Win32.Kryptik.ASR [Comodo]Trojan-Spy.Win32.Carberp.klp [Kaspersky]Trojan.Carberp-52 [ClamAV]Win32:Reveton-KG [Trj] [Avast]WS.Reputation.1 [Symantec]
More aliases (36)

Technical Details

File System Modifications

Tutorials: If you wish to learn how to remove malware components manually, you can read the tutorials on how to find malware, kill unwanted processes, remove malicious DLLs and delete other harmful files. Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.

The following files were created in the system:

file.exe

File name: file.exe
Size: 448.98 KB (448980 bytes)
MD5: ae97672ce3937ef4e845bdca86c0971c
Detection count: 64
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: October 28, 2015