Troj/ExpJS-II

Posted: April 19, 2013

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:	10/10
Infected PCs:	14

First Seen:	April 22, 2013
Last Seen:	January 10, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Troj/ExpJS-II is an online PC threat that's often seen as a component of RedKit Exploit Kit attacks, which attempt to automatically download and install malware onto your PC by exploiting software vulnerabilities – in the case of Troj/ExpJS-II, including JavaScript-based ones. In keeping with strategies that SpywareRemove.com malware experts saw in previous RedKit attacks, currently, Troj/ExpJS-II is disguised as part of the content of a news video site, with lures to the site placed in e-mail messages themed after the Waco fertilizer plant explosion. To prevent Troj/ExpJS-II from having any chance of infecting your PC, anti-spam precautions are advisable, and anti-malware applications always should be used to delete any malware that's been installed after a successful Troj/ExpJS-II attack.

Troj/ExpJS-II: A New Arm in the RedKit Exploit Kit's Exploitation of the Tragic

Troj/ExpJS-II may be seen in other circumstances, but currently is implicated in a new wave of e-mail attacks (similar to previous waves regarding the Boston bombing) that are designed to look like news links about the fertilizer plant explosion near Waco, Texas. The e-mail messages can include variable headers, but always reference the aforementioned disaster and always include a link to a malicious website. This website, to no one's surprise, attempts to distract its victims with videos related to the disaster while it also loads a malicious iFrame (detected as Troj/Iframe-JG) that loads the RedKit Exploit Kit. Prior to this attack, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers most recently saw the RedKit Exploit Kit being used in almost identical attacks that were themed after the Boston marathon bombing and installed spyware.

An unprotected browser that loads this website will be subjected to the RedKit Exploit Kit's whims, which include launching Troj/ExpJS-II and using Troj/ExpJS-II to install any of various types of malware onto your computer. Based on past incidents, infections related to Troj/ExpJS-II attacks have a high probability of including password-theft and backdoor features, and also may install additional forms of specialized malware. However, deleting the associated e-mail messages without checking out their malicious links is an easy defense against the primary means of exposure to Troj/ExpJS-II-related websites.

Swapping Troj/ExpJS-II's Sad News Out for the Joys of an Uninfected Computer

While there are plenty of legitimate news sources for videos about the Waco disaster, unusual sources like unfamiliar e-mail messages never should be considered at face value, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers warn that PC users with outdated software are particularly vulnerable to the attack of exploit kits like RedKit. Contact with sites that may be related to Troj/ExpJS-II always should be regarded as dangerous, even if you don't see any symptoms of an infection after the fact.

After such contact, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers generally recommend running a standard and exhaustive system scan with any preferred anti-malware program. While removing Troj/ExpJS-II from your PC shouldn't be necessary (since Troj/ExpJS-II is a web-based PC threat), removing the malware that's installed through Troj/ExpJS-II can be difficult to do with manual methods. Given the RedKit Exploit Kit's history of serving up sophisticated data-stealing Trojans, you also may wish to consider changing any passwords that may have been compromised in the course of a Troj/ExpJS-II attack.

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:

update.exe

File name: update.exe
Size: 3.71 MB (3718656 bytes)
MD5: 3d1cc4ef33bad0e39c757fce317ef82a
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 10, 2022