Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A

Posted: January 8, 2014

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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	26

First Seen:	January 8, 2014
Last Seen:	November 19, 2019
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A is one of the latest Trojans to be distributed through spam e-mail campaigns, and like many similar PC threats, is installed with the intent of adding new threats to the victim's list of problems. As a Trojan that's armed with functions for downloading and installing different types of threatening software, Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A doesn't require your awareness of its existence, to be a danger to your PC. E-mail messages fitting Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A's profile type, as described in this article, should be deleted without opening their file attachments.

When a Little E-mail Spawns Not-So-Little Attacks Against Your Computer

E-mail spam campaigns are one of the easier ways to distribute threats to victims, and malware researchers often see them used to target specific businesses and government agencies. The use of non-targeted spam, such as in the case of Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A's newly-identified campaign, is somewhat rarer than targeted attacks, but just as hazardous to the recipient. These e-mail messages are disguised as communications form AT&T, including the prerequisite company logo, fake reference numbers, AT&T account-related links and other seemingly legitimate details. While the message states that it includes a previously-undeliverable voice mail communication, the file attachment actually is an installer for Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A.

This file attachment is zipped, as is the standard practice for threat-based file attachments. This may confuse some basic security programs, who might fail to identify the threat to your PC. Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A's installation doesn't herald any particularly explosive symptoms of its criminal intentions, and the presence of an almost unnoticeable new file in a sub-directory of Local Settings may be all that's seen. However, malware researchers verified Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A's capacity for destruction, noting its ability to download and install other programs essentially at will.

Getting a Downloader Off Your PC Before It Downloads Other Problems

Any Trojan downloader that actually works, such as Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A, is, by definition, a potentially multiplicative security issue. The longer Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A resides on your PC, the likelier it is that additional threats may be installed, with some of the most threatening possibilities including spyware, backdoor Trojans, rootkits and worms. Even more than with most threats, malware researchers recommend a quick defense against any possible Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A infection, to prevent the infection from escalating to undesirable extremes.

Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A may attempt to hide its major file components, and the potential existence of related PC threats on the same system also has been noted. As a consequence of these facts, deleting Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A without help from anti-malware tools is an unlikely and inefficient way of dealing with Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A. However, if you use anti-malware programs that are updated and of an effective brand, removing Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A or, preferably, detecting its installer before Win32/TrojanDownloader.Waski.A infects your PC, easily should be within the realm of possibility.

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:

VoiceMail.zip

File name: VoiceMail.zip
Mime Type: unknown/zip
Group: Malware file

Additional Information

The following messages's were detected:

#	Message
1	'You are receiving this message because we were unable to deliver it, voice message did not go through because the voicemail was unavailable at that moment'