Windows Daily Advisor

Posted: May 4, 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:	2/10
Infected PCs:	93

First Seen:	September 23, 2014
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Windows Daily Advisor is a new variant of Win32/FakeVimes-based scamware that has been identified as being in active distribution as of early May 2012. Windows Daily Advisor appears to be an anti-virus and security program but doesn't have any of the numerous features that it promotes. SpywareRemove.com malware experts suggest that you remove Windows Daily Advisor with a reliable anti-malware scanner once you notice Windows Daily Advisor's pop-ups or other symptoms of its presence on your PC. However, since Windows Daily Advisor, like other modern variants of FakeVimes, can act to block your security applications, you may also need to deactivate Windows Daily Advisor's startup method via one of several options before you can access suitable software for Windows Daily Advisor's safe removal.

Finding the Flaws in Windows Daily Advisor's Little Pearls of PC Security Wisdom

Windows Daily Advisor includes the Advanced Process Control feature, anti-phishing feature, system scanner and other aspects of modern FakeVimes-based rogue anti-virus programs, including the ability to display pop-ups about numerous types of PC threats. However, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts have espied a significant difference between Windows Daily Advisor's security diagnostics and analyses from genuine anti-malware products: the fact that Windows Daily Advisor only provides warnings about infections and attacks that aren't actually taking place. This is standard for its family of fake anti-virus scanners, which are also capable of capable of providing system toolbar pop-ups and system scans, in addition to fake pop-ups.

While Windows Daily Advisor attempts to distract you with this fake security info, your PC will also be under attack by the other side effects of a Windows Daily Advisor infection, which are typically attributed to nonexistent keyloggers, trojans, viruses and even rootkits. Although Windows Daily Advisor recommends that you spend money on a registration key for itself so that it can remove these problems, SpywareRemove.com malware experts note that there's no reason to do this, since Windows Daily Advisor is, by itself, likely to be the cause of all your troubles and can be removed without purchasing it. Nonetheless, faking Windows Daily Advisor's registration with the code '0W000-000B0-00T00-E0020' can be useful for reducing its attacks to a more easily-manageable state than their default levels.

Why Windows Daily Advisor Has Real Attacks to Back Up Its Mirage of PC Security

Windows Daily Advisor most identifiable attributes may be related to its fake promises of security and anti-virus functions, but its deadliest functions are related to directly lowering the state of your computer's safety. SpywareRemove.com malware analysts have found that the following security issues are common for both Windows Daily Advisor specifically and for other recent members of Win32/FakeVim such as Privacy Guard Pro, PrivacyGuard Pro 2.0, Extra Antivirus, Fast Antivirus 2009, Presto TuneUp, Windows Security Suite, Smart Virus Eliminator, Packed.Generic.245, Volcano Security Suite, Windows Enterprise Suite, Enterprise Suite, Additional Guard, Live PC Care, PC Live Guard, Live Enterprise Suite, Security Antivirus, My Security Wall, CleanUp Antivirus and Smart Security.:

Disabled access to the UAC, which blocks unusual system changes that occur without the user's authorization.
Browser redirect attacks, particularly with respect to online searches and search engine usage.
Blocked security and anti-malware programs, including Windows tools such as the thoroughly-used Task Manager. Since this attack, in particular, can make it difficult to delete Windows Daily Advisor appropriately, SpywareRemove.com malware research team encourages you to use some means of launching Windows without Windows Daily Advisor being active (such as by booting your OS from a removable hard drive) to renew access to any necessary software.

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:

%AppData%\NPSWF32.dll

File name: %AppData%\NPSWF32.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

%AppData%\Protector-[random 3 characters].exe

File name: %AppData%\Protector-[random 3 characters].exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

%AppData%\Protector-[random 4 characters].exe

File name: %AppData%\Protector-[random 4 characters].exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

%AppData%\result.db

File name: %AppData%\result.db
Mime Type: unknown/db
Group: Malware file

%AppData%\W34r34mt5h21ef.dat

File name: %AppData%\W34r34mt5h21ef.dat
File type: Data file
Mime Type: unknown/dat
Group: Malware file

%CommonStartMenu%\Programs\Windows Daily Adviser.lnk

File name: %CommonStartMenu%\Programs\Windows Daily Adviser.lnk
File type: Shortcut
Mime Type: unknown/lnk
Group: Malware file

%Desktop%\Windows Daily Adviser.lnk

File name: %Desktop%\Windows Daily Adviser.lnk
File type: Shortcut
Mime Type: unknown/lnk
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{Subkeys}HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WarnOnHTTPSToHTTPRedirect 0HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\InspectorHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Settings\ID 4HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Settings\net [date of installation]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Settings\UID [rnd]HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\AAWTray.exeHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\AAWTray.exe\Debugger svchost.exeHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\AVCare.exeHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\AVCare.exe\Debugger svchost.exeHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\AVENGINE.EXEHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\AVENGINE.EXE\Debugger svchost.exeHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system\ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin 0HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system\ConsentPromptBehaviorUser 0HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system\EnableLUA 0