A-Secure 2015

Posted: November 26, 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:	10/10
Infected PCs:	9

First Seen:	November 26, 2014
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

A-Secure 2015 is a rogue anti-virus product, most likely based on a branch of FakeRean, a wide-reaching family of Windows scamware. A-Secure 2015 may display a fake scanner that purport to have detected threats on your hard drive, create fake system alerts, hijack your browser, block other programs and attack some security settings. Based on the severity of its payload, A-Secure 2015 is classified as a threat, and, like most threatening software, should have its uninstall routine handled by a legitimate anti-malware scanner.

An Old Tactic Seen with Next Year's Label

A-Secure 2015 is a possible example of threat authors running out of ideas; with countless variations of FakeRean scamware in circulation, names for individual brands are difficult to avoid reusing. However, the year-based naming scheme, so common to FakeRean-based threats, can be seen recurring in A-Secure 2015, even if A-Secure 2015 is one year ahead of the usual schedule. A-Secure 2015 also may include other family traits that are identifiable on sight, such as its offers of 'proactive defense' and fake scanner results that closely resemble those of old FakeRean scanners.

A-Secure 2015 pretends to identify threats on your PC, including viruses, backdoor Trojans, rootkits, and spyware. However, its scanner 'detects' fraudulent threats, instead of real infections, to force you to pay a premium for their removal. Other, more significant attacks than the above that malware researchers recommend noting may include:

A-Secure 2015 may disable certain Windows features, particularly ones related to security, such as firewall alerts or update management.
A-Secure 2015 may block websites related to PC security, such as the McAfee domain. The type of browser in use isn't a determinant for the success of these attacks, which exploit general system settings.
A-Secure 2015 may use multiple methods to disable other programs unrelated to A-Secure 2015, including terminating their processes immediately or disabling Registry data required for them to launch.

Getting a PC Secure from an A-Secure 2015 Infection

The diversity of rogue anti-virus products from FakeRean also is reflected in their numerous install methods. These strategies include script-based installation attacks, support by other Trojans (including Bredolab and Rorpian) and Web pages that trick computer users into downloading fake security software. Conservative security settings can let your Web browser filter out many of these attacks while your anti-malware applications should be able to block the remainder. In all cases, you should use those same anti-malware tools for deleting A-Secure 2015 whenever their services are appropriate.

A-Secure 2015 shows insignificant differences from similar rogue AV programs but also displays the persistent of threat authors in delivering their threats over time. Other scamware conducting similar attacks include Antivirus 2008 Pro, Windows Antivirus 2008, Vista Antivirus 2008, Antivirus XP 2008, PC Clean Pro, Antivirus Pro 2009, AntiSpy Safeguard, ThinkPoint, Spyware Protection 2010, Internet Antivirus 2011, Palladium Pro, XP Anti-Virus 2011, CleanThis, Rogue.Vista Antivirus 2008, XP Home Security 2012, XP Security 2012 and AntiVirus PRO 2015. These are just a few examples of the countless samples analyzed by malware experts.

Use SpyHunter to Detect and Remove PC Threats

If you are concerned that malware or PC threats similar to A-Secure 2015 may have infected your computer, we recommend you start an in-depth system scan with SpyHunter. SpyHunter is an advanced malware protection and remediation application that offers subscribers a comprehensive method for protecting PCs from malware, in addition to providing one-on-one technical support service.

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Why can't I open any program including SpyHunter? You may have a malware file running in memory that kills any programs that you try to launch on your PC. Tip: Download SpyHunter from a clean computer, copy it to a USB thumb drive, DVD or CD, then install it on the infected PC and run SpyHunter's malware scanner.

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:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\lhwcswdg.exe

File name: lhwcswdg.exe
Size: 82.94 KB (82944 bytes)
MD5: 375c8eafa0ab912070f7a5654142c631
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 1, 2014

%LOCALAPPDATA%\file.exe

File name: file.exe
Size: 82.94 KB (82944 bytes)
MD5: fab3405fd21390d48b27926b26b742d4
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: November 27, 2014