BKDR_EXDEPH.A

Posted: October 28, 2011

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:	1/10
Infected PCs:	4

First Seen:	October 28, 2011
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

BKDR_EXDEPH.A is one of several types of backdoor Trojans that have used Libyan dictator Gaddafi's demise as a method of spreading themselves. Like BKDR_IRCBOT.DAM and Mal/Behav-103, BKDR_EXDEPH.A is distributed by spam e-mail messages that encourage you to download attached pictures of Muammar Gaddafi's death, but, in addition to receiving a single picture, you'll also install a BKDR_EXDEPH.A backdoor Trojan. BKDR_EXDEPH.A Trojans are designed to receive instructions from an IRC server to configure their attacks and are likely to engage in activities that directly attack your computer's security settings and software. If you've tried to view pictures from a source like the one described above, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts strongly encourage you to scan your PC with a competent anti-malware application to make sure that your PC isn't BKDR_EXDEPH.A's most recent victim.

How BKDR_EXDEPH.A Uses a Sample of the Real Thing to Infect Your PC

Although pictures of Muammar Gaddafi's death are available from a variety of sources, Trojan-proliferating spammers have taken to using these freely-available pictures to help spread their hostile software. BKDR_EXDEPH.A is a file attachment in e-mail messages that contain a terse description of the attached file as the 'late Muammar Gadhafi’s dead body pics.' Variants of this e-mail message may also try to phish for your e-mail address by encouraging you to click a fake unsubscribe link below the main body of the message.

If you launch this Gadhafi.exe file, a BKDR_EXDEPH.A Trojan will be installed, and a picture of Gadhafi will display to make you think that the e-mail is legitimate. Instead of taking this risk, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers strongly encourage you to delete unusual e-mail messages and acquire your news media from reputable sources.

How to Respond to BKDR_EXDEPH.A's Pictorial Infiltration

BKDR_EXDEPH.A launches itself automatically and uses a concealed Internet Explorer window to conduct some of its malicious activities. Although SpywareRemove.com malware research team has found that the command server for BKDR_EXDEPH.A appears to have been shut down, even a BKDR_EXDEPH.A infection without commands will use your system resources, hinder the performance of Windows, change security-related settings and may even block security software.

SpywareRemove.com malware experts encourage the use of Safe Mode-based system boots to insure that BKDR_EXDEPH.A isn't running when you try to delete a BKDR_EXDEPH.A infection. The safest means of removing BKDR_EXDEPH.A is via an anti-malware program that's designed to handle high-level backdoor Trojans and similar forms of PC threats, since BKDR_EXDEPH.A does corrupt the Windows Registry and other parts of Windows that are essential to your operating system. If you have such a program and follow basic anti-malware guidelines, you should be able to delete BKDR_EXDEPH.A without any real harm coming to your PC or any of the information that's stored on it.

Use SpyHunter to Detect and Remove PC Threats

If you are concerned that malware or PC threats similar to BKDR_EXDEPH.A 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:

Video-Gaddafi.mpeg.exe

File name: Video-Gaddafi.mpeg.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file