Exp/20124681-A

Posted: August 30, 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:	5/10
Infected PCs:	81

First Seen:	August 30, 2012
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Exp/20124681-A is an alert for a Blackhole Exploit Kit-based body of malicious Java code that exploits a vulnerability in JRE 7 to install malicious software. Early targeted attacks that used Exp/20124681-A's vulnerability were noted for installing PoisonIvy backdoor Trojans, although Exp/20124681-A's inclusion in the BEK, a configurable malware-delivering kit for hire, allows this exploit to be used for virtually any type of malicious software. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend passive security measures to protect against Exp/20124681-A attacks, which can launch without symptoms as soon as you visit a web page hosting BEK (also known as the Blacole Trojan). Unprotected contact with Exp/20124681-A should be considered a potentially significant security breach, since the exploit kit that Exp/20124681-A is based on has a well-founded history of propagating banking Trojans, rootkits and equally-sophisticated PC threats.

Less Than a Blink from Demo to Demon-for-Hire with Exp/20124681-A

Exp/20124681-A is based on the Java exploit labeled CVE 2012-4681, a recently-discovered and just-as-recently-patched exploit that consists of two distinct bugs for JRE 7 (Java 6 users are unaffected by this issue). SpywareRemove.com malware researchers stress that JRE 7 users will need to install late August security patches to be protected against Exp/20124681-A attacks, although even that is no guarantee of safety from an overall Blackhole Exploit Kit assault – which is an ever-changing and flexible package of multiple exploit-based attacks.

Early attacks using Exp/20124681-A's exploit were based on specific targets, although, since that time, Exp/20124681-A has been added to BEK as a basic feature that can be used for a wide range of prospective victims and payloads. The 'proof of concept' demonstration behind Exp/20124681-A's original exploit was followed almost immediately by Exp/20124681-A being included into Blackhole Exploit Kit attacks less than a day later, which allows criminals using BEK to configure Exp/20124681-A for their own whims as long as they care to rent BEK's online-attacking services. SpywareRemove.com malware research team also sees reason to note that BEK is compatible with Mac OS X and Windows, besides being able to function within all major browsers.

What Getting Burned By Exp/20124681-A's Java Means and How You Can Put a Chill On It

Past attacks by Exp/20124681-A have installed backdoor Trojans that are able to grant control of your PC to criminals through remote servers, as well as install other PC threats or disable security-related applications. There's no telling what future attacks may hold, although Blacole variants like Exp/20124681-A are often linked to banking Trojan attacks that steal bank account-related information.

Along with common sense safety techniques (updating Java, avoiding suspicious links and keeping live anti-malware protection around), evading Exp/20124681-A's attacks can also take the form of simply disabling Java by default from your browser. SpywareRemove.com malware experts emphasize that payloads of Exp/20124681-A and other Blacole variants often display minimal symptoms, which makes preemptive defense against Exp/20124681-A particularly imperative.

Troj/JavaBz-IA is a closely-related PC threat, as an identifier for the portion of BEK that loads Exp/20124681-A's Java code.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

gamesearchtab.com