Mal/ZAccess-D

Posted: December 12, 2011

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:	45

First Seen:	December 12, 2011
Last Seen:	November 13, 2020
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Mal/ZAccess-D is a component of a ZeroAccess rootkit that alters your Windows Registry, creates serious security holes and may cause other forms of harm to your PC (such as browser redirects or poor system performance). Other ZeroAccess rootkit components such as Mal/ZAccess-A and Backdoor.Win64.ZAccess.o may also be involved in a Mal/ZAccess-D infection, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend that you remove Mal/ZAccess-D by scanning your entire PC so that related PC threats are also detected and deleted. Although Mal/ZAccess-D, like other rootkit-based PC threats, may show few signs of its presence, Mal/ZAccess-D should be considered a top-level security risk and combated with appropriate haste.

Mal/ZAccess-D: A Brand-New Assassin Against Your Computer's Safety

Although the rootkits that Mal/ZAccess-D is based on have been around for some time, Mal/ZAccess-D itself has only been identified as a specific form of PC threat since November of 2011. Anti-malware products with threat databases that are earlier than this may be unable to detect or remove Mal/ZAccess-D, although, in most cases, using the default update function should be enough to alleviate this issue. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers stress the importance of using anti-malware programs to detect Mal/ZAccess-D due to its rootkit-level concealment functions that allow Mal/ZAccess-D run as malicious code that's injected into unrelated files (such as baseline Windows files).

Common behavior by Mal/ZAccess-D include:

Altering the Windows Registry to cause errors in the Winsock interface that redirect your web browser to hostile sites, block safe websites or even deny you Internet connectivity wholesale.
Infecting a normal system file so that Mal/ZAccess-D can launch itself automatically and constantly use system resources for malicious activities.

Because Mal/ZAccess-D can use browser hijacks to expose you to sites that may attack your PC with drive-by-download scripts and similar forms of hostility, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend that you pay close attention to your web-browsing behavior while you're using any computer that's infected by Mal/ZAccess-D.

Restoring Your Non-Malicious Access to the Web

Although removing Mal/ZAccess-D by manual methods can be considered extremely-difficult for all but PC security experts, removing Mal/ZAccess-D with appropriate anti-malware software is a safe and straightforward task. A complete scan of your PC is the recommended means of deleting Mal/ZAccess-D due to the high chance that Mal/ZAccess-D will be accompanied by other components of a ZeroAccess rootkit infection. If your anti-malware software fails to detect Mal/ZAccess-D even though you're experiencing its symptoms, you may want to run your scan in Safe Mode or launch Windows from an external source to stop Mal/ZAccess-D from launching and interfering with its own removal.

Mal/ZAccess-D can also be detected by other names that are dependent on the type of anti-malware program that catches Mal/ZAccess-D. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have found that Mal/ZAccess-D's current aliases include Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Injector.ugv, Trojan.Win32.Menti.irro and Trojan.Win32.Pakes.qwe.

Use SpyHunter to Detect and Remove PC Threats

If you are concerned that malware or PC threats similar to Mal/ZAccess-D 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:

%AppData%\RANDOM CHARACTERS

File name: %AppData%\RANDOM CHARACTERS
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{Subkeys}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "EnableUIADesktopToggle"= 0HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\winlogon\Mal/ZAccess-DHKLM\~\services\sharedaccess\parameters\firewallpolicy\standardprofile\AuthorizedApplications\List "%windir%\\Network Diagnostic\\xpnetdiag.exe"=