Mariposa
Posted: August 17, 2012
Threat Metric
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.
Ranking: | 2,804 |
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Threat Level: | 1/10 |
Infected PCs: | 4,497 |
First Seen: | August 17, 2012 |
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Last Seen: | October 17, 2023 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
Mariposa (Spanish for 'butterfly'), also known as Rimecud, is a group of multi-component worms that include backdoor Trojan functions (such as enabling DDoS-causing botnets), as well as optional spyware components. Although Mariposa's servers were dismantled by legal authorities, Mariposa managed to achieve a name for itself by infecting anywhere from eight to twelve million PCs before Mariposa was shut down. Mariposa is once again in the eyes of the news media due to the ongoing trial of its apparent creator, Matjaz Skorjanc, although Mariposa, itself, remains detached from its C&C servers and, therefore, effectively impotent. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend deleting any remaining Mariposa infections with anti-malware programs as a basic matter of PC security, along with noting that Mariposa does retain its worm-based ability to infect other computers via networks and removable drives.
Reasons Not to Add Mariposa to Your Butterfly Collection
Rather than being designed for a highly-controlled series of specific attacks, Mariposa was built as a rentable piece of malware that included several options for increasingly advanced (and increasingly expensive) attacks. Criminals who wanted basic versions of Mariposa were required to pay hundreds of dollars, while those that wanted access to Mariposa's advanced bank account-attacking functions were asked to shell out well over a $1,000 dollars. Despite its high price, Mariposa was thoroughly-used for a range of different attacks, most of which were concerned with stealing passwords and other forms of confidential info.
Mariposa, like any self-respecting worm, also includes basic self-propagation functions. SpywareRemove.com malware experts have noted:
- USB drive-based propagation, wherein Mariposa infects any PC that accesses an infected USB device.
- Network-based propagation that allows Mariposa to spread through local networks as soon as your PC accesses a network-shared location on a Mariposa-infected computer.
- Distribution via general download sources, such as peer-to-peer torrenting networks.
Confirmed Mariposa attacks have also spanned many other forms of damage, including e-mail spamming, DDoS attacks and browser hijacks to display advertisements. Symptoms and attacks from a single Mariposa varied significantly due to its nature as a rentable 'product' that passed through many hands.
The End to Mariposa's PC Parasitism
Mariposa's C&C servers were taken down in 2009, although some of the criminals involved in those servers managed to bring down Internet connectivity temporarily for several notable targets, including various government agencies and universities. Even though Mariposa's criminals are incapable of issuing new commands for any given Mariposa infection, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers still recommend deleting Mariposa via anti-malware scans, since even a detached Mariposa may cause a limited amount of damage to your PC.
Hopefully, with the likely imprisonment of Mariposa's creator in the near future, the complete extinction of Mariposa is well underway. However, it's unlikely that similar PC threats with modular, rentable structures will do anything but grow more popular in the future.
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