SpyWatchE

Posted: June 14, 2008

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:	6/10
Infected PCs:	16

First Seen:	July 24, 2009
Last Seen:	January 10, 2019
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

SpyWatchE is a rogue anti-spyware application that creates warnings about spyware programs that aren't on your PC. Its aim in doing so is to encourage you to spend money to purchase its 'full' version, although neither version of SpyWatchE can find or remove actual PC threats. SpyWatchE, like many types of scamware, is often installed by Trojans such as Zlob or Vundo, and may also include secondary functions such as browser redirect attacks, creating junk files or spawning legions of pornographic pop-ups. SpywareRemove.com malware analysts suggest that you avoid likely sources of infection by SpyWatchE, such as fake codec downloads, whenever possible, and delete SpyWatchE with qualified anti-malware products if you do have the misfortune to be attacked by SpyWatchE.

A Few Reasons to Watch Out for SpyWatchE's Antics

SpyWatchE belongs to the same family of scamware as SpySheriff, SpyShredder, MagicAntiSpy and similar types of fake anti-spyware applications. Although SpyWatchE and its kin pretend to monitor your PC for spyware that can be removed, SpyWatchE isn't able to find actual spyware or remove it. SpyWatchE's swarm of toolbar notifications and other warning messages will only alert you to random PC threats that may or may not be on your computer – SpyWatchE certainly has no way to tell one way or the other. Since these attacks are aimed at getting you to spend money on SpyWatchE, you should be wary about redirects to SpyWatchE's website or other marketing efforts that encourage you to give up your money and credit card information to anonymous criminals.

Along with these symptoms, SpyWatchE may also create unusual pop-up windows or trash files in an attempt to make your computer look as though it's more infected than it is in reality. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers note that you can stop all of these problems by just removing SpyWatchE with good anti-malware software, and clean up any remnants of a SpyWatchE infection, such as its junk files, after you've gotten rid of the source.

Secondary Threats from a SpyWatchE to Tiptoe Around

SpyWatchE may also be accompanied by Trojans, such as Zlob or Vundo, that commonly install scamware like SpyWatchE. As a result, a complete system scan should be launched after confirmation of any SpyWatchE infection, since removing SpyWatchE by itself may fail to catch related PC threats that can simply re-install SpyWatchE or other scamware. Although SpyWatchE and other types of rogue anti-spyware programs also include removal tools, you should never trust these tools to remove SpyWatchE and undo its system changes, which can also include Windows Registry-based attacks.

SpywareRemove.com malware researchers also warn to be cautious about contact with SpyWatchE's website, spywatche.com, which may use drive-by-download attacks against your PC. Strong security settings can help your web browser in avoiding such attacks, although a perfect defense against zero-day exploits is effectively impossible and should never be attempted in lieu of having dependable security software.

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:

TheSpyWatchESetup[1].exe

File name: TheSpyWatchESetup[1].exe
Size: 50.17 KB (50176 bytes)
MD5: 87fb17ef33af9077143962266908cd5e
Detection count: 77
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 11, 2009

SpyWatchE.exe

File name: SpyWatchE.exe
Size: 423.42 KB (423424 bytes)
MD5: 66a00040e5bede41eff16b4ac6f4ba98
Detection count: 39
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 11, 2009

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%ProgramFiles%\SpyWatchE