Troj/Agent-AANA

Posted: March 8, 2013

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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	22

First Seen:	March 9, 2013
Last Seen:	March 28, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Troj/Agent-AANA is a Trojan horse that's distributed through fake Microsoft security updates. These fraudulent updates, sent through deceptive e-mail messages, ask you to download and launch a file attachment that supposedly will protect your e-mail from being stolen through recently-identified software vulnerabilities. However, the real purposes of these e-mail messages are to infect new PCs with Troj/Agent-AANA, which will compromise your computer's security and may install other malware. Although SpywareRemove.com malware experts recommend that you scan suspicious files from unusual e-mail messages as a habitual precaution, if your computer already is infected through this attack, you should use a suitable anti-malware scanner to remove Troj/Agent-AANA and any other kind of threats that may have been set up with its help.

When Being a First Adopter for New Security Features Will Take Your PC Security Down a Hefty Notch

Troj/Agent-AANA, like so many other Trojans, uses e-mail messages to infect new computers, with its messages encouraging victims to open an attached ZIP file. Troj/Agent-AANA-carrying messages claim to be sent by the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit – a legitimate organization – and borrow the Microsoft company logo, as well as the Digital Crimes Unit logo, to enhance the illusion of reputability. Likewise, the 'sender' field also is forged to appear as if Microsoft is responsible.

Although Troj/Agent-AANA's e-mails claim to be warding off a new software vulnerability that's applicable to 'all Internet users,' there is no such vulnerability. Besides the ridiculously broad applicability of the above statement, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers also have spied some basic cracks in the e-mail's facade: typos and poor grammar that suggest that the criminals responsible for Troj/Agent-AANA used an automatic translator to generate these messages.

Getting Off the Fake Security Track and Back to the Real Thing

Trusting Troj/Agent-AANA's e-mails and launching the associated ZIP file, rather than protecting your personal information, will infect your computer with Troj/Agent-AANA. SpywareRemove.com malware research team hasn't finished analyzing Troj/Agent-AANA's capabilities, but significant payload possibilities from Troj/Agent-AANA can include:

The installation of fake anti-malware scanners, which display inaccurate warnings about various PC threats and ask you to spend money on faulty software-registering keys.
Ransomware Trojans (such as Ukash Viruses, Piracy Trojans and Police Trojans) that block your desktop with fake legal alerts and insist that you pay a ransom for unlocking your computer.
Browser hijacker-related attacks, including pop-ups, unusual text links, disabled Internet security features and/or redirects to strange websites.
Stolen personal information, especially information related to online banking sites or online accounts for popular social networking services.

The easiest way of dealing with Troj/Agent-AANA is to delete its e-mail message as soon as they arrive in your inbox. Secondarily, you also may consider scanning files from unrecognized or suspicious sources before you launch them. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers emphasize that any competent brand of anti-malware software can be useful both for detecting Troj/Agent-AANA and deleting Troj/Agent-AANA. However, Troj/Agent-AANA was identified in early March of this year, and your anti-malware software also should benefit from the latest updates that can allow it to identify Troj/Agent-AANA.

Troj/Agent-AANA

Threat Metric

When Being a First Adopter for New Security Features Will Take Your PC Security Down a Hefty Notch

Getting Off the Fake Security Track and Back to the Real Thing

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