Troj/Agent-AAQY

Posted: March 14, 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:	10/10
Infected PCs:	61

First Seen:	March 14, 2013
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Troj/Agent-AAQY is a backdoor Trojan that's designed to compromise your PC by allowing criminals to control it and/or by installing other malware. Like so many similar Trojans, Troj/Agent-AAQY is distributed by spam e-mails – in the case of Troj/Agent-AAQY, messages that pretend to be booking confirmations for the Atlantic Hotel, a Welsh business. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers suggest deleting Troj/Agent-AAQY's e-mails as soon as they arrive in your inbox, but if you do open the Troj/Agent-AAQY-installing file attachment, you can use relevant anti-malware tools that will be able to delete Troj/Agent-AAQY safely.

Troj/Agent-AAQY: Reserving Your Place in Line for an Infection

E-mails delivering Troj/Agent-AAQY are disguised as messages from the Atlantic Hotel, but the actual Atlantic Hotel business has issued warnings that make it clear that they're unaffiliated with these messages. Since the forgeries are unrelated to the Atlantic Hotel's web servers, they have no way of combating the spam other than by informing Troj/Agent-AAQY's potential victims. For their part, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts also note that this method of delivering malware is highly common and that you never should open e-mailed file attachments unless you trust the source explicitly. In particular, businesses like the Atlantic Hotel don't have any reason to request that its customers open a file attachment for confirming a booking reservation (or for any other purpose).

If you open this file instead of deleting it and its e-mail on sight, your PC will become infected with Troj/Agent-AAQY, a typical backdoor Trojan. Attacks that Troj/Agent-AAQY may be used to initiate can include:

Creating backdoor vulnerabilities that let criminals control your PC. Through these vulnerabilities, Troj/Agent-AAQY may be instructed to delete files, install programs, transfer stolen information or modify your PC's security settings.
Installing other malware besides itself without your permission. Police Ransomware Trojans, fake anti-malware scanners and banking Trojans all are typical payloads that may be related to a Troj/Agent-AAQY infection.
Changing your security settings to disable important features or even entire programs like the Task Manager or the Registry Editor.

Keeping Your PC from a Check-In at the Trojan Hotel

Deleting the e-mail messages that distribute Troj/Agent-AAQY should be thought of as the best means of dealing with Troj/Agent-AAQY. As a more generalized defense, SpywareRemove.com malware experts also recommend that you use caution around file attachments that claim to be sent from a hotel or shipping business – this ruse is a very typical one for malware distribution.

If you think that Troj/Agent-AAQY has infected your computer, you should use a strong anti-malware application to remove Troj/Agent-AAQY, as well as any other forms of malware that Troj/Agent-AAQY might have installed without your consent. Because Troj/Agent-AAQY was identified recently and most likely was designed explicitly for this e-mail spam campaign, SpywareRemove.com malware experts also encourage you to keep your anti-malware software updated before making any efforts at deleting Troj/Agent-AAQY, as well as any other forms of malware that Troj/Agent-AAQY might have installed without your consent. Because Troj/Agent-AAQY was identified recently and most likely was designed explicitly for this e-mail spam campaign, SpywareRemove.com malware experts also encourage you to keep your anti-malware software updated before making any efforts at deleting Troj/Agent-AAQY.

Troj/Agent-AAQY

Threat Metric

Troj/Agent-AAQY: Reserving Your Place in Line for an Infection

Keeping Your PC from a Check-In at the Trojan Hotel

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