Trojan-Downloader.Apher

Posted: February 24, 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:	9/10
Infected PCs:	47

First Seen:	December 1, 2009
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Like any typical Trojan, Trojan-Downloader.Apher will make life difficult for users of infected systems by uploading confidential information, downloading harmful files and generally riddling holes in security. Trojan-Downloader.Apher has been reported to make additions to the registry to let Trojan-Downloader.Apher runs in the background right next to Windows. Trojans similar to Trojan-Downloader.Apher are unlikely to notify the user on being installed, and will attempt to infiltrate systems in secret. Plain to see signs of harmful behavior may be scarce, but deleting Trojan-Downloader.Apher remains important lest your computer be permanently damaged.

How Trojan-Downloader.Apher Violates Your Security Several Times Over

Trojan-Downloader.Apher is, like most Trojans, defined primarily by its ability to download other files and execute them on the infected system. Most of the downloaded files will be malware that serve more specific attack purposes. By definition, these unauthorized downloads can't take place without your security settings and programs being violated. Even before Trojan-Downloader.Apher downloads anything Trojan-Downloader.Apher reduces your computer to an easy target for malware and remote attackers.

The two major forms of malware executed by Trojans like Trojan-Downloader.Apher are spyware and rogue products. Spyware will record keyboard input and other forms of information and turn the resulting sensitive data over to remote criminals. Rogue anti-virus applications are the second major possibility, and use disguises such as pretending to be anti-virus scanners to gain your trust, only to cause system problems by flooding you with fake error alerts or shutting down vital programs.

Trojan-Downloader.Apher and the malware Trojan-Downloader.Apher downloads can also be used to allow remote attackers to take over your computer themselves. This allows them to manipulate your computer as they wish; remote attackers may recruit infected systems for DDoS attacks and similar illegal acts. Alternately, they may simply cause irreparable harm to the unlucky computer.

Stopping Trojan-Downloader.Apher Before It Gets Started

To avoid needing to know how to stop the kinds of serious attacks detailed above, you should try to keep your computer from becoming infected by Trojan-Downloader.Apher at all. Downloading and running .exe files from file-sharing networks or other unsecured sources is highly likely to result in infection. Having poor security settings on your browser may result in infection by Trojan-Downloader.Apher simply for accidentally visiting the wrong website.

In all cases, having trustworthy security programs running is required to keep infections like Trojan-Downloader.Apher from becoming a problem. These programs should be active all the time as well as updated regularly. Apher isn't a very old Trojan, and anti-malware programs without recent updates may be unable to delete Trojan-Downloader.Apher or prevent it from hopping aboard.

Aliases

Suspicious.MH690.A [Symantec]Generic Malware [Panda]Backdoor:Win32/Small.D [Microsoft]Heuristic.LooksLike.Trojan.Dropper.L [McAfee-GW-Edition]New Malware.ix [McAfee]Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Apher [Ikarus]Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Apher.giv [F-Secure]DDoS.Attack.222 [DrWeb]Backdoor.Win32.CeckNo.J [Comodo]TrojanDownloader.Apher.gge [CAT-QuickHeal]BehavesLike:Trojan.Downloader [BitDefender]Dropper.Rozena [AVG]Win32:Trojan-gen {Other} [Avast]Trojan/Win32.Apher.gen [Antiy-AVL]TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen [AntiVir]
More aliases (21)

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:

360me.exe

File name: 360me.exe
Size: 34.73 KB (34736 bytes)
MD5: cc2caa0bf2f2d850004dbb4944df8225
Detection count: 64
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 11, 2009