Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen

Posted: December 28, 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:	2/10
Infected PCs:	1,597

First Seen:	December 28, 2011
Last Seen:	January 21, 2024
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen is a generic label that has been applied to both ransomware Trojans and certain types of spyware. SpywareRemove.com malware analysts note that Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen's ransomware variant is easily-noticed due to its usage of brazenly-fake notifications from the Metropolitan police, Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen's spyware variant may show few symptoms after installation as Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen attempts to steal passwords and other personal information. No matter what type of Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen infection you may be trying to remove, deleting Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen should always use basic anti-malware safeguards and anti-malware software to be certain of removing all components and changes (including Registry entries, registered .dll files and files that are hidden in your Windows directory).

Sparing Your PC from a Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen Ransom Scam

Ransomware variants of Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen (also known as lockers) are readily-spotted due to their usage of highly-visible warning messages and their tendency to lock down your computer so that you're preventing from using most functions and programs. This behavior is often support by Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen pretending to be a notification from legal authorities, as is the case in the following sample of a Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen message:

METROPOLITAN POLICE
ATTENTION! ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WAS REVEALED!
Your operational system is locked as a result of Great Britain law violation!
The following violations were revealed: your IP address was detected on illegal pornographic sites including child pornography, zoophilia and violent scenes with children!

It should go without saying that actual legal authorities don't dabble in Trojans and would never request a digital transaction in return for unfreezing your PC, so there isn't any justification for giving in to Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen's hoax. Instead of throwing money after Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen ransomware, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend that you disable and then remove Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen with an anti-malware scanner of your preference. Typical means of disabling Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen to restore functionality to your PC include booting in Safe Mode, booting into a secondary OS or booting straight to the Command Prompt (to bypass Windows entirely so that Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen doesn't have a chance to start).

When a Hidden Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen is Your Real Concern

However, Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen can appear in more than just the form of a ransomware Trojan; Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen's detection label is also in use for spyware. SpywareRemove.com malware research team has found that this version of Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen is distributed by mass-mailed e-mail that purports to be sent by the USAA bank. Installation of the included file attachment will infect your PC with Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen's spyware variant, and endanger your computer with:

Theft of passwords that are associated with Internet Explorer, POP3 and FTP accounts.
Cookies that are deleted without your consent. Cookies are utilised by websites to keep information (such as your account preferences, passwords or other types of saved text field input).
Injection-based browser hijacks that redirect your browser to phishing sites. Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen has been noted to use this attack to redirect victims to fake bank sites that ask additional security questions to harvest information.

Aside from unusual behavior that's shown by phishing sites, this version of Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen may show few or no symptoms of being on your PC. As such, you should feel free to use competent anti-malware programs to find and remove Trojan.Zbot.CBCGen spyware infections.

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:

%TEMP%\.exe

File name: %TEMP%\.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{Subkeys}HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableTaskMgr" = '1?

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

speedtest3.com