Troj/ST2012V-A

Posted: March 9, 2012

Threat Metric

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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.

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% 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:	50

First Seen:	March 9, 2012
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Troj/ST2012V-A is an e-mail-distributed Trojan that uses the upcoming 'Super Tuesday' voting event as an excuse to install other PC threats while Troj/ST2012V-A distracts victims with a voting information PDF. Although Troj/ST2012V-A's PDF is a harmless file, Troj/ST2012V-A will make clandestine contact with a remote server based in Russia so that Troj/ST2012V-A can receive further instructions for behind-the-scenes attacks. Troj/ST2012V-A's generic but broadly-applicable capabilities make Troj/ST2012V-A a threat to the security of any PC that Troj/ST2012V-A attacks, and SpywareRemove.com malware analysts recommend that you use anti-malware products to find or remove Troj/ST2012V-A whenever it's necessary. However, an even wiser course of action than that is to avoid suspicious Super Tuesday-themed e-mail messages like Troj/ST2012V-A's own, which will save you the trouble of needing to detect or remove Troj/ST2012V-A in the first place.

Troj/ST2012V-A: A Nasty PC Threat for an Aggressive Political Climate

Troj/ST2012V-A's distribution method takes advantage of the particularly heated atmosphere surrounding current-day American politics, with Troj/ST2012V-A's e-mail messages claiming that they contain voting information for the biggest voting day of the presidential election year. Even though this e-mail will remain true to its word to the extent of placing an uninfected PDF file on your PC, this file attachment also includes Troj/ST2012V-A, which is installed furtively and without visible symptoms. SpywareRemove.com malware research team has noted the following attacks as strong possibilities for Troj/ST2012V-A infections:

The installation of other PC threats, such as spyware-based Trojans that steal financial information, rogue security programs that display misleading warning messages or browser hijackers that conduct redirect attack campaigns against your web browsers.
Troj/ST2012V-A may also be instructed to create a backdoor, AKA a security exploit that allows criminals to take control your PC via a command and control server. With your PC under criminal control, it may be forced to perform criminal or self-destructive actions, such as being used a part of a botnet.
You may experience dysfunctional security or anti-malware software while Troj/ST2012V-A is on your PC; SpywareRemove.com malware research team recommends that you avoid this by disabling Troj/ST2012V-A (such as by booting Windows into Safe Mode) before you scan your PC and remove Troj/ST2012V-A and related PC threats.

Seeing Past Troj/ST2012V-A's Windows-Specific Disguises

Like many Trojans, Troj/ST2012V-A will name its file components in misleading ways so that you may think that Troj/ST2012V-A actually is a part of Windows. You may be able to estimate the possibility of a Troj/ST2012V-A infection by noting for unusual memory usage or file locations for files like spoolsvr.exe and svchost.exe, although using an actual anti-malware program can be considered a more fail-proof method than manual detection. Since, unlike a rootkit or virus, Troj/ST2012V-A does create its own memory processes, you should be able to view confirmed Troj/ST2012V-A files in the Task Manager to determine whether or not Troj/ST2012V-A is active at any given moment.

In addition to recommending that you disable Troj/ST2012V-A before you remove Troj/ST2012V-A, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers suggest that you update your anti-malware scanners if any updates are available. Troj/ST2012V-A was detected in early March of 2012, and as a very recently defined Trojan, Troj/ST2012V-A may be able to avoid removal via outdated scanners.

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:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\spoolsvr.exe

File name: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\spoolsvr.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\Super_Tuesday_2012_voting_information.pdf

File name: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\Super_Tuesday_2012_voting_information.pdf
Mime Type: unknown/pdf
Group: Malware file