TSPY_PASSTEAL.A

Posted: November 9, 2012

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:	24

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

TSPY_PASSTEAL.A is a spyware program that, like most such PC threats, is used to steal passwords and account-related personal information. Although TSPY_PASSTEAL.A is incapable of recording typing in general (keylogging), TSPY_PASSTEAL.A does include functions that let TSPY_PASSTEAL.A steal your web browser-stored text information. If it's left unchecked, a TSPY_PASSTEAL.A attack can result in compromised bank accounts, social networking accounts, e-mail accounts and other security violations that can imperil you, your PC and your finances. Detecting and deleting TSPY_PASSTEAL.A with good anti-malware software should be considered a top priority on any PC potentially attacked by TSPY_PASSTEAL.A – particularly for users of Mozilla Firefox.

How TSPY_PASSTEAL.A Gets Grabby with What Goes Through Your Browser

TSPY_PASSTEAL.A isn't designed to steal general information through screen captures or keylogger attacks... instead of these attacks, TSPY_PASSTEAL.A prefers to use browser-specific functions to steal confidential data. By exploiting a password-extracting application that's included as one of its components, TSPY_PASSTEAL.A grabs all login credentials that are stored in your browser (even those that are protected by security features like SSL). Afterward and predictably, TSPY_PASSTEAL.A writes this stolen information to a text file that TSPY_PASSTEAL.A then uploads to a remote server.

SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have found that current versions of TSPY_PASSTEAL.A use a password utility that's specific to the Firefox browser, although other utilities may be used in future variants of TSPY_PASSTEAL.A. Certain types of non-browser programs also may be vulnerable to TSPY_PASSTEAL.A's attacks as noted in this list of potential victims:

Downloader managers such as Jdownloader.
Gaming platforms like Origin and Steam.
Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.).
Prominent website company accounts like Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.
Websites that engage in financial transactions such as Ebay, Paypal and bank sites.

TSPY_PASSTEAL.A-compromised may be used to commit crimes such as transfer money to criminals, distribute other malicious software, send spam or violate TOS agreements. Any private information that's acquired by TSPY_PASSTEAL.A (such as passwords) should be changed immediately so that future attacks can be avoided.

Making Sure that TSPY_PASSTEAL.A Doesn't Succeed at Highway Robbery

TSPY_PASSTEAL.A doesn't show symptoms of its attacks and may not be detectable without suitable anti-malware programs. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers also have alarmingly noted that, despite TSPY_PASSTEAL.A's newness onto the malware scene, TSPY_PASSTEAL.A has been found to infect hundreds of PCs so far. Appropriate web-browsing security measures should be taken to protect your computer from possible infection routes for TSPY_PASSTEAL.A such as Blacole exploits.

TSPY_PASSTEAL.A may be identified by aliases that include Trojan.Win32.Pakes and W32/Dapato.BNYX!tr. Currently, TSPY_PASSTEAL.A only is compatible with Windows OSes, although SpywareRemove.com malware experts have found that TSPY_PASSTEAL.A shows a range of compatibility for many versions of that OS (Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Vista, etc).

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:

%User Temp%\cvtres.exe

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

%User Temp%\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe

File name: %User Temp%\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

%User Profile%\Application Data\[COMPUTER NAME].txt

File name: %User Profile%\Application Data\[COMPUTER NAME].txt
Mime Type: unknown/txt
Group: Malware file