Umbra Loader

The Umbra Loader is a Do-It-Yourself kit for creating botnets – networks of Umbra-infected PCs that are exploited to conduct additional attacks like stealing confidential information, installing other malware or crashing websites with Denial-of-Service attacks. Because the Umbra Loader uses a series of optional modules for its attacks, specific Umbra Loader infections can display a range of different behaviors, although all Umbra Loader infections should be considered malicious. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have taken particular notice of recent Umbra Loader attacks that have used fake greeting cards that are distributed by e-mail spam. If you've opened up an unexpected digital card, your PC may be infected by a variant of the Umbra Loader, and you should use good anti-malware products to find and remove the Umbra Loader as quickly as is practical.

When a Greeting Card Says Hello by Attacking Your PC

An example of a widely distributed attack wave by the Umbra Loader has used social networking techniques that cause victims to install the Umbra Loader under the misapprehension that the Umbra Loader is a benign program or file. E-mail messages that appear to distribute 123greetings.com greeting cards actually include links to Umbra Loader installers alongside real links to 123greetings.com, which SpywareRemove.com malware experts note is a site that's not affiliated with malware distribution (although it does have a history associated with spam-related activities).

Similar websites also may be used as covers for Umbra Loader's spam e-mail messages, with other examples of exploited brands including Hallmark, Regards and American Greetings. If you do need to navigate to a website like one of these, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers suggest that you navigate to the URL manually instead of clicking an e-mail link that may lead you to a different destination or launch a malicious file (such as the Umbra Loader's installer).

The main danger in any variant of the Umbra Loader is its ability to create backdoor vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities allow criminals to control your PC and may be complicit in attacks such as:

• Changes to your browser's settings that cause browser redirects and other attacks.
• Efforts to steal confidential data (passwords, e-mail addresses, banking info).
• Blocked applications related to your computer's security (such as Task Manager).
• The installation of malware like ransomware Trojans that display fake crime alerts, rogue defraggers that fake scans of your hard drive or adware programs that display advertisements without your permission.

Cutting Off Your Strands of the Umbra Loader's Web

Like any botnet-based program, Umbra Loader tries to avoid detection and may use large amounts of your PC's resources to conduct its attacks. Because the Umbra Loader's functionality-specific modules can be attached or abolished at will, many of Umbra Loader's attacks can vary from those of a similar Umbra Loader-based infection. Also, because of this modular design philosophy, Umbra Loader usually includes other types of malware in its installation, all of which should be detected and deleted by anti-malware software.

Besides being security risks, botnet attacks like those used by the Umbra Loader also may harm your computer's performance due to the constant resource usage that they may require. Malware associated with the Umbra Loader may or may not be identified by its name; for instance, Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Umbald, Backdoor.Agobot and Backdoor:Win32/Umbra all are associated with the Umbra Loader. Since Umbra Loader-related infections don't show symptoms and can create sweeping system changes, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts discourage any means other than analysis by anti-malware software for deleting an Umbra Loader infection.