VulkanRT

Posted: December 29, 2017

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:	37

First Seen:	February 20, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

VulkanRT is an API (or 'Application Programming Interface') that provides mandatory features for some gaming software. While this software is non-threatening, VulkanRT often uses installation methods that don't include full consent from the user, and some configurations may implement unwanted side effects, such as changes to your Web-browsing experience. If you don't require this program for compatibility with other applications, you may want to remove VulkanRT with appropriate, third-party security software.

Gaming under Other People's Conditions

APIs like DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan are integral to the running of various forms of software, including, most prominently, demanding, 3D-gaming applications. However, third parties, most typically including graphics card manufacturers, sometimes can take an excessive initiative in installing them on the users' PCs. The automatic appearance of software like VulkanRT isn't a sign of a breach of security necessarily, but may indicate that the users should be paying more attention to what they're installing, in general.

From 2016 onward, VulkanRT is in distribution with the help of both AMD and Nvidia GeForce manufacturers, which bundle this program with many of their default driver-update configurations. Examples of sub-services installing VulkanRT include AMD Crimson and GeForce Experience. Although both of these features include a visible installation field for VulkanRT, users who don't examine all of the options and sub-options carefully may not identify it beforehand, and auto-updating settings may install it automatically.

While VulkanRT is only responsible for maintaining graphics support, both GPU and CPU-based, for compatible gaming products, some installation options may include an unrelated series of potentially unwanted features. Among these optional components, malware experts identify potential changes to the default search engine of the PC's Web browser, which can include Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and other Web-surfing apps. In some cases, this change may coincide with the loading of extra, third-party advertising content that may or may not be safe to display.

Picking and Choosing Your PC's Libraries

Having an assortment of different runtime libraries is mandatory for running all types of software, including your operating system. However, not every user needs every RT package that's available or offered by their hardware's manufacturer. Users may wish to remove some 'optional' quality-of-life updates, such as VulkanRT if they determine that these programs are unnecessary for running any of their current software. Many installation packages using VulkanRT are avoidable easily by selecting custom installation configurations, instead of standard ones, which usually will include numerous, third-party components.

Malware experts also connect the VulkanRT's history to at least one outbreak of significant false positive reports by other brands of anti-virus software. False positives, or the incorrect flagging of a non-threatening file as being unsafe, can occur with any program, but video and computer gaming-related ones have higher incident rates than other products. Reputable security sector companies always release patches for correcting these FP alerts, which may identify the VulkanRT's uninstaller as being a Trojan. Using these programs for uninstalling VulkanRT or similar, Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) remains viable and useful for users with any concerns about missing any components or invasive features with a standard uninstall routine.

The VulkanRT's history may confuse some users prone to reacting without researching, but malware experts don't classify it as being a threat to your computer. However, VulkanRT does raise questions about what constitutes an appropriate installation procedure for another company's product, and what level of permission is justifiable to take for granted.

VulkanRT

Threat Metric

Gaming under Other People's Conditions

Picking and Choosing Your PC's Libraries

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