WORM_SILLY.SS

Posted: October 11, 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:	2/10
Infected PCs:	86

First Seen:	October 11, 2012
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

WORM_SILLY.SS is a worm that steals confidential information from your PC. Like the average worm, WORM_SILLY.SS can infect and distribute itself through removable drive-based devices, but SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have also noticed recent attacks that install WORM_SILLY.SS through social engineering. These techniques display WORM_SILLY.SS as a file containing information relevant to the United States Obama v. Romney presidential campaign, with the relevant websites exploiting search engine ranking techniques so that they can appear high on lists of search results. As both a worm and spyware, WORM_SILLY.SS is a danger to your computer that should be removed quickly and, preferably, by competent anti-malware applications.

WORM_SILLY.SS's New Politics-Based Bait

WORM_SILLY.SS is just one of many different types of malware that are taking advantage of US politics to spread themselves through hostile websites. Searching for common political phrases can result in contact with sites that offer fake news files that install WORM_SILLY.SS under the pretense of offering information about President Obama or Mitt Romney's status. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend against trusting high-ranked websites automatically, since malicious sites are using SEO exploits to inflate their places in search results. Likewise, you should avoid downloading files unless you're certain that you trust their source, even if they appear to be a harmless file type (such as PDF, which PC threats like HEUR_PDFEXP.E have exploited for attack purposes).

Besides its political antics, WORM_SILLY.SS also is guilty of copying itself to removable drives. These hidden copies of WORM_SILLY.SS can install themselves without your consent, only requiring that you plug the device in to a new computer. SpywareRemove.com malware experts suggest that you remove WORM_SILLY.SS infections with anti-malware programs that can detect all copies of WORM_SILLY.SS, including those on USB drives and other types of vulnerable devices. WORM_SILLY.SS's basic installation includes multiple EXE files and changes to the Registry that should be removed by appropriate security software.

What's Not Frivolous at All About a WORM_SILLY.SS Attack

WORM_SILLY.SS's primary function is to steal confidential data from your PC – including passwords, account login names and other information of potential profit for criminals. WORM_SILLY.SS's spyware attacks don't display visible symptoms, and this trait extends to WORM_SILLY.SS's information-transferring function, which uses a built-in SMTP e-mail format. SpywareRemove.com malware analysts warn that, unless you have access to anti-malware software, you may be unable to detect WORM_SILLY.SS at all.

SpywareRemove.com malware research team also warns that current versions of WORM_SILLY.SS use a Windows icon as an additional method of making the file appear to be trustworthy. This addition to WORM_SILLY.SS's deceptive installation is true regardless of whether WORM_SILLY.SS is encountered at a fake political site or by some other method.

Other prominent types of malware that have been caught using the same politics-based installation methods as WORM_SILLY.SS worms include WORM_VOBFUS.SMAC, ADW_MARKETSCORE and HEUR_PDFEXP.E.

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 Profile%\gupd.exe

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

lecture notes.exe

File name: lecture notes.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

portfolio.exe

File name: portfolio.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

essay.exe

File name: essay.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\{Value}HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Chilkat Software, Inc.\ChilkatMailKey30 = "{RANDOM CHARACTERS}"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run gtalkupdate = "%User Profile%\gupd.exe"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Chilkat Software, Inc.\ChilkatMailKey30 = "{RANDOM CHARACTERS}"HKEY..\..\..\..{Subkeys}HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\gtalkupdateHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Chilkat Software, Inc.HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Chilkat Software, Inc.\ChilkatMailHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Chilkat Software, Inc.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Chilkat Software, Inc.\ChilkatMail