Worm.Sleeper

Posted: September 13, 2013

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:	22

First Seen:	September 13, 2013
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Worm.Sleeper is a worm that uses a special 'hibernation' mode to avoid being detected by major anti-malware products while Worm.Sleeper proceeds to compromise your PC's security, theoretically enabling criminals to have a unsafe level of access to the affected system. Although the most prominent Worm.Sleeper attacks were recorded almost a decade ago, Worm.Sleeper continues to be a PC threat that's capable of harming modern Windows systems, and SpywareRemove.com malware experts particularly warn of Worm.Sleeper's capability for disabling essential security software. Containing Worm.Sleeper always should be a foremost priority, while removing Worm.Sleeper and any copies of Worm.Sleeper via appropriate anti-malware tools should be a close second.

Why You Should Be Worried When this Sleeper Awakens

Ordinarily, an inactive PC threat would definitely be preferable to an 'awake' one, but the circumstances surrounding Worm.Sleeper infections have turned inactivity into a simple ruse that allows Worm.Sleeper to defend itself from anti-malware programs. Worm.Sleeper acquires its name from its hibernation function, which is designed to disable Worm.Sleeper whenever anti-malware scans are detected. This lets the software in question finish its scans without detecting Worm.Sleeper, after which Worm.Sleeper may then 'wake up' and continue its attacks.

Malware researchers find that most worms tend to target government or business-based targets with broad anti-security attacks, and, so far, Worm.Sleeper has followed this trend. Worm.Sleeper's attacks are capable of disabling firewall software and other important Windows programs without which your computer may be in danger of various PC threats. Worm.Sleeper also includes capabilities for distributing itself (a hallmark of worms, in particular), installing other PC threats and allowing criminals to access the compromised PC via a backdoor. Together, these make Worm.Sleeper a general-purpose anti-security tool that may compromise entire networks of PCs if ignored.

Putting Worm.Sleeper Back to Bed

Disabling Worm.Sleeper before removing Worm.Sleeper, as opposed to trying to remove Worm.Sleeper while Worm.Sleeper may detect any attempts to do so, is an important step in removing Worm.Sleeper from your computer. SpywareRemove.com malware experts note that the safest way to do this is to launch your PC's operating system directly from a peripheral device and then run a suitable anti-malware program before you reboot. Because Worm.Sleeper is a worm and, therefore, may create copies of itself, you should make sure that any anti-malware scans are thorough enough to detect all of Worm.Sleeper's copies in various locations (including any accessible networks or any other removable hard drives).

Worm.Sleeper is most likely to distribute itself through e-mail attachments, local networks or peripheral devices that carry additional copies of its software. Particularly for PC users who operate systems in vulnerable locations, such as frequently targeted businesses, you always should delete suspicious file attachments and update your software to remove any security flaws that could be exploited by Worm.Sleeper attacks.

Worm.Sleeper

Threat Metric

Why You Should Be Worried When this Sleeper Awakens

Putting Worm.Sleeper Back to Bed

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