YIMBot.K

Posted: November 1, 2011

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:	16

First Seen:	November 1, 2011
Last Seen:	March 15, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Although YIMBot.K uses a hook that's similar to the recent 'free iPad' Facebook scam, YIMBot.K uses an exceptionally-convincing facade and a different medium to promote its fake offer. Just as its name describes, YIMBot.K is a bot that's programmed to hold simplistic conversations with random Yahoo Instant Message accounts. The topic of YIMBot.K's conversation is a fake product giveaway that commemorates Steve Jobs, but if you follow its link, your browser will be directed to a fake 'work from home' scam that's interested in harvesting your personal information and a little money in exchange for empty promises of cash. If you've been exposed to this YIMBot.K scam, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers encourage you to run a complete scan of your PC using an anti-malware application, to make sure that YIMBot.K hasn't slipped a Trojan aboard your computer while you were distracted. Otherwise, you can ignore any YIMBot.K messages and block bot-hijacked YIM accounts.

YIMBot.K – a Polite Greeting for a Rude Series of Attacks on Your PC

YIMBot.K uses hijacked and randomly-created accounts to engage random YIM-users in conversations. Like other instant-messaging bots, YIMBot.K can even respond to inquiries and key phrases with responses like 'why not?' and 'no problem!' Aside from its general chattiness, however, YIMBot.K has one purpose in mind: to expose you to a link towards fake work from home website. YIMBot.K will tell you that this link is part of a Mac give-away in honor of Steve Jobs, but, in fact, there is no such give-away and YIMBot.K will redirect you to a scam site instead of a prize-winning event.

Sites that YIMBot.K links you to will attempt to harvest your e-mail address, zip code and name, while pretending to provide a well-paid work-from-home offer. SpywareRemove.com malware experts also forewarn of the possibility of embedded drive-by-download attacks that install dropper Trojans or other forms of harmful software. These attacks can occur without your consent and without any visible symptoms.

YIMBot.K sites can be recognized by their typical too-good-to-be-true headlines, of which one example is shown here:

NEEDED: Motivated Individuals Searching for Work At Home Opportunities Paying $15-$75/Hr

Wiggling Out of YIMBot.K's Cheerful Invitation to Destroy Your Own Computer

If you haven't followed a link from YIMBot.K, protecting your computer is as simple as blocking YIMBot.K accounts and ignoring any similar messages that you might receive. Since YIMBot.K may hijack regular accounts to conduct its link-spamming attacks, you may want to notify any acquaintances who are showing symptoms of being hijacked so that they can clean their computer and take measures to protect their YIM account.

If you've visited a YIMBot.K link by accident, you should scan your PC to make certain that malicious software hasn't crept onto your hard drive. The YIMBot.K scam was first widely-reported in late October, and your version of any usable anti-malware program should be at least as recent as that (and preferably more recent, if possible). SpywareRemove.com malware researchers also advise you to be especially cautious for possible spam e-mail attacks, since YIMBot.K may add you to a general spam-sending list.

YIMBot.K

Threat Metric

YIMBot.K – a Polite Greeting for a Rude Series of Attacks on Your PC

Wiggling Out of YIMBot.K's Cheerful Invitation to Destroy Your Own Computer

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