Adware.CommAd.a

Posted: March 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:	2/10
Infected PCs:	8

First Seen:	July 24, 2009
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Adware.CommAd.a is, true to its name, adware that spies on the browsing habits of users to create advertising based on the gathered information. Some versions of Adware.CommAd.a are also able to install other malware without your permission and may use worm-based propagation tactics. A flurry of pop-up advertising are the primary symptom of this adware's infection, and this combination of irritant and genuine security threat makes removing Adware.CommAd.a a sensible course of action whenever the adware happens to be found.

Adware.CommAd.a Does an Advertisement Campaign that Just will not Go Away

Some forms of the Adware.CommAd.a infection can act as worms by spreading to new systems through local networks. This usually requires the user to interact with an infected file shared via network, but there will rarely be any plain signs of infection. Since Adware.CommAd.a is in part spyware in functionality, Adware.CommAd.a tries to remain undetected to perform its malicious deeds. Besides network propagation, Adware.CommAd.a may also spread by being bundled secretly with other programs.

Adware.CommAd.a variants will often attain the desired level of stealth by running in the background through misuse of the registry. Entries added to the registry on installation let Adware.CommAd.a run with Windows itself. Some Adware.CommAd.a infections may also modify other system files without permission.

The two major symptoms characteristic of Adware.CommAd.a infection are pop-up advertising and a slowdown of your overall system. The pop-ups may require the browser to be running to appear, but are unrelated to any browser content.

Although different subspecies of Adware.CommAd.a's have been around since for many years, new versions can occur more even recently. To have the best chance of avoiding Adware.CommAd.a infection and combating Adware.CommAd.a when it does get on your machine, keep all your anti-malware programs updated with regards to their malware definitions.

Why an Adware.CommAd.a Advertising Isn't Always Something to Ignore

Adware.CommAd.a's covert installation is one problem, but even its advertising-related activities are based on malicious behavior. The Adware.CommAd.a infection selects advertising to display based in part on the web browsing activities of the user, which are monitored silently. This monitoring may be backed up by more harmful spyware behavior, such as keylogging.

Some versions of Adware.CommAd.a have been noted to act like trojans, and can install netmon (a tool used by hackers to monitor traffic on networks). This is, like everything else Adware.CommAd.a does, accomplished without your permission.

Since the extent of the violation of your privacy is significant, you should try to delete Adware.CommAd.a instead of treating it as an ignorable nuisance. This adware is far worse than any television or YouTube commercial!

Aliases

Infostealer [Symantec]Packed.Win32.NSAnti.e [Sunbelt]CommAd [Sophos]potentially unwanted program Generic PUP [McAfee]not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.CommAd.a [Kaspersky]Trojan-Spy.Win32.Agent.nz [Ikarus]Adware/CommAd [Fortinet]Adware.CommAd [eWido]Suspicious File [eSafe]Trojan.Proxy.798 [DrWeb]Trojan.Downloader.VB-104 [ClamAV]AdWare.CommAd.a (Not a Virus) [CAT-QuickHeal]Adware.Commad.A [BitDefender]Adware Generic.JVV [AVG]Win32:Spyware-gen [Avast]
More aliases (25)

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:

command.exe

File name: command.exe
Size: 289.28 KB (289280 bytes)
MD5: d6e997003948ed6226c8b5d2ff159ebe
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 11, 2009