Alice

Posted: December 28, 2016

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:	9/10
Infected PCs:	415

First Seen:	December 28, 2016
Last Seen:	December 7, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Alice is a Trojan that compromises the cash withdrawal feature of Automated Teller Machines. Con artists may collect bills without any extensive interaction with the rest of the ATM, including its number pad. When they're not able to block and delete Alice through appropriate anti-malware protocols immediately, businesses should be watchful for any physical misuse of the pertinent machines, as well as all compromises of RDP logins.

Alice: a Stripped-Down Financial Wonderland for Con Artists

In their search for the greatest payout for their time, most threat authors target ATMs with similar methodologies involving taking banking card data from users as they interact with the machines. Alice, a new threat also attacking Automated Teller Machines, lacks almost all of the features malware experts see in previous threats of its kind. Alice includes only a single primary function for controlling the ATM: withdrawing physical bills.

Regarding its black market business operations, Alice is a rental to third party con artists who may deploy the Trojan according to their personal preferences throughout the world. Although Alice does include a feature for exploiting Remote Desktop environments, malware experts can confirm no cases of that function in use, possibly due to the high-risk of the attack's interception in mid-operation. Otherwise, they must install Alice via USB or CD drive, and, then, issue commands through a keyboard.

After a basic login check, Alice's local operator can type commands for specifying which bills Alice will force the ATM to eject without needing to insert a debit or credit card. The theft still must obey the forty-bill limit per withdrawal that most ATM brands use.

Keeping Money Where It Belongs

Alice is at least two years old and may owe its previous anonymity to the use of different code-obfuscating strategies from various threat actors. As a study in simplicity, Alice lacks almost all of the features malware experts commonly note in advanced families like Carbanak and bears the closest resemblance to equally-basic programs like Tyupkin and Padpin. However, even with only one system-controlling feature that requires an additional UI device, Alice can potentially empty an entire ATM safe into the hands of entrepreneurial thieves.

The level of physical access needed for installing and commanding Alice is high, and visual observation of the affected machine should identify any attempted attacks immediately. Business workers should note the requirement for keyboards plugged into the Automated Tellers especially, as opposed to the more complex but stealthier number pad-based input methods that sophisticated ATM spyware can use. Alice self-terminates on non-ATM systems (based on a Registry key condition), but anti-malware protection still may delay or prevent Alice attacks on appropriate hardware.

While its scope is extremely narrowly-focused, Alice is an easy way for con artists with little experience to get 'free' money from businesses that don't monitor their banking machines. Investing in a sufficient quantity of employees or camera systems to keep modern-day 'bank heists' from taking place never is a waste of resources.

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Alice

Threat Metric

Alice: a Stripped-Down Financial Wonderland for Con Artists

Keeping Money Where It Belongs

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