BOO/Whistler.A

Posted: October 31, 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:	5/10
Infected PCs:	23

First Seen:	October 31, 2011
Last Seen:	October 13, 2024
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Although some sources categorize BOO/Whistler.A as a worm, BOO/Whistler.A is a Master Boot Record (or MBR) virus that attacks your computer's ability to recognize and maintain its drives and boot records. BOO/Whistler.A is able to attack most versions of Windows, although SpywareRemove.com malware experts haven't seen evidence that BOO/Whistler.A is able to infect non-Windows operating systems. Attacks from BOO/Whistler.A have been known to result in loss of access to corresponding drives, files and folders. However, BOO/Whistler.A infections also have the possibility of being reconfigured for different attacks, and may reduce your network security, attempt to steal personal information or blockade your access to useful software. Because BOO/Whistler.A infects sensitive components of your PC, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts strongly recommend getting help from an anti-malware program, instead of trying to delete BOO/Whistler.A without assistance.

BOO/Whistler.A - A Spooky Windows Startup Surprise

Like other viruses, BOO/Whistler.A infects innocent files to spread itself to new computers, and may not appear to be a threat to your PC the first time you encounter BOO/Whistler.A. BOO/Whistler.A may be installed by dropper Trojans, malicious website scripts or fake system-scanning utilities. Because BOO/Whistler.A was first widely-identified in July of 2011, your PC security software might not be able to detect a BOO/Whistler.A infection if it's using databases that are older than that date.

Once BOO/Whistler.A is installed on your PC, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have found that BOO/Whistler.A will infect at least one drive's boot sector and may even attempt to infect multiple drives. This can cause a number of problems, including:

Causing a range of error messages to appear when you try to load the drive or repair it with an appropriate system-repair utility. Examples include:
'Missing operating system'

'Unknown boot sector'

'Error loading operating system'

'Invalid partition table'

'Cannot find boot media'
Your PC may fail to recognize drives that are attacked by BOO/Whistler.A. This can cause you to be denied access to any files or folders that are stored on that drive and may cause Windows to become inaccessible

Because BOO/Whistler.A loads during the system boot process, you may experience system instability and other problems that are caused by BOO/Whistler.A's constant and automatic usage of RAM and other types of system resources.

Sanctifying Your PC from BOO/Whistler.A's Unsavory Infection

As frightening as BOO/Whistler.A's attacks can be, SpywareRemove.com malware research team is glad to note that BOO/Whistler.A will not cause permanent harm to your PC under most circumstances. However, removing BOO/Whistler.A in an improper fashion can damage Windows, and it's always recommended that you remove BOO/Whistler.A and similar forms of viruses with an appropriate anti-malware program.

You may also need to reinstall the Master Boot Record, which can be performed in several ways such as via the Recovery Console or Command Prompt (depending on your version of Windows). BOO/Whistler.A is capable to onslaught most versions of Windows, including XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and should be considered an active PC threat to be defended against with vigilance.

Use SpyHunter to Detect and Remove PC Threats

If you are concerned that malware or PC threats similar to BOO/Whistler.A may have infected your computer, we recommend you start an in-depth system scan with SpyHunter. SpyHunter is an advanced malware protection and remediation application that offers subscribers a comprehensive method for protecting PCs from malware, in addition to providing one-on-one technical support service.

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Why can't I open any program including SpyHunter? You may have a malware file running in memory that kills any programs that you try to launch on your PC. Tip: Download SpyHunter from a clean computer, copy it to a USB thumb drive, DVD or CD, then install it on the infected PC and run SpyHunter's malware scanner.

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