Swifti
Posted: February 12, 2015
Threat Metric
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.
| Ranking: | 1,650 |
|---|---|
| Threat Level: | 9/10 |
| Infected PCs: | 144,927 |
| First Seen: | February 12, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Last Seen: | March 10, 2025 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
Swifti, also aliased Swifi, is a Flash-based Trojan that exploits software vulnerabilities through your browser. Swifti may install botnet Trojans and other threats, such as advertisement clickers, onto the affected PC. Currently associated with the Angler Exploit Kit and similar techniques, Swifti can be avoided by using safe Web-browsing security protocols. If you've established a possible case of Swifti attacking your PC, using traditional anti-malware solutions to remove Swifti's payload is the recommendation of malware experts.
The Trojans Ushered Swiftly into Your PC by Swifti
While malware experts have had prior encounters with the Angler EK and other exploit kit-based threats, new developments in old threats often arise. Swifti was identified early in 2015, as one of the latest appendages of Angler Exploit Kits. It uses a zero-day (as of this article's date) Adobe Flash vulnerability, meaning that Swifti can't be blocked by patching Flash to its latest version. However, Swifti only affects specific versions of Internet Explorer: IE 6 to 8 and IE 10. Chrome, Firefox and other, non-IE browsers aren't compatible with the Swifti's attack.
As with other variants of exploit kits, PC users most typically will encounter Swifti while browsing a threatening website or a hacked one. Swifti is suspected to target United States, Australian, and European IP addresses, with a particular emphasis on the US. Victims using vulnerable browsers are targets of the Swifti's attack, which, theoretically, can install most kinds of threatening software.
For now, malware experts have confirmed Swifti's distribution of Bedep, a specialized Trojan downloader, and also a botnet tool. Bedep's payloads often include advertisement clicker Trojans, which can simulate advertisement 'clicks' or modify traffic in ways so as to generate advertisement revenue for the people behind it.
Forcing a Flash Attack to Slow Down
Until Adobe provides appropriate updates to Flash, Swifti can target even PCs who have fully patched their software. However, using an alternative browser or using IE with the addition of proper security software should block Swifti's attack from triggering. There are no symptoms linked to a Swifti attack or the threats related to it, although malware experts recommend monitoring your memory processes and overall system resources, as a general, precautionary routine. Swifti doesn't install itself on your PC during its attack, and you shouldn't need to remove Swifti, itself, but anti-malware scans should be used to remove Swifti's payload and related threats.
If appropriate, any website administrators also should be notified of the site compromise that allows Swifti to launch. Similar attacks often exploit invisible Web elements that are undetectable without proper security tools and may not trigger consistently for all of a site's traffic. Good site maintenance, such as updating the server software regularly and using secure passwords, can block the hacking attempts that could insert Swifti (or other instances of an Angler Exploit Kit) in the first place.
Use SpyHunter to Detect and Remove PC Threats
If you are concerned that malware or PC threats similar to Swifti 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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