Trojan.Downbot

Also identified by the alias of Troj/Dalbot-A, Trojan.Downbot is a backdoor Trojan that grants remote attackers access to your PC while also including functions for uploading stolen information and/or installing other malware. Trojan.Downbot is most notorious for its part in Operation Shady RAT, a series of ongoing targeted attacks against everything from defense contractors to the International Olympic Committee. Trojan.Downbot, like other Trojans distributed by the same groups of criminals, tends to use e-mail to infect new PCs through messages that are designed for specific targets in various industries. While appropriate e-mail security measures should prevent your PC from ever suffering from a Trojan.Downbot attack, you should still have an anti-malware program that's on-hand.

Avoiding the Trojan.Downbot Message that Claims to Be Insider News

With many types of Trojans often exploiting e-mail systems to distribute themselves, it's no surprise that Trojan.Downbot is among their ranks. However, a crucial difference between Trojan.Downbot and many other, less specialized types of Trojans than itself is that Trojan.Downbot is used in attacks that target particular companies and industries. While the scope of companies and institutions that have been victimized is quite broad, SpywareRemove.com malware experts particularly stress the vulnerability of organizations in India and the United States, followed by the general regions of Europe and China.

Victims who trust Trojan.Downbot's e-mail messages may find themselves viewing an apparently-harmless document (usually a DOC or a PDF), but while this is going on, Trojan.Downbot also is being installed in the background. Attacks that SpywareRemove.com malware experts link to Trojan.Downbot include:

• The possible downloading and installing of other PC threats.
• The creation of a backdoor vulnerability that, when combined with a remote shell, allows criminals to use Trojan.Downbot for issuing direct commands to your PC.
• Possible theft of files and information that can be uploaded to a remote server.

Trojan.Downbot also may be instructed to hibernate for some time, which can be a way to conceal its presence from security software.

Getting Back Up After Trojan.Downbot Knocks Your PC's Security Down

Trojan.Downbot is just one of several prolific Trojans that are distributed by the so-called Comment Crew, which exploits HTML comments to obscure the malicious actions of their Trojans. All versions of Windows are in danger of Trojan.Downbot attacks, and if you use a PC at a company that could be targeted by Trojan.Downbot, SpywareRemove.com malware experts especially suggest that you pay close attention to your e-mail correspondences. A simple a security procedure like scanning any e-mail attachments before you launch them could save your PC from a Trojan.Downbot attack.

Other Trojans that SpywareRemove.com malware analysts have linked to the same criminals responsible for Trojan.Downbot attacks include Backdoor.Wualess, Backdoor.Barkiofork, Trojan.Ecltys, Backdoor.Dalbot, Trojan.Badname and Backdoor.Wakeminap. In some cases, attacks from these Trojans have been ongoing since 2006, but Trojan.Downbot only was detected in 2011.

If your PC does get infected by Trojan.Downbot, anti-malware applications can be used to remove Trojan.Downbot safely, although you should also take extra security precautions against any possible information leaks related to Trojan.Downbot's attacks.