TSPY_ZBOT.ZZZD

This spyware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It modifies the Internet Explorer Zone Settings.

Arrival Details

This spyware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Installation

This spyware drops the following copies of itself into the affected system and executes them:

• %Application Data%\{random folder name 1}\{random file name 1}.exe
• %Application Data%\InstallDir\help.exe

(Note: %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista and 7.)

It drops the following files:

• %Application Data%\{random folder name 2}\{random file name 2}.{random extension 1}
• %Application Data%\{random folder name 3}\{random file name 3}.{random extension 2}

(Note: %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista and 7.)

It creates the following folders:

• %Application Data%\{random folder name 1}
• %Application Data%\{random folder name 2}
• %Application Data%\{random folder name 3}
• %Application Data%\InstallDir

(Note: %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista and 7.)

Autostart Technique

This spyware adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
{random value 1} = "%Application Data%\{random folder name 1}\{random file name 1}.exe"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
help = "%Application Data%\InstallDir\help.exe"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
help = "%Application Data%\InstallDir\help.exe"

It enables its automatic execution at every system startup by dropping the following copies of itself into the Windows Common Startup folder:

• %All Users Profile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\system.pif
• %User Startup%\system.pif

(Note: %All Users Profile% is the All Users or Common profile folder, which is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users in Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, and C:\ProgramData in Windows Vista and 7.. %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Windows\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 98 and ME, C:\WINNT\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows NT, and C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.)

Other System Modifications

This spyware adds the following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
{random key}

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Internet Explorer\Privacy

It adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
{random key}
{random value 2} = "{hex values}"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Internet Explorer\Privacy
CleanCookies = "0"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\
FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\AuthorizedApplications\
List
%Windows%\explorer.exe = "%Windows%\explorer.exe:*:Enabled:Windows Explorer"

Web Browser Home Page and Search Page Modification

This spyware modifies the Internet Explorer Zone Settings.

Other Details

This spyware connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

• www.{BLOCKED}ark.us