Infostealer.Coced

SUMMARY

Infostealer.Coced is a compressed Trojan horse that is distributed as an executable file. The Trojan horse opens a network connection each time it is launched.

Note: Definitions prior to May 10, 2006 may detect this threat as PWSteal.Coced.Trojan.

Protection

• Virus Definitions (Intelligent Updater) April 28, 2000

Threat Assessment

Wild

• Wild Level: Low
• Number of Infections: 0 - 49
• Number of Sites: 0 - 2
• Geographical Distribution: Low
• Threat Containment: Easy
• Removal: Easy

Damage

• Damage Level: Low
• Releases Confidential Info: Provides remote users access into the system

Distribution

• Distribution Level: Low

TECHNICAL DETAILS

During its first run, the Trojan horse registers itself by modifying the registry key HKCUSoftwareMirabilis, adding several sub-keys and variables.

In addition, the Trojan horse modifies the system settings to force Windows to run the Trojan at startup. It stores its name in the run= variable in the [windows] section of Win.ini.

The Trojan horse then stores its name in the [Default] variables of the HKey_Local_MachineSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent VersionRun and HKey_Current_UserSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent VersionRun registry keys.

Recommendations

Symantec Security Response encourages all users and administrators to adhere to the following basic security "best practices":

• Turn off and remove unneeded services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical, such as an FTP server, telnet, and a Web server. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, blended threats have less avenues of attack and you have fewer services to maintain through patch updates.
• If a blended threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.
• Always keep your patch levels up-to-date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, mail, and DNS services (for example, all Windows-based computers should have the current Service Pack installed.). Additionally, please apply any security updates that are mentioned in this writeup, in trusted Security Bulletins, or on vendor Web sites.
• Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
• Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.
• Isolate infected computers quickly to prevent further compromising your organization. Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.
• Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.

REMOVAL

To remove the Trojan horse and its side effects, do the following:

• Delete the Trojan.
• Set run= variable in the [windows] section of Win.ini file to empty string.
• Delete [Default] values of the HKey_Local_MachineSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent VersionRun and HKey_Current_UserSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent VersionRun registry keys.