Trojan 'Request for offer.exe' spoofed via anu.edu.au
Happy August 1st 2023 they said, everything will be fine they said. And then we received an email that looks to be from the Australian National University. However, this email came packed with a Trojan Horse in the form of an executable file. We haven’t seen an EXE make its way through any Microsoft 365 spam protection filters for a very long time. Fortunately, our AVG Internet Security software has picked it up and secured it! Let’s dig in and learn some more about this type of virus.
What's a Trojan Horse?
Trojan Horse – This threat pretends to be something else, for example, a picture, a document or in this case a Windows 32bit executable file. The code name AVG has used for this particular category is Win32:TrojanX-gen [Trj]. Fun fact: According to Fourmilab, the first ever Trojan Horse virus was developed by a computer programmer, John Walker in 1975.
What's an executable file (EXE)?
An EXE, aka executable, file is a file that runs on a Windows 32bit or 64bit system. It allows a program to initiate and run applications which read and write to the computer system, SSD/HDD, and even BIOS. An EXE can install additional programs on a computer, it can schedule tasks. In addition, Trojans which are masked as executables can corrupt Windows and destroy data.
What to do with a Trojan virus?
If you haven’t already done so, delete that Trojan horse virus! But you should really invest in a decent security suite for your computer, as most default operating system security suits, such as Defender, won’t have picked this up. Even Microsoft 365’s spam filters didn’t protect our mailboxes from receiving this potential security threat.
Being a very malicious virus, the Trojan should be taken very serious. It should be actively quarantined by your security software packages defence shield. We highly recommend that you take further action and delete the virus. A deep security scan is also recommended to ensure there are no other viruses or malware threats laying in wait on your computer.
Conclusion
Both businesses and residents should protect their computers with adequate cybersecurity measures. Maintaining awareness of security trends, including malware, Trojans and phishing, is vital for threat prevention. Our computer experts have been removing viruses and protecting businesses for over 20 years. If you’re uncertain about the maturity level of your business’s security, speak to our professional IT support consultants in Melbourne.
