Trojan.Dropper is a malicious malware piece, which serves the function of making way for more dangerous viruses like rogues or rootkits. It gets installed on a targeted computer without the user’s authorization and, once inside, manages to hide itself extremely well.
There are various methods via which cyber criminals distribute Trojan.Dropper. The way it cloaks itself, as to raise no suspicion, is its main weapon. The list of files it mimics is endless: game cracks, updates, codecs, players, pictures, etc.
Most commonly, Trojan.Dropper comes bundled with seemingly legitimate files with shady origin. For example a flash update that does not come straight from the official website of the product or a file, attached to a mass e-mail. In these cases, the installation of Trojan.Dropper counts on the users’ participation since they are the ones to open the dangerous files because of curiosity or unawareness. Unfortunately, other tactics for spreading the Trojan do not involve any user participation, except clicking through a hacked website (these websites might not look suspicious at all). In such instances, the Trojan.Dropper, already hidden in the webpage, is triggered just by one click, and it does not even notify the victim for its installation. It manages to enter the targeted computer system through vulnerabilities found in it, which are mainly caused by outdated software. Therefor, an efficient prevention strategy is to keep all your programs up-to-date. Most importantly, the updates should be downloaded only from the official websites of the applications.
Having in mind these distribution techniques, exploited by Trojan.Dropper, it is highly recommended to avoid downloading any fishy files and to be cautious when following links, even if they seem to be sent from a friend.
In most cases, Trojan.Dropper gets installed in a .exe format. Unlike Trojan.Downloader, it is exceptionally built for the purpose of installing, not downloading additional viruses. Trojan.Dropper has a long list of supported viruses, which makes it extremely threatening for the computer system. This list includes:
browser hijackers – they redirect your searches to potentially dangerous websites, which often promote viruses
fake anti-virus programs (also called rogues), which immensely slow down the PC’s performance, flood the system with fake warnings and prompt the user to spend money on a phony security tool
backdoor Trojans – they allow access to a remote server and hand over all the victim’s private and credit card information to cyber criminals.
The installation of some of these programs may result in private and bank account information being stolen. In the worst scenario, it even leads to identity theft. Therefor, the timely elimination of Trojan.Dropper is of utmost importance for your computer security.
As you can judge by the description of Trojan.Dropper provided above, this malware piece should not be let to operate undisturbed on your machine. Since it is deeply hidden into the system, the only way to discover it before it has installed additional viruses onto your machine, is to run regular scans of your system with a legitimate anti-virus tool.