Discovered on: November 12, 2004
Last Updated on: November 16, 2004 12:18:46 PM
Trojan.Lasta is a Trojan horse program that allows a remote attacker to perform various actions on the infected computer by using a remote access program detected as Remacc.Lanstar.
The threat also drops and executes an adware named Adware.Yinstart.
Type: Trojan Horse
Infection Length: varies
Systems Affected:
Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP
Virus Definitions (Intelligent Updater) *
November 13, 2004
Virus Definitions (LiveUpdate™) **
November 17, 2004
*
Intelligent Updater definitions are released daily, but require manual download and installation.
Click here to download manually.
**
LiveUpdate virus definitions are usually released every Wednesday.
Click here for instructions on using LiveUpdate.
Distribution
Subject of email: n/a
Name of attachment: n/a
Size of attachment: n/a
Time stamp of attachment: n/a
Ports: n/a
Shared drives: n/a
Target of infection: n/a
When Trojan.Lasta is installed, it performs the following actions:
Notes:
Files marked with * are clean.
%System% is a variable that refers to the System folder. By default, this is C:\Windows\System (Windows 95/98/Me), C:\Winnt\System32 (Windows NT/2000), or C:\Windows\System32 (Windows XP)
Allows a remote attacker to access the infected computer using a remote access program detected as Remacc.Lanstar.
Downloads and executes an adware named Adware.Yinstart.
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.
The following instructions pertain to all current and recent Symantec antivirus products, including the Symantec AntiVirus and Norton AntiVirus product lines.
Disable System Restore (Windows Me/XP).
Update the virus definitions.
Run a full system scan and delete all the files detected as Trojan.Lasta.