Tools
Dialer (Generic)
Summary
A Generic Detection of premium-rate dialer programs that provide users with a dial-up Internet connection by connecting to an expensive pay-per-minute phone number via the computer's modem.
Disinfection
Allow F-Secure Anti-Virus to disinfect the relevant files.
For more general information on disinfection, please see Removal Instructions.
Allow F-Secure Anti-Virus to disinfect the relevant files.
For more general information on disinfection, please see Removal Instructions.
Additional Details
A detection name using the format 'Dialer.generic.[variant]' is a Generic Detection identifying premium-rate dialer programs that provide users with a dial-up Internet connection by connecting to an expensive pay-per-minute phone number via the computer's modem.
Most of these dialer programs will also offer the user access to pornographic content, which may be unsolicited or undesirable.
For more information about dialers, please see the Dialer description.
Installation
When first executed, a dialer program will create desktop or start menu shortcuts to pornographic websites, as well as creating copies of itself on the system.
It then presents the user with an End User License Agreement (EULA) and various message boxes, which the user must click through to approve usage of the premium number. While the user may decline, some variants will persistently display the message boxes, becoming a nuisance.
Some dialers silently install malicious or unwanted components onto the system, even if the user declines; others have also been known to quietly change the dialing settings without the user's knowledge or authorization, or to dial additional numbers beyond what the user agreed to.
About Generic Detections
Unlike signature or single-file detections, a Generic Detection does not identify a unique or individual malicious program. Instead, a Generic Detection looks for broadly applicable code or behavior characteristics that indicate a file as potentially malicious, so that a single Generic Detection can efficiently identify dozens, or even hundreds of malware.
For more general information about generic detections, please see Generic Detection description.
A detection name using the format 'Dialer.generic.[variant]' is a Generic Detection identifying premium-rate dialer programs that provide users with a dial-up Internet connection by connecting to an expensive pay-per-minute phone number via the computer's modem.
Most of these dialer programs will also offer the user access to pornographic content, which may be unsolicited or undesirable.
For more information about dialers, please see the Dialer description.
Installation
When first executed, a dialer program will create desktop or start menu shortcuts to pornographic websites, as well as creating copies of itself on the system.
It then presents the user with an End User License Agreement (EULA) and various message boxes, which the user must click through to approve usage of the premium number. While the user may decline, some variants will persistently display the message boxes, becoming a nuisance.
Some dialers silently install malicious or unwanted components onto the system, even if the user declines; others have also been known to quietly change the dialing settings without the user's knowledge or authorization, or to dial additional numbers beyond what the user agreed to.
About Generic Detections
Unlike signature or single-file detections, a Generic Detection does not identify a unique or individual malicious program. Instead, a Generic Detection looks for broadly applicable code or behavior characteristics that indicate a file as potentially malicious, so that a single Generic Detection can efficiently identify dozens, or even hundreds of malware.
For more general information about generic detections, please see Generic Detection description.