Trojan.Downbot

Trojan.Downbot is a Trojan that is a component of a number of targeted attacks collectively known as 'Operation Shady RAT'. The targets of Trojan.Downbot incorporate private companies and government agencies from all the world. The attacks associated with Trojan.Downbot strive to steal private details that belong to these organizations and may possibly be state sponsored. These targeted attacks usually are made of three stages covering targeted email to individuals within targeted organizations, initial infection and opening of a back door. The attached file of targeted emails allegedly carries the information mentioned in the text ofthe email, as part of a social engineering ploy. The attached files are commonly Microsoft Office files such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and PDF documents. These files are loaded with exploit code, so that when the victim opens the file, the exploit code is run and the computer is corrupted.