GoldenEye

Windows 2003/XP/2000/NT/ME/98/95

GoldenEye belongs to the category of Potentially Unwanted Programs, also known as PUPs.

PUPs are programs that, due to their features or means of distribution, can affect users' consent, awareness or control over operations like:

• Installation.
• Modifications carried out on the computer.
• Behavior of the program.
• Processing of personal data.
• Uninstallation.

The evaluation criteria of PUPs are based on the proposals suggested by the Anti-Spyware Coalition, organization of which Panda Security is a member.

It captures certain information entered or saved by the user, with the corresponding threat to privacy: keystrokes, in order to obtain information for accessing online banking services, passwords and other confidential information.

GoldenEye does not spread automatically using its own means. It needs an attacking user's intervention in order to reach the affected computer. The means of transmission used include, among others, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, email messages with attached files, Internet downloads, FTP, IRC channels, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks, etc.