Detected threats are assigned a severity level which is useful for triage. The levels, which are described below, are labeled as Severe, High, Elevated, Moderate, Low, and Unknown.
| Severity Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Severe | Severe risks are typically installed without user interaction through security exploits and may allow an attacker to remotely control the infected machine. Such risks may allow the attacker to install additional malware and use the compromised machine to participate in denial of service attacks, spamming, and botnets, or to transmit sensitive data to a remote server. The malware may be cloaked and not visible to the user. These risks severely compromise the system by lowering security settings, installing 'backdoors,' infecting system files or spreading to other networked machines. A severe risk should be seriously considered for immediate removal as it may completely compromise your privacy and security by allowing an attacker to remotely control your machine, exploit it for illicit purposes, or make dangerous changes to your computer without your knowledge or consent. |
| High | High risks are typically installed without user interaction through security exploits, and can severely compromise system security. Such risks may open illicit network connections, use polymorphic tactics to self-mutate, disable security software, modify system files, and install additional malware. These risks may also collect and transmit personally identifiable information (PII) without your consent and severely degrade the performance and stability of your computer. High risk should be seriously considered for immediate removal as it may compromise your privacy and security, make dangerous changes to your computer's settings without your knowledge or consent; or severely degrade your computer's performance and stability. |
| Elevated | Elevated risks are typically installed without adequate notice and consent, and may make unwanted changes to your system, such as reconfiguring your browser's homepage and search settings. These risks may install advertising-related add-ons, including toolbars and search bars, or insert advertising-related components into the Winsock Layered Service Provider chain. These new add-ons and components may block or redirect your preferred network connections, and can negatively impact your computer's performance and stability. Elevated risks may also collect, transmit, and share potentially sensitive data without adequate notice and consent. An elevated risk should be considered for removal or remain quarantined as it may compromise your privacy and security, make unwanted changes to your computer's settings, or negatively impact your computer's performance and stability. |
| Moderate | Moderate risks are often bundled with functionally unrelated software or installed without adequate notice and consent and may display unwanted advertising on the user's desktop. Such risks may track users' online browsing habits and transmit non-personally identifying data back to a server in order to target advertising. These risks may be configured to start automatically with the operating system, use an auto-updater that the user cannot control, or install other functionally separate programs without adequate notice and consent. A moderate risk should be considered for removal or remain quarantined as it may negatively impact your privacy and security or make unwanted changes to your computer's settings. |
| Low | Low risks should not harm your machine or compromise your privacy and security unless they have been installed without your knowledge and consent. A low risk may be a program, network tool, or system utility that you knowingly and deliberately installed and that you wish to keep. Although some low-risk programs may track online habits -- as provided for in a privacy policy or End User License Agreement (EULA) -- or display advertising within the applications themselves, these programs have only vague, minimal or negligible effects on your privacy. Low risks may also be cookies, which can be used to track your online activities, though without identifying you personally. A low risk may be kept or removed at your discretion. A low risk has only vague or minimal privacy and security effects. If this is a program that you knowingly and deliberately installed, you may consider keeping it. If it is a cookie, then you may consider removing it. |
| Unknown | Unknown is assigned to threats that may not have enough intel, or metadata, to be able to determine the appropriate severity level. For those threats, rather than assign a level that may not be appropriate, VIPRE assigns them to Unknown so that Administrators or Threat Researchers know to review these as carefully as the threats reported at the higher severity levels. |