File verdict·Decided by the MT AI Engine
Our call

Suspicious

Unsigned ZIP containing Sims 4 updater executable flagged as PUP by six tier-1 engines with defense-evasion behavior.

PUP
Trust score48Caution
Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip
19.9 MB
749ef77d06160704918feb0ed4a6
Antivirus engines
14 of 75 flagged
Code signing
Unsigned
Age
First seen 7mo ago
MT AI Engine · Verdict analysis

The reasoning behind this verdict

The MT AI Engine weighs every signal from this scan — antivirus detections, sandbox behaviour, code signing, prevalence and historical matches — to reach a single, evidence-based verdict.

72%Confidence
High
Reasoning

The sample shows clear PUP characteristics through multiple high-trust engine detections focused on unwanted or cracked software. Behavioral signals including direct IP communication and anti-analysis tactics support treating it as potentially harmful. Medium prevalence and absence of strong tier-1 family consensus or sandbox malice prevent a full malicious classification. Overall mixed signals align with borderline PUA tooling.

Key signals · 4

Each signal cites a concrete token from the evidence the arbiter saw — engine name, MITRE technique, signer string, or an exact count.

  1. engines.topDetections: 6 tier-1 engines (Avast, Sophos, Symantec) label PUP/PUA or PUP/Crack

  2. behaviour.offensiveTechniques: T1486 + T1562.001 with direct IP 162.159.36.2 and triggered MalwareTips.Synth.DirectIpC2

  3. prevalence.classification: medium across 1142 submitters; file contains sims-4-updater-v2.4.10.exe

  4. signing.signed=false and no similarHashes RAG matches

Points in its favour
  • No malicious dropped children
  • Medium prevalence with many submitters
  • No sandbox malicious verdict
Points against
  • PUP detections from tier-1 engines
  • Offensive MITRE techniques T1486 and T1562.001
  • Direct IP contact without DNS
  • Anti-analysis tags present
Recommended action

Treat as unwanted software. Avoid running the extracted executable and remove the archive to prevent potential system modifications or unwanted behavior.

What this file does

What it attempted when executed in an isolated sandbox

  • High concern: Talks to a remote server to take commands or send out your data.

  • High concern: Encrypts your files and demands payment — ransomware behaviour.

  • High concern: Tries to disable or bypass your security software.

  • Moderate concern: Deletes traces of itself to cover its tracks.

  • Moderate concern: Checks whether it's being watched in a sandbox before acting.

  • Note: Collects details about your system.

Translated from the file's technical behaviour during analysis. It never ran on your device.

What to do now

We couldn't fully clear this file. Treat it with caution.

  1. Don't run it unless you're certain it came from a source you trust.

  2. Check where you got it — an email attachment or a random download link is a red flag.

  3. If you're unsure, delete it. You can always re-download a clean copy from the official source.

  4. If you're still unsure, scan it again in a day or two — detections often catch up on newer files.

Threat family attribution

PUP corroborated by 1 source

  • MT AI Engine
    PUP
Runtime behaviour

What this file did when executed

This file was detonated in 1 sandbox and its runtime behaviour was observed.

MITRE ATT&CK
8

Adversary techniques mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

T1047T1070.006· Covers its tracksT1071· Remote server (C2)T1082· System reconT1106T1486· File encryptionT1497· Sandbox evasionT1562.001· Disables security
Spawned processes
7
$(unnamed)
"C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\sims-4-updater-v2.4.10.exe"
$(unnamed)
sims-4-updater-v2.4.10.exe
$(unnamed)
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\unarchiver.exe "C:\Windows\SysWow64\unarchiver.exe" "C:\Users\user\Desktop\616070491a1e0a65795021fc9d0d29e657369529324688feb0ed4a6.zip"
$(unnamed)
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\7za.exe "C:\Windows\System32\7za.exe" x -pinfected -y -o"C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\014tw3cc.smi" "C:\Users\user\Desktop\616070491a1e0a65795021fc9d0d29e657369529324688feb0ed4a6.zip"
$(unnamed)
C:\Windows\System32\conhost.exe C:\Windows\system32\conhost.exe 0xffffffff -ForceV1
$(unnamed)
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe "cmd.exe" /C "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\014tw3cc.smi\sims-4-updater-v2.4.10.exe"
$(unnamed)
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\014tw3cc.smi\sims-4-updater-v2.4.10.exe
Network activity
1
IP addresses1
  • 162.159.36.2
Filesystem & mutexes
16
Files written15
  • C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\_MEI46842\Pythonwin\mfc140u.dll
  • C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\_MEI46842\Pythonwin\win32ui.pyd
  • C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\_MEI46842\VCRUNTIME140.dll
  • C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\_MEI46842\VCRUNTIME140_1.dll
  • C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\_MEI46842\_asyncio.pyd
+10 more
Files deleted1
  • C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\wpzz139z
Dropped payload

Files this sample writes at runtime

This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.

10 unseen
  • 21baa6669389d828405914844dNever scanned
    never seen before
  • 360b2c9242365d6c0fdabe3d9aNever scanned
    never seen before
  • cd2f60075064dfc2e65c356b08Never scanned
    never seen before
  • 2f4d915840c287c54188066384Never scanned
    never seen before
  • 036c32dc38a30a7f09ce68d72dNever scanned
    never seen before
  • ef59713151ac9ee78e13470e48Never scanned
    never seen before
  • 9362f48e2ade1ba5a99143c204Never scanned
    never seen before
  • 1947f8b188ab4ab6aa72368fb7Never scanned
    never seen before
  • 4a9d4a76514f399a9652e2336dNever scanned
    never seen before
  • d2a7999e234e33828888723b6fNever scanned
    never seen before
No researcher-database hits
External threat-intel sources were not collected for this scan.
Signature matches

YARA & heuristic rule matches

One or more medium-severity heuristic rules matched. Not definitive, but the patterns match known malware behaviour.

1 synthesis
MITRE ATT&CK profile
C2× 1
MalwareTips synthesis rules
Our own detection rules, applied to the scan data and sandbox behaviour
  • DirectIpC2medium

    Sample contacted 1 external IP address(es) and zero domains. Benign software virtually always uses DNS; no-DNS direct-IP C2 is a strong malware indicator because it bypasses reputation systems and dodges domain-based blocklists.

    Evidence
    162.159.36.2
Antivirus engine breakdown

14 detections across 75 engines

14 malicious0 suspicious61 clean
Tier-117 engines
6flag
Top commercial AVs (low FP rate)
Tier-241 engines
6flag
Mainstream engines with mixed FP rates
Low-trust17 engines
2flag
Heuristic / generic-AI engines (high FP rate)
Avast
malicious
Other:PUP-gen [PUP]
AVG
malicious
Other:PUP-gen [PUP]
Avira
malicious
PUA/PUP
Cynet
malicious
Malicious (score: 99)
DeepInstinct
malicious
MALICIOUS
F-Secure
malicious
PotentialRisk.PUA/PUP
Google
malicious
Detected
Gridinsoft
malicious
PUP.Win64.Gen.cl
MaxSecure
malicious
Trojan.Malware.340867217.susgen
Panda
malicious
PUP/Crack
Sophos
malicious
Generic Reputation PUA (PUA)
Symantec
malicious
PUA.Gen.2
TrellixENS
malicious
Artemis!6DC3624A0D17
Varist
malicious
ABApplication.YD
Hash 749ef77d0616… cross-referenced against 75 AV engines via our AV network.
Prevalence

How widely this file has been seen

Moderate prevalence — neither rare nor common. No strong prior applies.

Medium
Unique uploaders
1,142
Hundreds of people have uploaded this — common.
Total submissions
1,428
Includes repeat uploads by the same source.
First seen
7mo ago
Jan 3, 2026
Prevalence quadrant
Rare · New
Targeted malware lives here
Common · New
Just-released software
Rare · Old
Niche or internal tooling
Common · Old
Trusted legitimate binaries
File identity

Forensic fingerprint

File biography
First seen (VT)
1/3/2026, 11:42:18 AM
First seen (MalwareBazaar)
Last analysis (VT)
5/20/2026, 9:38:43 AM
Scanned here
5/20/2026, 5:21:26 PM
File name
Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip
Size
19.88 MB
MIME type
(unknown)
Detected type
ZIP
SHA-256
749ef77d0616070491a1e0a65795021fc9d0d29e657369529324688feb0ed4a6
MD5
b6d0df97c73ea3b7b5ecaa90d1621099
SHA-1
f2ec401be0d8bae6fd9ca751b4e0f3f896d3cd05
First seen (VT)
1/3/2026, 11:42:18 AM
Last analysis (VT)
5/20/2026, 9:38:43 AM
First scan (MalwareTips)
5/20/2026, 5:21:26 PM
Last scan (MalwareTips)
5/20/2026, 5:21:26 PM
Behavior tags
long-sleepscalls-wmichecks-bioszipcontains-pedetect-debug-environment
Frequently asked

Safety FAQ

Common questions about Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip, answered from the scan data above.

  • Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip is suspicious — treat it as unsafe until you're sure. 14 of 75 antivirus engines flag it (family: PUP), which isn't a strong consensus but is enough to be cautious. Don't opened or extracted it unless you fully trust where it came from, and prefer downloading the software fresh from its official site.
  • Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip is a compressed archive, about 19.9 MB. We identify a file by its cryptographic hash rather than its name, because the same filename can be reused by completely different files — the hash below is the reliable fingerprint.
  • 14 of 75 antivirus engines flagged Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip, 14 of them as outright malicious. A small number of detections can include false positives, so we weigh which engines flagged it and what else the file does, not just the raw count.
  • Act quickly. 1) Disconnect the device from the internet to stop the malware communicating or spreading. 2) Run a full scan with reputable anti-malware software (such as Malwarebytes) and quarantine everything it finds. 3) Change your important passwords from a DIFFERENT, clean device — many threats log keystrokes or steal saved credentials. 4) If you bank or shop on this device, watch closely for fraud and alert your bank. 5) For a confirmed infection, the most reliable fix is to back up your personal files and reinstall the operating system for a clean start.
  • To remove Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip: 1) restart into Safe Mode (Safe Mode with Networking if you need to download a tool) so the malware doesn't auto-start. 2) Run a full scan with reputable anti-malware software and let it quarantine or delete the detections. 3) Delete the original Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip file and empty the Recycle Bin/Trash. 4) Check your browser extensions, startup items, and scheduled tasks for anything unfamiliar. 5) Reboot and scan again to confirm it's gone. If detections keep coming back, a clean operating-system reinstall is the most dependable cure.
  • Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip is classified as adware or a potentially unwanted program (PUA) — not always destructive, but it bundles ads, trackers, or unwanted changes you didn't ask for. Engines attribute it to the PUP family. Knowing the family matters because it tells you the likely impact — data theft, remote control, file encryption, or unwanted ads — and guides the cleanup.
  • The SHA-256 hash of Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip is 749ef77d0616070491a1e0a65795021fc9d0d29e657369529324688feb0ed4a6, and its MD5 is b6d0df97c73ea3b7b5ecaa90d1621099. This hash is the file's unique fingerprint — two files with the same SHA-256 are identical. Use it to confirm you're looking at exactly this file (not just one with the same name) when comparing against antivirus databases or a download's published checksum.
  • This report reflects the scan run on May 20, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of Anadius Updater Tool for Windows.zip is fixed — but antivirus coverage improves over time, so a file that looks clean today can pick up detections later (and vice-versa). If you need the latest picture, MalwareTips staff can re-run the analysis from scratch.
Community classification

Reviews & malware reports(0)

Tell the community what you saw. Tag the sample — Trojan, Adware, False Positive — and share what the file did on your system. Your report helps confirm or dispute the AV verdict.

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Files are processed in a streaming pass-through — MalwareTips never stores the binary on its servers. Only the scan result (hash, detections, verdict) is retained so the next person who scans the same file gets an instant answer. If you ran this file on your computer and are worried, scan your system with an up-to-date antivirus and change critical passwords from a different device.