File verdict·Decided by the MT AI Engine
Our call

Safe

This old Installer.exe has a positive reputation but flags as generic trojan by 3 engines (no tier-1 hits), with suspicious network behaviors like via-tor access.

generic trojan
Trust score30High risk
Installer.exe
5.1 MB
a453b3ea8d8133531fe100908c1a
Antivirus engines
3 of 76 flagged
Code signing
Unsigned
Age
First seen 11y 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.

45%Confidence
Moderate
Reasoning

The file presents as Installer.exe, a Win32 PE executable over 5MB, first submitted over 10 years ago with strong positive reputation (176) and no code signature. Out of 76 engines, only 3 flagged it malicious—Jiangmin calls it Trojan.Generic.haljt, SentinelOne sees suspicious PE traits, and low-trust Trapmine gives a low ML score—while 17 tier-1 engines (Avast, BitDefender, ESET, etc.) and 68 others report clean. Network tags like via-tor, overlay, and direct-cpu-clock-access raise flags for potential hidden malicious behavior if run. No external intel hits, so the few detections without tier-1 backing suggest a possible false positive on this aged file, but caution is warranted. Quarantine it and avoid execution until further analysis.

Points in its favour
  • Positive reputation score of 176 indicates community trust.
  • First seen 3805 days ago (2015), with consistent clean scans over time.
  • All 17 tier-1 engines (BitDefender, Kaspersky, ESET, etc.) report clean.
  • 68 engines undetected out of 76 total, showing broad consensus.
  • No hits in MalwareBazaar, YARAify, or CIRCL threat intel.
Points against
  • Jiangmin (tier2) detects it as Trojan.Generic.haljt, a generic malware label.
  • SentinelOne (tier2) flags Static AI - Suspicious PE based on file structure.
  • Trapmine (low-trust) scores it suspicious.low.ml.score via ML heuristics.
  • Network tag 'via-tor' suggests potential anonymous malicious communication.
  • Network tag 'direct-cpu-clock-access' hints at timing evasion or mining behavior.
  • PE imphash a8fd72e864d14b8484dd49e800fd3a36 seen in some suspicious files.
Recommended action

Quarantine or delete Installer.exe immediately—do not run it. Resubmit the hash to MalwareTips or your AV for a second opinion, as the low detection count and strong clean signals from tier-1 engines suggest it may be safe.

What to do now

This file looks safe based on everything we checked.

  1. This file is safe to use.

  2. Good habit: only download files from the official website or an app store.

  3. Keep your antivirus and Windows updates switched on so you stay protected.

Threat family attribution

generic trojan corroborated by 1 source

  • MT AI Engine
    generic trojan
Sources disagree

1 contradiction resolved by the scoring engine

MT AI Engine read "suspicious", displayed verdict is "safe"
A ground-truth gate (admin override, MalwareBazaar, empty-file) or the low-confidence display rule shifted the final call.
Displayed verdict tracks the harder evidence.
No researcher-database hits
External threat-intel sources were not collected for this scan.
Antivirus engine breakdown

3 detections across 76 engines

3 malicious0 suspicious73 clean
Tier-117 engines
0flag
Top commercial AVs (low FP rate)
Tier-241 engines
1flag
Mainstream engines with mixed FP rates
Low-trust18 engines
2flag
Heuristic / generic-AI engines (high FP rate)
Our scoring rated this file safe — detections shown below are weighted as likely false positives.
Jiangmin
malicious
Trojan.Generic.haljt
SentinelOne
malicious
Static AI - Suspicious PE
Trapmine
malicious
suspicious.low.ml.score
Hash a453b3ea8d81… cross-referenced against 76 AV engines via our AV network.
File identity

Forensic fingerprint

File biography
First seen (VT)
11/19/2015, 7:07:14 AM
First seen (MalwareBazaar)
Last analysis (VT)
4/19/2026, 4:37:26 PM
Scanned here
4/20/2026, 3:51:49 PM
File name
Installer.exe
Size
5.10 MB
MIME type
(unknown)
Detected type
Win32 EXE
SHA-256
a453b3ea8d8133531fad26b18701c694c324cc201e3069d07e99f0e100908c1a
MD5
a7c8cf1d50ebe630a7d0c47686a0abbf
SHA-1
3229e8080975f4f5512d2382552f68c0389acff5
PE imphash
a8fd72e864d14b8484dd49e800fd3a36
First seen (VT)
11/19/2015, 7:07:14 AM
Last analysis (VT)
4/19/2026, 4:37:26 PM
First scan (MalwareTips)
4/20/2026, 3:51:49 PM
Last scan (MalwareTips)
4/20/2026, 3:51:49 PM
Community reputation
+176trusted
Behavior tags
via-torpeexeidleoverlaydirect-cpu-clock-accesschecks-user-inputruntime-modules
Frequently asked

Safety FAQ

Common questions about Installer.exe, answered from the scan data above.

  • Installer.exe appears safe. 73 of 76 antivirus engines report it clean, with only 3 low-confidence detections that read as false positives. As a habit, only run files you downloaded from the official source, since attackers sometimes distribute trojanised copies of legitimate software under the same name.
  • Installer.exe is a Windows executable program, about 5.1 MB. Our analysis found no threat indicators for it. A file's name can be reused by different files, so we identify it by its cryptographic hash (below).
  • 3 of 76 antivirus engines flagged Installer.exe, 3 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.
  • The SHA-256 hash of Installer.exe is a453b3ea8d8133531fad26b18701c694c324cc201e3069d07e99f0e100908c1a, and its MD5 is a7c8cf1d50ebe630a7d0c47686a0abbf. 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.
  • Based on this scan, yes — Installer.exe shows no threat indicators. The important caveat is source: make sure you downloaded it from the official website or a trusted store, because attackers sometimes distribute malware-laced copies under a legitimate file's name. If your own antivirus flags it while we report it clean, that is most often a false positive, but verify the source before overriding your antivirus.
  • This report reflects the scan run on April 20, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of Installer.exe 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)

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Scanned by
harlan4096Staff
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.