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This page will help you with the removal of Fileless Malware. The Fileless Malware is a new breed of a Trojan horse computer virus.
In the article below you will find all the information about the infection with Fileless Malware (a version of a Trojan horse), as well as some details about this virus’ characteristic features. We are also going to suggest a way to remove such a contamination.
Trojans: not myths, but real cyber nightmares
These cyber threats have been named after the mythological Trojan horse that won the victory for Greece in the Trojan war. However, they are truly dangerous, not just subjects of stories. If you are wondering why these viruses have received that common name, the reason is that they act just like the horse from the myth – they use a weakness in your system to get inside. Once there they wait until the circumstances are perfect and they attack what they have been programmed to attack on your PC. Then you end up infected and probably experiencing terrible consequences and you have no idea how that contamination had occurred. Trojans are probably the favorite tools of hackers all around the world, because they can be used for a variety of different purposes and with many various intentions. These viruses are really capable of performing anything once incorporated into your computer. That is why we are describing them in general here, not just Fileless in particular. They could indeed be responsible for the following negative consequences and many more:
- An infection with a Trojan might cause corruption or destruction of files. This kind of malware is often exploited by hackers just to have fun. What we mean by this statement is that cyber criminals are delighted when they delete files, corrupt data or destroy an entire system. For that purpose, they most usually use Trojans. This is kind of like a hobby for them. That’s why you shouldn’t be surprised if as a result of the infection with Fileless, some of your files are lost or your whole OS gets destroyed.
- Your PC might be turned into a bot and its resources might get exploited. One of the most likely usages of Trojans is for draining your computer resources for the purpose of distributing spam or mining cryptocurrencies. This means that your computer could be used as a bot as a result of the contamination with a Trojan.
- The hackers might be after your identity or your money. Sometimes cyber criminals exploit Trojans with the desire to steal some money from innocent users. The virus is perfectly capable of remembering your key strokes, bank account credentials and other personal information that could later help the hackers drain your accounts and steal all your funds. Also, your identity might be in danger because the hackers harassing you might alter all the information about you online and might even commit some crimes on your behalf, which is more than scary.
- The hackers may just want to spy on you. Some cyber criminals show signs of physically abusive or stalking-oriented behavior. They might spy on you using such a virus to control your machine remotely, turn on your microphone or camera and watch you 24/7. What’s really bothering is that such criminals might later become physical ones. And to top it all off, they will have all your private details such as address, occupation, appearance, etc.
- The virus might be looking for classified information from the company you work for. Sometimes the criminals behind the virus are really interested in finding out some company’s classified data and they might use an employee’s PC to hack the professional network. They may have nothing to do with you personally.
Where can Fileless be found?
Fileless, just like most of the other Trojans, can most often be found together with a Ransomware variant as a component of a spam email or attachment (image, archive, .exe file) or as a drive-by download from following a malicious pop-up ad. Of course, there could be other various sources of these viruses like shareware, bundles, torrents and webpages, infected with them. It is very important that you stay as far away as possible from Fileless’s potential sources mentioned above. What else you need to do is to install the most powerful anti-malware tool available. Purchasing a top-quality anti-virus program will help you a lot against all kinds of threats. Just keep it up-to-date and use it regularly for scanning for malware. As for removing Fileless, we suggest that you implement all the instructions in our Removal Guide. Hopefully, you will get the chance to solve your issue and save your system from further damage.
Fileless Malware Removal
Some of the steps will likely require you to exit the page. Bookmark it for later reference.
Reboot in Safe Mode (use this guide if you don’t know how to do it).
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Hold together the Start Key and R. Type appwiz.cpl –> OK.
You are now in the Control Panel. Look for suspicious entries. Uninstall it/them. If you see a screen like this when you click Uninstall, choose NO:
Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter. A window will pop-up:
Startup —> Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer or otherwise look suspicious.
- Remember this step – if you have reason to believe a bigger threat (like ransomware) is on your PC, check everything here.
Hold the Start Key and R – copy + paste the following and click OK:
notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts
A new file will open. If you are hacked, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. Look at the image below:
If there are suspicious IPs below “Localhost” – write to us in the comments.
Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC simultaneously. Go to the Processes Tab. Try to determine which ones are a virus. Google them or ask us in the comments.
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
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- This step is very important, because you can catch other threats (like Ransomware and Spyware) while looking for the Adware process.
Right click on each of the virus processes separately and select Open File Location. End the process after you open the folder, then delete the directories you were sent to.
Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.
Once inside, press CTRL and F together and type the virus’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. If they don’t show this way, go manually to these directories and delete/uninstall them:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory. It could be any one of them – ask us if you can’t discern which ones are malicious.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random
If all the prior steps fail to help you or you have reason to believe your system is exposed to threats like Ransomware, we advise you to download a professional scanner and remover.
Remember to leave us a comment if you run into any trouble!