Re: Netsupport Manager 12 With 41
Sheron Norsworthy
Hello, i've had issues with a trojan reappearing in client32.exe, quarantine doesnt help and it reappears the next time i restart.
i've since upgraded to premium to actively block it and other such things, but rescanning after a restart shows it reappearing.
i also believe that when i quarantine it , my computer hangs in the restart screen with the circling dots(mouse cant move).
My name is Aura and I'll be assisting you with your malware issue. Since we'll be working together, you can call me Aura or Yoan, which is my real name, it's up to you! Now that we've broke the ice, I'll just ask you a few things during the time we'll be working together to clean your system and get it back to an operational state.
Backdoor Trojans, Botnets, and IRCBots are very dangerous because they compromise system integrity by making changes that allow it to be used by the attacker for malicious purposes. They can disable your anti-virus and security tools to prevent detection and removal. Remote attackers use backdoors as a means of accessing and taking control of a computer that bypasses security mechanisms. This type of exploit allows them to steal sensitive information like passwords, personal and financial data which is then sent back to the hacker. Read Danger: Remote Access Trojans.
You should disconnect the computer from the Internet and from any networked computers until it is cleaned. If your computer was used for online banking, paying bills, has credit card information or other sensitive data on it, all passwords should be changed immediately to include those used for taxes, email, eBay, paypal and any other online activities. You should consider them to be compromised and change passwords from a clean computer, not the infected one. If not, an attacker may get the new passwords and transaction information. Banking and credit card institutions should be notified immediately of the possible security breach. Failure to notify your financial institution and local law enforcement can result in refusal to reimburse funds lost due to fraud or similar criminal activity. If using a router, you need to reset it with a strong logon/password before connecting again.
Although the infection has been identified and may be removed, your machine has likely been compromised and there is no way to be sure the computer can ever be trusted again. It is dangerous and incorrect to assume the computer is secure even if the malware appears to have been removed. In some instances an infection may have caused so much damage to your system that it cannot be successfully cleaned or repaired. The malware may leave so many remnants behind that security tools cannot find them. Many experts in the security community believe that once infected with this type of malware, the best course of action is to wipe the drive clean, reformat and reinstall the OS. Please read:
Therefore you have two options. We can proceed with the clean-up, though I cannot guarantee that your system will be safe to use afterwards (could still be compromised), or we can do a nuke and pave (format and reinstall of Windows). I can assist you with either option, just let me know.
Also, that FRST didn't explicity delete any Google Chrome settings, except for 1 extension which I couldn't find. Hence why I'm asking for its name. What happened however, is that your temp files were cleared (since a lot of malware drop their payloads there) and that could have caused your Google Chrome open tabs to be wiped. However, if you are logged in Google Chrome with a Google account, your history, bookmarks, etc. should still be there.
Since there are no signs of infection anymore in your logs, and you just told me that there are no more issues left to address, I guess we're done here. We'll wrap it up by running DelFix to delete the tools and logs that were used in this clean-up.
Now it's time to give you some tips, tricks, advice and recommendations on how to protect your system and prevent you from being infected in the future. This is where I'll explain basic security measures that you should take to protect and harden your system, and also make sure it stays as safe and secure as possible against hackers and malware. You are free to ignore the recommendations listed below, although I obviously do not recommend it. If you have any questions about one of the points covered in the speech below, feel free to ask me your questions here directly so I can answer them and guide you.
Keeping Windows up to date is one of the first steps in having a safe and secure system. The Security Updates that Windows receives are meant to fix exploits and flaws in it that makes it more secure and not exploitable by hackers. In order to do that, you should always install the Security Updates, known as "Important Updates" on your Windows system. These updates are released on the second Tuesday of every month, but some are also released before if they are emergency/critical Security Updates. Let's make sure that you have all your Important Updates and Recommended Updates installed and that your Windows Updates are set to be installed automatically.
Like keeping Windows updated, keeping your installed programs up-to-date is another important step in having a safe and secure system. Outdated programs can be exploited by hackers and malware to infect a system and take it over. This is especially true today with the rise of Exploit Kits (and also 0-days) which is one of the biggest attack vectors to distribute malware. Therefore, you should always keep vulnerable programs like Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Shockwave Player, Java, Silverlight, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, VLC Media Player, etc. updated to their most recent version (even better, you don't have to install them if you don't use them). Programs like UCheck, SecuniaPSI and Heimdal Free will scan your system for outdated programs, and help you identify them, as well as update them.
Note: The programs listed below are all free to use or they have some sort of trial. Some of them have a paid version that provides more features, while a lot of other good programs only have a paid version but aren't listed there (such as Kaspersky and ESET Antivirus products).
Having a decent security setup (which also includes an Antivirus) is the most crucial step to protect a system. These programs are additional layers of defence that will prevent a system from being infected, or if it somehow ends up infected, help mitigate the infection and remediate it. Fortunately, the new Malwarebytes 3 bundle all these layers in one, easy to use and efficient product. Malwarebytes 3 offers Malware, Web, Exploit and Ransomware protection modules that works together in order to keep your system protected and stop an infection at multiple level.
Note: Please note that only the Premium version of Malwarebytes 3 offers real-time protection (Malware, Web, Exploit and Ransomware). The free version only allows you to scan your system for threats and remove them.
Starting in Windows Vista, the Windows Firewall greatly improved and will satisfy the needs of most users. If you do not have an Internet Suite Antivirus program (which includes a firewall) and you want to use a 3rd party firewall, you can consider the options below.
Web Browsers could be considered as the closest door between a malware and your system. This is where most malware goes through to infect a system, and therefore it should be the program(s) you want to secure the most. There are two ways of going about it: hardening your web browser via extensions, and having good browsing habits.
Hardening your web browser means to install extensions that will help it protect itself (and your system on the same occasion) against Exploit Kits, MiTM attacks, etc. but also you at the same time. Here are a few extensions that I recommend you to install.
As for safe browsing habits, you can find tons of guides, tutorials, articles, etc. online that will highlight the basics you need to follow (only visit websites you trust, do not click on ads, do not download files from untrusted sources, use a password manager, always verify the URL of a website and make sure it's correctly typed, etc.), and even what you can do if you want to take it a step further (create a fake email address for spam emails, browse the web in a privacy mode, etc.). Here are a few:
Even if you follow every recommendation that I listed here, in the end, it's also your job to be careful when browsing the web and downloading files if you don't want to get infected. Therefore, if you use your brain (common sense) when browsing the web, downloading programs and files, etc., you have far less chances to get infected by a malware. If for example you're not sure if a website is legitimate or not, or if a file is safe to download and execute, or if a program looks "too good" to be free, I suggest you to avoid going to that website, downloading that file or using that program.
Here are a few guides, tutorials, articles, etc. that you could read in order to learn more about computer protection and security to improve your current computer protection setup but also improve your good web browsing and computer usage practices :
And that's it! Now that you know more about how to protect your computer and secure it, you're good to go back to your online activities, but in a safe and secure way! You are also free to stay on the forums and ask for help in different topics if you ever need to. Just make sure that you post your question/issue in the right section to get the best assistance possible. And if you ever get infected again (which I hope you wont!), you can always comeback in this section to get another checkup with one of our trained malware removal member.
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