Trojans

Dllhost.exe is a piece of malicious software masking itself under dllhost.exe (COM Surrogate) - a legitimate and important Windows process running by default inside of each system. By doing so, the virus attempts to prevent users from thinking it is something suspicious. It is also possible to see a number of genuine dllhost.exe processes in Task Manager eating tons of CPU resources. For instance, a trojan called Poweliks is known to exploit the legitimate process to execute its dirty work. The malware we are talking about today creates a separate fake process to execute its unwanted tasks. It was found that users affected by it see force-open websites like adult pages, casinos, gambling, phishing, scam, pornography, and other types of resources promoting potentially dangerous content. The list of possible malware functions does not end with forcing redirects only. Such infections may embrace screen/audio recording features, keystroke memorization, spying on sensitive data, installation of malicious programs like crypto miners, and other similar things. If you suspect being infected with Dllhost.exe-masqueraded malware, make sure you follow our tutorial below to detect and remove it immediately.

L3MON RAT is a type of trojan allowing its profiteers to access Android devices and control them remotely. The virus employs a cloud-based android management utility to encourage remote manipulations directly from web browsers. Upon successful infiltration, L3MON RAT becomes able to steal various types of sensitive data (e.g. SMS messages, contacts, call history, messages sent and received on WhatsApp and Signal, entered passwords, etc.). It is also able to record audio and surveil other log-in attempts by users. In other words, this malicious software can see whatever is being done during device usage. Depending on how valuable the collected information is, it can therefore be abused to enter banking accounts, perform unauthorized transactions, or even communicate with the collected contacts (for instance, your friends) to impose something under your name. General symptoms indicating that your Android device is under infection are slow/buggy performance, reduced response time, intermediate screen blackouts, decreased battery life, questionable push notifications, and other things implemented without users' permission. L3MON is an open-access trojan, which can be purchased and used by any hacker willing to do so. It is highly devastating and must be removed immediately upon its detection. Use our free guide below to do it correctly and without traces.

89N3PDyZzakoH7W6n8ZrjGDDktjh8iWFG6eKRvi3kvpQ is the name of a clipboard hijacker. Such type of malware is quite rare to get infected with due to its recent development. The operation of this malware is simple - it substitutes whatever is copied into the copy-paste buffer with the 89N3PDyZzakoH7W6n8ZrjGDDktjh8iWFG6eKRvi3kvpQ string. In other words, if you try to copy and paste some piece of text, it will be eventually replaced with the aforementioned characters. Luckily, this malware sample does not work exactly as intended. Devastating clipboard hijackers are originally designed to detect when victims perform crypto-related transactions and substitute the recipient's wallet address with one by cybercriminals. This way, victims may overlook the replacement and send cryptocurrencies to the substituted address of cybercriminals. The operation of such clipboard manipulations can be prevented by terminating the AutoIt v3 Script (32 bit) process in Windows Task Manager. Unfortunately, the same symptoms may appear again until a malicious program is present. This is why it is important to detect and remove it as soon as possible. It is also worth checking whether some other malware got installed along with the clipboard hijacker. Run a full analysis of your system and perform the complete removal of detected threats using our guidelines below.

Octo is the name of a banking trojan seeking to cause financial fraud on Android smartphones. Some consider it is a rebranded version of ExobotCompact - another devastating trojan designed to target finance-related abuse. Octo possesses a wide range of remote-access abilities to fulfill its fraudulent blueprint. After successfully attacking the system, Octo banking trojan becomes fully eligible to read and capture various device sectors. Any information entered by users in real-time (log-in credentials, keystrokes, screen lock PIN codes, etc.) can be recorded and therefore used to carry out overlay attacks on banking-related apps. This means the virus is able to read the content of any app displayed on the screen and provide the actor with sufficient information to perform fraudulent actions. The C2 server allows cybercriminals to send any commands they want and literally have full control of your device to perform monetary transactions without your consent. In addition, Octo may hijack SMS features to feed your contacts with phishing links designed to install the virus as well. Developers of this trojan also made sure there are persistence measures to prevent traditional uninstallation and antivirus detection. Capabilities of Octo banking trojan can be marked similar to other renowned trojans like Cerberus and Medusa, for instance. Malware of this type if truly devastating and it is important to know working solutions to remove it. We encourage you to use our guide and apply removal instructions below.

Discovered in 2019, Cerberus is a malicious program categorized as a banking trojan that has been targetting Android users. This application is disguised as Adobe Flash Player Updater and gets downloaded as an .apk file. Alike executable files, .apk extensions are meant to initiate the installation of applications. Whilst users think that it will update the promised software, they inadvertently get infected with a malicious program without consent. Thereafter, cybercriminals can control your device by connecting to a botnet and receiving commands from Command & Control (C2) server. Once extortionists establish contact with your device, they can easily operate it by sending commands remotely. This means that swindlers are able to see and gather sensitive data, credentials, change settings, and run other manipulations that expose your activity to third parties. Note that social networks and bank accounts can be hacked and hijacked for scams and revenue purposes. If you suspect Cerberus infected your device, then you should perform an immediate scan and delete it as soon as possible. We will discuss how to do it a little bit deeper in the article below.

RedLine Stealer is a malicious piece of software that targets computer users in order to steal important data. The virus is publicly available on hacker forums for the price of 150-200$. It is therefore employed to install on unprotected systems and start collecting sensitive information like passwords, logins, banking-related details, and other types of data to access various accounts in social media, banking apps, or cryptocurrency wallets. Among the list of targeted crypto-wallets are AtomicWallet, Armory, BitcoinCore, Ethereum, DashCore, Electrum, Bytecoin, Zcash, Jaxx, Exodus, LitecoinCore, and Monero as well. It was also spotted to disable the operation of VPN clients like ProtonVPN, OpenVPN, and NordVPN - presumably to alleviate the data collection process. In general, RedLine Stealer is designed to capitalize on the gathered data. Cybercriminals may therefore misuse valuable information to generate profits and cause reputational damage. It is also possible that this virus delivers additional malware like trojans or high-risk infections similar to ransomware (file-encryptors). Thus, if you suspect RedLine Stealer to have attacked your system, immediately use our tutorial below to remove the infection and restore a safe computer experience.

Previously known under the name of Aberebot, Escobar is a banking trojan developed for Android. The main goal of such software lies in the pursuit of valuable information that cybercriminals seek to capitalize on. After successfully committing an attack on Android devices, Escobar obtains a wide number of capabilities - it is, therefore, able to send remote commands, control the screen, manipulate SMS messages, record audio, take photos, disable protection, memorize keystrokes, redirect to websites asking to enter login credentials, modify the list of installed applications, and many other actions as well. In short, Escobar gains the entire control over your device which makes it almost unlimited in doing whatever it wants. The rebranded banking trojan also acquired a feature of looking into the Google Authenticator and recording one-time-use passwords from it. Escobar malware is now explicitly advertised on hacking forums at a price of 3000$ per monthly subscription. The recorded information may be afterwards used to access banking accounts and perform transactions without the consent of actual owners. Escobar is a very devastating infection. Its presence may lead to many privacy issues and risks of losing the finance. Thus, it is important to delete it from your Android smartphone as soon as possible before it does even more damage.

Also known as FoxBlade, HermeticWiper is a devastating virus designed to erase system-stored data and prevent machines from responding or working completely. Malware with such capabilities is usually known as disk wipers. HermeticWiper was discovered attacking governmental bodies and business structures in Ukraine on February 24. Many researchers think HermeticWiper was given this name based on a digital certificate stolen from a company called Hermetica Digital Ltd. This certificate allows the virus to disguise itself as legitimate software to bypass the detection of Windows. Upon successful infiltration, HermeticWiper corrupts the majority of stored data and deletes Windows Shadow Copies as well. This functionality leads to permanent data loss making victims unable to recover it afterwards. As mentioned, HermeticWiper makes infected systems practically unusable - it does so by disrupting the Master Boot Record (MBR), an important Windows sector responsible for properly starting the system. As long as HermeticWiper holds control around your system, it can do almost whatever it wants - install additional malware, launch DDoS attacks, record keystrokes, audio, video, abuse system resources to mine cryptocurrencies, deploy remote commands, and many other disruptive actions. HermeticWiper is not the only but one of few viruses distributed within this geopolitical campaign on Ukraine.