Kimsuky
Kimsuky is a very malicious computer virus that can secretly steal sensitive data and take full control of critical system processes and tasks in your computer. Security professionals classify Kimsuky as a Trojan Horse that is reported to fool their victims with various cover up infection strategies.
Multiple VirusTotal scanners detect the Kimsuky malware.
Typically, such a Trojan threat will be disguised as a harmless application or software that is available free of charge on some low-quality or pirated site. Of course, it’s never a safe idea to download material from such web pages, firstly because it’s illegal, and secondly because this may increase the chance of a close encounter with a harmful infection such as Kimsuky, Wup.exe or Presenoker.
Unfortunately, the main issue is that it is quite impossible to really know if a certain piece of software or web content has a Trojan embedded in it since these threats may also distribute via spam messages, different attractive looking ads, pop-ups, email attachments and more.
A stable, up-to-date antivirus software will , of course, help you spot the hidden danger, although this is not necessarily true to new viruses (also known as Zero-Day malware) that have just been discovered. The reason is, most of the antivirus programs rely on their virus database to identify threats and if the given Trojan has not been added to the antivirus’ malware database yet, it may not be detected. In those scenarios, and if you haven’t updated your security tool from some time, the level of protection of your machine may be greatly decreased and the likelihood of detecting new dangers like Kimsuky on time may be greatly reduced. As a result, you may end up being attacked without any clue.
The Kimsuky Malware
A Trojan virus like Kimsuky would usually show no symptoms, but some of its malicious activities still may cause certain issues in the computer that may serves as visible red flags. The unexpected sudden crashes of the system and the introduction of a hideous Blue Screen of Death are some of the most popular signs that your system is infected with the Kimsuky malware.
Other symptoms that could be related to a possible Trojan Horse contamination include various unusual glitches, device slow-downs, file loss or destruction, and various unauthorized adjustments to the configuration of some applications and programs.
Unfortunately, we are unable to give you any specific symptoms that could be linked to Kimsuky because in some cases there might be any while in others there might be serious issues. All this depends on what type of harm exactly the Trojan has been programmed to perform. What we can say for sure is that, once you detect the malware, you should immediately take actions to remove it and not give it a chance to do more potential harm.
The earlier you delete the Trojan from your machine, the more likely it is that there will be no significant harm to your system or the data stored on it. If you need assistance, below you will find a guide with detailed steps on how to remove Kimsuky. If you think you cannot complete the Trojan-removal steps on your own, it is a good idea to use the recommended removal tool, the link to which is attached in the guide.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Kimsuky |
| Type | Trojan |
| Danger Level | High (Trojans are often used as a backdoor for Ransomware) |
| Symptoms | The system lags, crashes, and software errors may sometimes indicate a possible Trojan infection. |
| Distribution Method | In many cases, users face Trojans when they interact with spam messages, malvertisements, sketchy email attachments, torrents and pirated content. |
| Detection Tool |
Remove Kimsuky Malware
If you are looking for a way to remove Kimsuky you can try this:
- Click on the Start button in the bottom left corner of your Windows OS.
- Go to Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Uninstall a Program.
- Search for Kimsuky and any other unfamiliar programs.
- Uninstall Kimsuky as well as other suspicious programs.
Note that this might not get rid of Kimsuky completely. For more detailed removal instructions follow the guide below.
If you have a Windows virus, continue with the guide below.
If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.
If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.
If you have an iPhone virus, please use our iPhone Virus Removal guide
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).
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time and go to the Processes Tab. Try to determine which processes are dangerous.
Right click on each of them and select Open File Location. Then scan the files with our free online virus scanner:
After you open their folder, end the processes that are infected, then delete their folders.
Note: If you are sure something is part of the infection – delete it, even if the scanner doesn’t flag it. No anti-virus program can detect all infections.
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.
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 up 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 the guide doesn’t help, download the anti-virus program we recommended or try our free online virus scanner. Also, you can always ask us in the comments for help!
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