Luca Stealer
If your computer has recently been compromised by a threat called Luca Stealer, then you should know that this is a harmful computer infection that belongs to the infamous Trojan horse family. Luca Stealer is a new representative of its respective malware group and it can easily sneak inside any computer and can cause major damage to it if not removed in time.
For instance, Luca Stealer may alter the settings of your OS without your knowledge, steal your personal or financial information, create system vulnerabilities or download more threats onto the computer which may include ransomware, spyware or rootkits. Like most Trojan viruses, this one can give access to your PC to the hackers, who can establish remote control and heavily damage your entire machine.
Unfortunately, in some of the cases, it may not be enough to use your security program to remove the malware because Luca Stealer may oftentimes disable the anti-virus program and the firewall in order to prevent you from detecting and removing its malicious code. It may also stop you from using the Internet or installing any other program on your system.
If this is your case and you are struggling with this particular infection and don’t know what to do, on this page, we may have a solution for you. Below you will find a manual removal guide and a professional removal tool, both of which are good options for removing Luca Stealer. You can use the instructions there to check your system and locate the Trojan in a fast and reliable manner.
It is very important to get rid of this nasty malware before it manages to fulfill its criminal agenda. That’s why you mustn’t lose time and take actions immediately. Our advice is to combine the manual steps with the professional scanner to have better chances to get rid of this infection effectively.
The harmful effects of Luca Stealer
Created with the purpose of causing harm, Luca Stealer is a tool that can be used for many different types of cybercrime. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to say what exactly a Trojan horse of this type will do inside your machine because the hackers who control it can program it to perform various criminal tasks.
Another nasty aspect of this infection is its stealthiness. Luca Stealer, like Altruistics, rarely shows any particular symptoms that would indicate its presence and gain users’ attention. This makes the task of detecting and removing the malware even more challenging provided that you may not even know that you have been infected before any serious damage occurs in the system.
The Trojan may oftentimes mimic some important system files and processes, which, without the help of a reliable antivirus program, may not be detected by users as malicious. And this is where the presence of a trusted security tool plays a very important role. Such software can not only provide protection and prevent an infection but may also notify you about any hidden malicious processes, which the Trojan may be carrying out in the background.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Luca Stealer |
| Type | Malware |
| Danger Level | High (Trojans are often used as a backdoor for Ransomware) |
| Symptoms | Symptoms of the Trojan horse infection can rarely be observed, as this malware tries to hide deep in the system and remain there in stealth. |
| Distribution Method | Some of the most common sources are spam, malicious email attachments, torrents, pirated software, infected links, fake ads, malicious websites. |
| Detection Tool |
Remove Luca Stealer Malware
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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