Smokeloader Trojan

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Smokeloader

The infamous Trojan Horse malware family has recently had yet another addition – a piece of malware named Smokeloader. Here, we will do our best to supply you with important information about Smokeloader computer threat, and we will also share with you our tested removal instructions, that may allow you to liberate your computer from the malicious Trojan, in case the latter has already managed to infiltrate your system.

The Smokeloader Trojan detected in VirusTotal

Characteristics of a Trojan Horse

Stealth is the first thing that comes to mind when talking about this sort of threats. They are among the stealthiest forms of malware that you may possibly get in your computer, and it all starts with the way they enter the machine.

The Smokeloader malware

During the time a threat like the Smokeloader malware may also use disguise to hide its processes and files. The Smokeloader malware may give them names similar to those of legitimate system processes and files, so as to make it difficult for the user to locate and remove them.

This is why you should be really careful with the removal process. Only delete something if you are sure it is related to the malware. If you are uncertain, use the recommended anti-malware tool from the guide, or ask us in the comments. Otherwise, you may end up deleting something you aren’t supposed to, thereby causing even more damage to your system.

SUMMARY:

NameSmokeloader
TypeTrojan
Detection Tool

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Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Smokeloader!

How to remove Smokeloader

  1. First, click the Start Menu on your Windows PC.
  2. Type Programs and Settings in the Start Menu, click the first item, and find Smokeloader in the programs list that would show up.
  3. Select Smokeloader from the list and click on Uninstall.
  4. Follow the steps in the removal wizard.

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.

What we suggest you do first is, check the list of programs that are presently installed on the infected device and uninstall any rogue software that you find there:

  • From the Start Menu, navigate to Control Panel ->>> Programs and Features ->>> Uninstall a Program.
  • Next, carefully search for unfamiliar programs or programs that have been installed recently and could be related to Smokeloader.
  • If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Smokeloader.
  • If a notification appears on your screen when you try to uninstall a specific questionable program prompting you to just alter it or repair it, make sure you choose NO and complete the steps from the removal wizard.

Remove Smokeloader from Chrome

  1. Click on the three dots in the right upper corner
  2. Go to more tools
  3. Now select extensions
  4. Remove the Smokeloader extension
  • Once you open Chrome, click on the three-dots icon to open the browser’s menu, go to More Tools/ More Options, and then to Extensions.
  • Again, find the items on that page that could be linked to Smokeloader and/or that might be causing problems in the browser and delete them.
  • Afterwards, go to this folder: Computer > C: > Users > *Your User Account* > App Data > Local > Google > Chrome > User Data. In there, you will find a folder named Default – you should change its name to Backup Default and restart the PC.
  • Note that the App Data folder is normally hidden so you’d have to first make the hidden files and folders on your PC visible before you can access it.

How to get rid of Smokeloader on FF/Edge/etc.

  1. Open the browser and select the menu icon.
  2. From the menu, click on the Add-ons button.
  3. Look for the Smokeloader extension
  4. Get rid of Smokeloader by removing it from extensions

If using Firefox:

  • Open Firefox
  • Select the three parallel lines menu and go to Add-ons.
  • Find the unwanted add-on and delete it from the browser – if there is more than one unwanted extension, remove all of them.
  • Go to the browser menu again, select Options, and then click on Home from the sidebar to the left.
  • Check the current addresses for the browser’s homepage and new-tab page and change them if they are currently set to address(es) you don’t know or trust.

If using MS Edge/IE:

  • Start Edge
  • Select the browser menu and go to Extensions.
  • Find and uninstall any Edge extensions that look undesirable and unwanted.
  • Select Settings from the browser menu and click on Appearance.
  • Check the new-tab page address of the browser and if it has been modified by “Smokeloader” or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.

How to Delete Smokeloader

  1. Open task manager
  2. Look for the Smokeloader process
  3. Select it and click on End task
  4. Open the file location to delete Smokeloader
  • Access the Task Manager by pressing together the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys and then selecting Task Manager.
  • Open Processes and there try to find a process with the name of the unwanted software. If you find it, select it with the right button of the mouse and click on the Open File Location option.
  • If you don’t see a “Smokeloader” process in the Task Manager, look for another suspicious process with an unusual name. It is likely that the unwanted process would be using lots of RAM and CPU so pay attention to the number of resources each process is using.
  • Tip: If you think you have singled out the unwanted process but are not sure, it’s always a good idea to search for information about it on the Internet – this should give you a general idea if the process is a legitimate one from a regular program or from your OS or if it is indeed likely linked to the adware.
  • If you find another suspicious process, open its File Location too.
  • Once in the File Location folder for the suspicious process, start testing all of the files that are stored there by dragging them to our free online scanner available below.
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    • If the scanner finds malware in any of the files, return to the Processes tab in the Task Manager, select the suspected process, and then select the End Process option to quit it.
    • Go back to the folder where the files of that process are located and delete all of the files that you are allowed to delete. If all files get deleted normally, exit the folder and delete that folder too. If one or more of the files showed an error message when you tried to delete them, leave them for now and return to try to delete them again once you’ve completed the rest of the guide.

    How to Uninstall Smokeloader

    1. Click on the home button
    2. Search for Startup Apps
    3. Look for Smokeloader in there
    4. Uninstall Smokeloader from Startup Apps by turning it off
    • Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Smokeloader-related entries from the Registry. The easiest way to do this is to open the Registry Editor app (type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter) and then open a Find dialog (CTRL+F key combination) where you have to type the name of the threat. 
    • Perform a search by clicking on the Find Next button and delete any detected results. Do this as many times as needed until no more results are found. 
    • After that, to ensure that there are no remaining entries lined to Smokeloader in the Registry, go manually to the following directories and delete them:
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Random Directory. 
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run/Random
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main/Random


    What is Smokeloader?

    In most cases, a Trojan wouldn’t automatically infect the computer, instead, it will need the user’s “assistance” in order to get activated. In order to gain the user’s trust, and permission to operate, most Trojans are disguised. A common way of disguising a Trojan Horse file is making it look like it is a software installer for some computer game or for some helpful program like MFResident.exe or Ghsetup . Many user tend to fall for this type of disguise, and open the Trojan Horse file, thinking it will help them install some legitimate software product on their computer. Of course, once they open the file, and give their Admin permission for it to make changes in the system, all hell breaks loose as the Trojan gets unleashed, and as it now has administrative privileges in the computer. After that, there are all sorts of things that cold befall the infected computer (more on that later).


    Can Smokeloader harm your machine?

    The effects of a Trojan Horse attack largely depend on the exact purpose of the malware program. You see, unlike Spyware, Rootkits, Ransomware, and most other kinds of malware, the abilities of most Trojans aren’t limited to several actions. Depending on the goal of the hackers, a Trojan may be used for spying on the victims, stealing their online accounts and banking numbers, inserting other infections in their computers, forcing their machines to carry out illegal actions, and more. Therefore, we cannot tell you with certainty what Smokeloader may try to do in your machine. Still, you should most definitely not give it any more time to show its true colors, and instead take immediate actions towards removing it from your computer.


    About the author

    Brandon Skies

    Brandon is a researcher and content creator in the fields of cyber-security and virtual privacy. Years of experience enable him to provide readers with important information and adequate solutions for the latest software and malware problems.

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