If your computer is infected with this threat, please read the following:
Attention: Your computer is severely infected with
Win32\Ramnit what is now called, a cocktail infection. This is an infection that is comprised of many different types of viruses and other malware, to damage your computer, and use it as a zombie for its backdoor network. In other words, your computer is under control of a hacker, and regaining control is now next to impossible.
The first component is a
backdoor trojan,
which is a type of trojan that communicates with a hacker: to transfer personal information about you, use your computer to help perform a denial-of-service attack, redirect your internet searches in order to make money off of your browsing habits, and can be a keylogger to steal personal identifiable information to help rob your identity.
The second component is a
rootkit, which is a type of malware to
take control over your computer at administrator access, having full permission to modify all of your device drivers, and allowing itself to hide all the malware on the system. In other words, it is a hackers way of taking control of your computer, and hiding in the dark at the same time. This is a prime initiative of hackers to help keep access to your computer, robbing all of your personal information, and using your computer to send spam across the internet.
The third component is a
file infector, which is a type of virus
to purposely damage as many files as possible, in order to keep control of your system, so you have as little access as possible.
Not only has your system been compromised severely, it is also highly damaged, and if you do not commit to my suggested removal method below, then your computer may not function anymore.If you do any banking or other financial transactions on the PC or if it should contain any other sensitive information, please
get to a known clean computer and change all passwords where applicable.
Do NOT change passwords or do any transactions while using the infected computer because the attacker may get the new passwords and transaction information. (If using a router, you need to reset it with a strong logon/password so the malware cannot gain control before connecting again.) Banking and credit card institutions should be notified to apprise them of your situation (possible security breach). To protect your information that may have been compromised, I recommend reading these references:
Removal method:It is recommended to do a reformat and reinstall of your operating system. The experts in the
Advanced Malware Analysts security community believe that once infected with such a piece of malware, the best course of action would be a reformat and clean reinstall of the OS. This is something I don't like to recommend normally, but in most cases it is the best solution for your safety.
I recommend the following articles to read:
Guides for format and reinstall:
http://www.GeekPolice.net/tutorials-guides-f13/how-to-reformat-and-reinstall-your-operating-system-t15119.htmhttp://www.helpmyos.com/tutorials-software-alternatives-to-proprietary-f19/how-to-reformat-and-reinstall-your-operating-system-the-easy-way-t1307.htmHowever, if you do not have the resources to reinstall your computer's OS and would like me to attempt to clean it, I will be happy to do so. But please
consider carefully before deciding against a reformat.
If you do make that decision, I will do my best to help you clean the computer of any infections, but you must understand that once a machine has been taken over by this type of malware,
I cannot guarantee that it will be 100% secure even after disinfection or that the removal will be successful.
Please let me know what you have decided to do in your next post. Should you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
