How to protect computers from the Kryptik trojan

What kind of malware is Kryptik?

Kryptik (also known as Win32/Kryptik.BGIS) is a backdoor trojan, which is often installed without users' knowledge. Therefore, people do not install programs of this type intentionally. When installed, Kryptik can be controlled remotely.

Using this feature, cyber criminals attempt to trick people into installing Kryptik so that they can steal information and then use it to generate revenue. If there is any reason to believe that Kryptik is installed on the operating system, remove it immediately.

Furthermore, the term "Kryptik" (also known as Krypt, Cryptic, Crypt, and Packed) is used by various malware databases to describe "packed" (compressed) files.

More about Kryptik

Research shows that cyber criminals use Kryptik to steal information such as email addresses, clipboard data, usernames and passwords of various applications (and services) such as BancLine, Fidelity, CruiseNet, bank accounts, Teller Plus, and so on. This information might be used to extort or steal money from unsuspecting people, or at least cause privacy issues.

Additionally, Kryptik can steal digital certificates and associated passwords, URLs of visited websites (and sensitive details from web pages visited/used by the victim), POP3 and IMAP account information, computer name and username, operating system version, and Outlook Express account data.

In any case, cyber criminals store all stolen data on a remote machine. Additionally, Kryptik trojan can generate various URL addresses, open random TCP and UDP ports, monitor and modify network traffic, change homepages on browsers, set up a proxy server, deny access to certain websites, and so on.

Cyber criminals can also use Kryptik to capture screenshots, record keystrokes, shut down or restart the infected computer and run executable files on it. The keylogging feature can cause serious problems - this trojan can be used to record keyboard presses, including credentials (logins, passwords) of important accounts such as banking, emails, and so on.

These stolen accounts might cause financial/data loss and other problems. Captured screenshots might be used to blackmail victims by threatening to proliferate personal or compromising material. The list of Kryptik's capabilities is extensive, all of which can lead to a number of serious problems.

Therefore, ensure that this trojan is not installed on the operating system. If it is, remove it immediately.

Trojans in general

The internet is full of trojan-type programs. Some examples are Varenyky, GozNym, and Extenbro. 

Some are powerful tools, others not, however, in most cases, cyber criminals use them to steal sensitive information, infect computers with other high-risk malware (such as ransomware), and so on. There is always a possibility that a trojans such as Kryptik might cause serious and irreversible damage.

How did Kryptik infiltrate my computer?

It is unknown exactly how cyber criminals proliferate Kryptik, however, common methods are spam email campaigns, fake software updaters, untrustworthy software download sources, and unofficial software activation tools. Spam campaigns proliferate infections through files attached to emails.

Typically, these attachments are Microsoft Office documents, archive files (ZIP, RAR), PDF documents, executable files (like .exe), JavaScript files, and so on. If opened, they infect computers with high-risk malware.

Fake software updaters cause damage to systems by downloading and installing malicious programs rather than updating installed software, or by exploiting bugs/flaws of outdated software.

Free file hosting, freeware download websites, Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule etc.), third party software downloaders, and other similar channels can be used to disguise malicious files as normal and harmless. When downloaded and opened, however, they install malicious programs.

Software 'cracking' tools supposedly allow users to activate installed/registered programs free of charge, however, rather than activating any software, they often install malware.

How to avoid installation of malware?

If a received email is irrelevant, sent from unknown address and contains attachment, leave the attached file unopened. All programs should be downloaded using direct download links and official websites. Do not use third party downloaders or other channels mentioned above.

Installed software must be updated through tools or implemented functions that are designed and provided by official software developers. The same applies to activation of paid software. It is illegal to use 'cracked' software or to 'crack' it with third party tools.

Have reputable anti-virus or anti-spyware software installed and perform system scans regularly. If you believe that your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

How to remove malware manually?

Most trojan infections can be removed by running a full system scan with Combo Cleaner. The full manual procedure below is for cases where automatic removal failed, where you want to verify a scan caught everything, or where the threat has multiple persistence points.

Tools you'll need

Combo Cleaner Antivirus 7-days free trial

Recommended primary scanner. VB100 certified. The 7-day free trial is available.

Microsoft Defender Offline Free · built-in

Built into Windows. Boots to a clean environment to catch rootkits.

Process Explorer Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Better than Task Manager - shows full paths and signatures.

Autoruns Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Lists every place malware can persist on your system.

Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT) Free

Official Microsoft on-demand scanner. Always-current signatures - expires every 10 days.

Phase 1~ 5 min

Contain - limit the damage

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1

Disconnect from the network

30 secNo tool needed

Unplug your Ethernet cable and turn off Wi-Fi. If you're on a laptop, the airplane-mode key works fastest.

Why this matters

Many trojans exfiltrate data - saved browser passwords, banking sessions, screenshots - and accept remote commands. Cutting the network stops both immediately. Keep it disconnected until Phase 4.

2

Boot into Safe Mode with Networking

3 min

Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and stops most malware from auto-running. "With Networking" lets you download tools - re-enable Wi-Fi only after you've booted in.

Windows 11

Open Settings → System → Recovery. Click Restart now next to Advanced startup.

Your computer will restart into the "Choose an option" menu. Click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. After the second reboot, press 5 or F5.

Windows 10

Click the Windows logo, hold Shift, click the Power icon and choose Restart. In the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. Press F5.

Windows 8

Go to the Start Screen, type Advanced, select Settings → Advanced startup options → Restart now → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup settings → Restart → F5.

Note: Windows 8 reached end-of-life in January 2023 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Windows 7

Click Start → Shut Down → Restart → OK. As the system boots, press F8 repeatedly until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, then choose Safe Mode with Networking.

Note: Windows 7 reached end-of-life in January 2020 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Phase 2~ 15 min

Identify - find what's hiding

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3

Inspect running processes with Process Explorer

Tool: Process Explorer5 min

Download Process Explorer from Microsoft Sysinternals. Run it as Administrator. Click Options → Verify Image Signatures and View → Lower Pane View → DLLs.

Sort by "Verified Signer." Anything unsigned running from %AppData%, %LocalAppData%, %Temp%, or %ProgramData% is suspicious. Right-click → Properties to see the full image path. Right-click → "Search Online" to look up unfamiliar process names.

Why not just Task Manager

Task Manager hides full file paths, doesn't show digital signatures, and groups processes in ways that make malware easy to miss. Process Explorer is the same tool Microsoft engineers use.

4

Map every persistence point with Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns 14.x10 min

Download Autoruns. Right-click Autoruns.exe and choose Run as administrator - without elevation, Autoruns can't inspect protected registry hives.

In the menu, open Options → Hide Microsoft Entries and Options → Hide Empty Locations, then click Refresh.

Modern trojans don't just live in startup. Walk through these tabs and look for unsigned or unfamiliar entries:

• Logon - classic Run/RunOnce keys
• Scheduled Tasks - frequent hiding spot, especially tasks with PowerShell, MSHTA, or rundll32 actions
• Services - unsigned services in non-Microsoft folders
• WMI - Event Subscriptions are a stealthy persistence mechanism (MITRE T1546.003)
• Image Hijacks - Image File Execution Options "Debugger" abuse
• AppInit - DLLs loaded into every GUI process
• Browser plug-ins - unsigned add-ons across all installed browsers

Pro tip

Right-click any suspicious entry → "Jump to Image" to see the actual file. Right-click → "Search Online" opens VirusTotal for the file hash. Don't delete yet - just write down the file paths and entry names. We'll remove them after the scans.

5

Check the hosts file and DNS settings

3 minBuilt into Windows

Trojans often redirect bank, antivirus, and update domains to attacker-controlled servers by editing the hosts file or DNS settings.

Hosts file: Open Notepad as Administrator and open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Legitimate entries are commented with #. Any uncommented IP-to-domain mapping is suspicious - especially redirects for microsoft.com, windowsupdate, or your bank.

DNS settings: Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run ipconfig /all. Confirm your DNS servers point to your ISP, your router, or a known public resolver (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Google 8.8.8.8). Then open Settings → Network & internet → [your adapter] → DNS server assignment and verify both DNS and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) settings haven't been hijacked.

Why this matters

A clean PC with hijacked DNS is still a compromised PC. You'll think you're at chase.com and you'll be at the attacker's clone.

Phase 3~ 60-90 min

Remove - three scans, one cleanup

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No single antivirus catches everything. The order below is intentional: offline scan first (catches rootkits before Windows fully loads), then on-demand scanners on the running system, then manual cleanup of anything they missed.

6

Run Microsoft Defender Offline

Tool: Built into Windows15 min

Reboot to normal Windows. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options. Select Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) and click Scan now. Your computer will restart into a stripped-down environment and scan before the full operating system loads.

Why this comes first

Rootkits and bootkits hide from any scanner running on the same Windows session that's already infected. A pre-boot offline scan sees the disk before the malware can hide itself.

Recommended antivirus

Combo Cleaner

VB100 certified. Includes anti-trojan, registry/persistence scanning, anti-spyware in one pass. The 7-day free trial is available.

Download Combo Cleaner

7

Run Combo Cleaner full system scan

Tool: Combo Cleaner20-40 min

Install Combo Cleaner and run a full system scan (not the quick scan). Let it complete fully, review the detected threats, and apply the recommended actions. Combo Cleaner will quarantine known trojans and registry persistence.

8

Run Microsoft Safety Scanner as a second-opinion scan

Tool: Microsoft Safety Scanner15 min

Download Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT.exe), Microsoft's free on-demand tool. The binary expires every 10 days, which means every download has the latest signatures. Run a full scan after Combo Cleaner to catch anything one engine alone might miss.

Why a second scan

Different scanning engines catch different threats. Running an additional Microsoft scan after Combo Cleaner is the single most underused verification step in malware removal.

9

Manually remove anything still listed in Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns10 min

Reopen Autoruns. Anything you flagged in Step 4 that's still present hasn't been caught by the automated scans. For each remaining suspicious entry: right-click → Delete in Autoruns (this removes the persistence registration), then navigate to the file path and delete the actual file. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Important

Some malware files reappear after deletion because something else on the system recreates them. If you delete a file and it returns within minutes, you have a remaining persistence point that Autoruns didn't show - usually a service or scheduled task running under SYSTEM. Re-run the scans from Steps 6-8 or proceed to a clean install (see end of guide).

Phase 4~ 15 min

Recover - restore browsers and security

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10

Reset browsers and clear notification permissions

5 min

Trojans and adware frequently hijack browsers - change the default search engine, install rogue extensions, or grant themselves notification permissions to keep displaying scam pop-ups even after the malware is gone.

• Chrome: visit chrome://settings/reset and click "Restore settings to their original defaults." Then visit chrome://settings/content/notifications and remove any unfamiliar sites.
• Edge: visit edge://settings/reset. Then check edge://settings/content/notifications.
• Firefox: open about:support and click Refresh Firefox (Firefox uses "Refresh," not "Reset"). Then check Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions → Notifications.

Review installed extensions in each browser and remove anything you don't recognize, especially extensions you didn't install yourself.

11

Re-enable Defender, Tamper Protection, and update everything

10 min

Many trojans disable security software. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings and confirm Real-time protection, Cloud-delivered protection, and Tamper Protection are all turned on. Tamper Protection prevents malware from disabling Defender silently.

Then run Windows Update (Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates) and update your browsers and applications. The infection vector that let the trojan in originally usually involves outdated software.

Phase 5~ 15 min + 7 days

Verify & secure

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12

Change passwords from a clean device

20 min⚠ Critical

If the trojan was an info-stealer (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar, and similar are extremely common), assume every password saved in your browser is compromised. Change them from a different, known-clean device - your phone is fine if it's not infected.

Recommended order:

1. Primary email first - it's the recovery hub for everything else
2. Banking and financial accounts
3. Password manager master password (if you use one)
4. Social media, shopping, and remaining accounts

Where available, enable phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (passkeys / FIDO2 hardware keys / authenticator apps) - SMS-based MFA is bypassable by sophisticated attackers.

13

Verify the clean and monitor for 7 days

5 min + 1 week monitoring

Reconnect to the network and run one final full scan with Combo Cleaner. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and switch to the Startup apps tab - confirm nothing suspicious has reappeared.

Over the next 7 days, watch for symptom recurrence: unexpected high CPU usage, unknown processes returning, browser redirects, or pop-ups. If anything returns, you missed a persistence point and the procedure needs to be repeated - or you may have a deeper compromise that requires a clean install.

When to clean install Windows instead

Manual removal isn't always the right answer. Reinstalling Windows from scratch is the only way to be 100% certain when:

• The malware reappears after every removal attempt
• A bootkit or UEFI rootkit was detected (this class of threat sits below the operating system and survives a normal Windows reinstall)
• A confirmed credential-theft trojan ran with administrator privileges (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar) - the system likely has multiple unknown payloads
• The PC is used for online banking, business email, or anything where partial doubt isn't acceptable

A clean install is a 30-60 minute process: Windows 11 reinstall via Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything → Cloud download. Back up documents to external storage first, scan the backup with Combo Cleaner before restoring it, and reinstall applications fresh - never restore them from a backup of the infected system.

Important: Manual removal requires advanced computer skills. If you're not confident identifying system files from malicious files, run an automated scan with Combo Cleaner and Windows Defender and stop there - that path catches the vast majority of consumer trojans without the risk of breaking Windows by deleting the wrong file.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

My computer is infected with Kryptik malware, should I format my storage device to get rid of it?

No, victims of the Kryptik malware can remove this malware from their computers without formatting the storage device.

What are the biggest issues that malware can cause?

It depends on the type of malware and its capabilities. Usually, it can be used to steal identities, hijack online accounts, steal sensitive information, distribute other malware, mine cryptocurrency, perform DDoS attacks, add computers to botnets, or perform other malicious activities.

What is the purpose of Kryptik malware?

This malware can steal clipboard data (information stored in the system clipboard), usernames and passwords from various applications (examples are provided in our article), open websites, log keystrokes (record pressed keys), and more.

How did a malware infiltrate my computer?

Typically, cybercriminals use fake installers for cracked software or emails to trick users into executing malware. In the second case, they send emails containing malicious attachments or links. Also, they use fake updaters, unreliable sources for downloading software and files (e.g., P2P networks, torrent sites) and similar methods to distribute their malware.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from malware?

Yes, Combo Cleaner will scan your computer and remove detected malware. It can detect almost all known malware. High-end malware usually hides deep in the system. Therefore, it is required to run a full system scan to get rid of such malware.