GraceWire Trojan

What is the GraceWire Trojan?

GraceWire is malicious program classified as an information-stealing Trojan (stealer). Malware within this classification targets a wide variety of data and can cause especially serious issues. GraceWire has been observed being proliferated through a malicious website, which asks users to perform a 'CAPTCHA' to verify that they are not 'robots'.

When this is done, the site downloads a dangerous Excel spreadsheet, which, upon opening, initiates the infection process of GraceWire.

GraceWire malware detections on VirusTotal

Information stealing malware has a broad range of functionalities for data theft. Stealers typically target log-in credentials (i.e. IDs, usernames and passwords) of various accounts. They can extract this sensitive information from browsers and other applications.

Accounts of interest include (but are not limited to) emails, social networking, social media, messengers, data storage, file sharing, e-commerce, online money transfers, cryptocurrency wallets (cryptowallets), banking, and others.

Through stolen social/communication accounts (e.g. emails, messengers, etc.), cyber criminals can ask the contacts/friends for loans and spread malicious programs by sharing infectious files, all under the guise of the account's genuine owner. Email accounts are of particular interest, as they are commonly connected with other accounts.

Through them, criminals might be able to gain access to associated accounts. Hijacked banking accounts and those that deal with or store financial information (e.g. cryptowallets, online store and money transfers accounts, etc.) can be used for fraudulent transactions and/or to make online purchases.

Stealer Trojans can have other capabilities to facilitate data theft. Some have keylogging features and can record key strokes. This endangers the privacy and safety of typed information. This functionality is primarily used to steal account log-in credentials, however, this is not the exclusive use of stealers.

Exactly which information is targeted and how it is used, depends on the malware's capabilities and cyber criminals' modus operandi. In summary, GraceWire infections can result in financial loss, serious privacy issues and identity theft.

If it is suspected/known that GraceWire Trojan (or other malware) has already infected the system, use anti-virus software to eliminate it without delay.

Threat Summary:
Name	GraceWire stealer
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Detection Names	Avast (FileRepMalware), BitDefender (Trojan.GenericKD.43346498), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/GenKryptik.EMNX), Kaspersky (Trojan.Win32.Zenpak.ahbm), Full List (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'.
Damage	Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the victim's computer added to a botnet.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by RCS LT, the parent company of PCRisk.com.

CollectorStealer, Mist, and ProstoClipper are some examples of information-stealing malware. These malicious programs can have other capabilities, not just those geared towards stealing data. Some obtain information through spying functionalities.

For example, taking screenshots and/or recording the screen, making videos through integrated or connected hardware (webcams), etc. They might be able to exfiltrate (i.e. download) files stored in the infected system as well.

Chain infections are another potential threat, as certain Trojans can download/install additional malware (e.g. ransomware, cryptominers, etc.). Regardless of how malicious programs operate, their purpose is identical: to generate revenue for the cyber criminals using them.

Due to the significant threat posed to device/user safety, all malware infections must be removed immediately upon detection.

How did GraceWire infiltrate my computer?

At the time of research, GraceWire stealer was distributed via a malicious website. This web page asked users to verify CAPTCHA, and doing so resulted in the download of an infectious Excel document. When opened, the file initiated download/installation of GraceWire.

To elaborate, dangerous Microsoft Office documents (such as Excel spreadsheets) infect systems by executing malicious macro commands. In MS Office versions released before 2010, this process is automatic, however, newer versions have "Protected View" mode, which prevents macros from being executed when a document is opened.

In these versions, users are asked explicitly to enable macro commands (i.e. to enable editing/content). Therefore, the infection process is triggered only after macros are enabled manually. In general, popular malware distribution methods include spam campaigns, illegal activation tools ("cracks"), fake updaters and untrusted download channels.

Spam campaigns are large scale operations, during which scam emails are sent by the thousand. These deceptive messages contain download links of dangerous files and/or the files are attached to the emails. As well as Microsoft Office documents, malicious files can be archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), PDF documents, JavaScript, and so on.

When these files are opened, the infection process is started. Rather than activating licensed products, "cracking" tools can download/install malware.

Rogue updaters cause infections by exploiting weaknesses of outdated products and/or simply installing malicious software, rather than the promised updates. Malware is often downloaded unintentionally from dubious sources such as unofficial and free file-hosting sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders.

How to avoid installation of malware

You are advised to exercise caution when browsing the web. Suspicious or irrelevant emails must not be opened, especially those with any attachments or links found in them, as this can result in high-risk infection. All downloads must be done from official and trustworthy sources.

Activate and update products using functions/tools provided by genuine developers. Illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third party updaters should be avoided, as they often proliferate malware. It is crucial to have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware installed and kept updated.

Use this software for regular system scans and removal of detected/potential threats. 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.

Screenshot of the malicious website designed to trick users into completing CAPTCHA in order to download the virulent Excel document:

GraceWire trojan proliferating website

Screenshot of the malicious Excel document proliferating GraceWire Trojan:

Malicious Excel file spreading GraceWire trojan

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

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.

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.

Run Windows 11 in Safe Mode with Networking

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

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.

Process Explorer showing a suspicious unsigned process running from %AppData%

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.

Autoruns 14.x with Hide Microsoft Entries enabled showing the Logon and Scheduled Tasks tabs

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

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.

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

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.

Combo Cleaner full scan results showing detected threats

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.

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

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.

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

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:

Primary email first - it's the recovery hub for everything else
Banking and financial accounts
Password manager master password (if you use one)
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.

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.

Verifying malware removal in the Windows 11 Task Manager Startup apps tab

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.