How to remove Covid stealer malware from your operating system

What is the Covid stealer?

Covid is malicious software classified as a 'stealer'. As the classification implies, this malware steals information. Stealers can employ various functionality to stealthily obtain data from infected systems. This Covid malware is highly dangerous, and thus infections must be eliminated immediately upon detection.

The primary functionality of stealers is extraction and exfiltration of information from certain browsers and other specific applications. From targeted browsers, these malicious programs can steal browsing and search engine histories, browser cookies, autofill data and stored log-in credentials (i.e. IDs, usernames and passwords).

Other applications are similarly targeted for the log-in credentials that they store. Cyber criminals mainly attempt to extract the usernames/passwords of email, social media, social networking, messenger, data storage and transferring, e-commerce, online money transfers, cryptocurrency wallet, e-wallet, and banking accounts.

Through hijacked communication/social accounts, criminals can ask contacts/friends for loans and/or proliferate malware (by sharing infectious files), all under the guise of the genuine owner.

Accounts that directly or indirectly deal with financial information (e.g. banking account and/or credit card details) are of particular interest, as they can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases. Some stealer-type malware has keylogging features.

I.e., these stealers can record key strokes. This endangers the privacy of all typed information. These malicious programs might also be able to exfiltrate (i.e. download) content stored on the compromised device. If the stolen files are especially sensitive and/or compromised, they may be held for ransom, under threat of publication and/or sale to the victims' competitors.

To summarize, Covid stealer infections can result in serious privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft. If it is suspected or known that the Covid stealer (or other malware) has already infected the system, use anti-virus software to remove it without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	Covid malware
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Detection Names	Avast (Win32:Malware-gen), BitDefenderTheta (AI:Packer.96A8F2121F), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/Injector.CUWJ), DrWeb (Trojan.Siggen10.22087), 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 read more.

Anubis, Babax, StormKitty, Taurus and XTMEM are some examples of other stealers. Malware can have a broad range of malicious functionality, and these features can be in varied combinations.

Popular types include (but are not limited to) information stealers, loader/backdoor Trojans (capable of causing chain infections), spyware, ransomware (capable of encrypting data and/or locking the screen for ransom purposes), cryptominers (capable of using system resources to mine cryptocurrency), keyloggers, and so on.

Regardless of how malicious programs operate, their purpose is identical: to generate revenue for the cyber criminals using them.

How did Covid infiltrate my computer?

Malware infections are commonly spread through malspam campaigns, untrusted file/software download sources, fake (third party) software updating tools, Trojans and unofficial software activation tools. Using malspam, criminals send emails that have a malicious file attached, or include a website link designed to download a malicious file.

Their main goal is to trick recipients into executing the file, which then infects the computer with malware. Cyber criminals usually attach a Microsoft Office document, archive file (ZIP, RAR), PDF document, executable file (.exe) or JavaScript file, and wait until recipients open it.

Examples of untrusted file and software download sources are Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients), free file hosting websites, freeware download sites, and unofficial web pages. These are used to distribute malicious files by disguising them as legitimate and regular.

When users download and open (execute) the files, however, they inadvertently install malware. Fake software updating tools cause damage by installing malware rather than updates/fixes for installed software, or by exploiting bugs/flaws of outdated software.

Trojans are malicious programs that can cause chain infections by installing other software of this kind. Note that malware can only be distributed in this way if Trojans are already installed on computers.

Unofficial activation ('cracking') tools are illegal programs that supposedly activate licensed software free of charge and bypass activation, however, they often install other malicious programs instead.

How to avoid installation of malware

To avoid infecting the system with malware spread through spam mail, you are strongly advised not to open suspicious or irrelevant emails, especially those with any attachments or links present in them. Use official and verified download channels.

Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers, since illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third party updaters commonly proliferate malicious software. To ensure device integrity and user safety, it is paramount to have reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware installed and kept updated.

Furthermore, use these programs to run regular system scans and to remove 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 administrative (control) website of the Covid stealer:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. 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 read more.

Quick menu:

• What is Covid?
• STEP 1. Manual removal of Covid malware.
• STEP 2. Check if your computer is clean.

How to remove malware manually?

Manual malware removal is a complicated task - usually it is best to allow antivirus or anti-malware programs to do this automatically. To remove this malware we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. If you wish to remove malware manually, the first step is to identify the name of the malware that you are trying to remove.

Here is an example of a suspicious program running on a user's computer:

If you checked the list of programs running on your computer, for example, using task manager, and identified a program that looks suspicious, you should continue with these steps:

Download a program called Autoruns. This program shows auto-start applications, Registry, and file system locations:

Restart your computer into Safe Mode:

Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Start your computer in Safe Mode. Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer start process, press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see the Windows Advanced Option menu, and then select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.

Video showing how to start Windows 7 in "Safe Mode with Networking":

Windows 8 users: Start Windows 8 is Safe Mode with Networking - Go to Windows 8 Start Screen, type Advanced, in the search results select Settings. Click Advanced startup options, in the opened "General PC Settings" window, select Advanced startup. Click the "Restart now" button. Your computer will now restart into the "Advanced Startup options menu".

Click the "Troubleshoot" button, and then click the "Advanced options" button. In the advanced option screen, click "Startup settings". Click the "Restart" button. Your PC will restart into the Startup Settings screen. Press F5 to boot in Safe Mode with Networking.

Video showing how to start Windows 8 in "Safe Mode with Networking":

Windows 10 users: Click the Windows logo and select the Power icon. In the opened menu click "Restart" while holding "Shift" button on your keyboard. In the "choose an option" window click on the "Troubleshoot", next select "Advanced options". In the advanced options menu select "Startup Settings" and click on the "Restart" button.

In the following window you should click the "F5" button on your keyboard. This will restart your operating system in safe mode with networking.

Video showing how to start Windows 10 in "Safe Mode with Networking":

 

Extract the downloaded archive and run the Autoruns.exe file.

In the Autoruns application, click "Options" at the top and uncheck "Hide Empty Locations" and "Hide Windows Entries" options. After this procedure, click the "Refresh" icon.

Check the list provided by the Autoruns application and locate the malware file that you want to eliminate.

You should write down its full path and name. Note that some malware hides process names under legitimate Windows process names. At this stage, it is very important to avoid removing system files. After you locate the suspicious program you wish to remove, right click your mouse over its name and choose "Delete".

After removing the malware through the Autoruns application (this ensures that the malware will not run automatically on the next system startup), you should search for the malware name on your computer. Be sure to enable hidden files and folders before proceeding. If you find the filename of the malware, be sure to remove it.

Reboot your computer in normal mode. Following these steps should remove any malware from your computer. Note that manual threat removal requires advanced computer skills. If you do not have these skills, leave malware removal to antivirus and anti-malware programs.

These steps might not work with advanced malware infections. As always it is best to prevent infection than try to remove malware later. To keep your computer safe, install the latest operating system updates and use antivirus software.

To be sure your computer is free of malware infections, we recommend scanning it with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.

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