How to remove Enigma stealer

What kind of malware is Enigma?

Enigma is an information stealer written in the C# programming language. It is a variation of another stealer known as Stealerium. It is important to note that Enigma is also the name of a legitimate company that offers business intelligence and data services, which has no association with the information stealer.

More about Enigma

The Enigma stealer is created with the intention of gathering information from a target system, as well as stealing sensitive information like tokens, passwords, and usernames from various sources such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Outlook, Telegram, Signal, OpenVPN, and others.

In addition, it has the ability to take screenshots, gather information from the clipboard, and extract VPN configurations. Enigma also includes a keylogger module enabling it to record keyboard input. This stealer sends all obtained information to threat actors via Telegram.

It is known that cybercriminals behind Enigma stealer target individuals involved in the cryptocurrency industry.

The information obtained by the Enigma stealer can be sold on the dark web to third parties and used for identity theft, unauthorized access to the victim's accounts, theft of funds, and other malicious activities. Thus, malware of this type should be removed from compromised computers as soon as possible.

Information stealers in general

Information stealer is a type of malicious software that is designed to steal sensitive information from a victim's computer. Typically, cybercriminals behind information stealers aim to obtain credit card details, ID card information, login credentials, social security numbers, seed phrases, and other data.

The stolen information can then be used for various malicious purposes, such as identity theft, financial fraud, etc. Examples of different stealers are Graphiron Stealer, Creal Stealer, and RL Stealer.

How did Enigma infiltrate my computer?

Cybercriminals are spreading the Enigma stealer using a harmful RAR archive that is sent to potential victims through phishing emails or via social media platforms. The archive consists of two files: "Interview questions.txt" and "Interview conditions.word.exe" (the names of these files may vary).

The latter is an executable file designed to trick unsuspecting victims into running the loader and infecting their computers with Enigma information stealer.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Exercise caution when downloading files and software from the web. Always download them from trustworthy sources, such as official pages or verified stores. Stay alert when opening email attachments or clicking on links, especially in unexpected emails from unknown senders.

Ensure your operating system and installed programs are up to date. Never use untrusted tools to update or activate any software. Also, be wary of clicking on ads on dubious websites, use trustworthy antivirus software, and frequently scan your device for 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.

Fake employment document ("Interview questions.txt") alongside with the malicious executable disguised as a MS Word document:

Text in this  file:

Примерные вопросы к интервью:

Расскажите о себе?
Как пришли в мир криптовалют?
Что такое криптовалюта и на чем она держится?
Какие есть риски при работе с криптовалютой?
Мошенничество в криптовалюте?
Как изменяется курс криптовалюты?
В какую криптовалюты посоветуете вложиться читателям издания?
Где лучше держать криптовалюту?
Самый популярный P2P-сервис Binance
Расскажите Вашу историю закрепления в мире криптовалют
Какие можете дать советы начинающим трейдерам?
Основные сложности на первых этапах торговли, важные проблемы
Законы регулирующие криптовалюту
Какими программами, сайтами пользуетесь?
С каких вложений начинать работу?

 

Sample interview questions:

Tell us about yourself?
How did you come into the world of cryptocurrency?
What is cryptocurrency and what does it stand for?
What are the risks of working with cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency fraud?
How does the rate of cryptocurrency change?
What cryptocurrency would you advise readers to invest in?
Where is the best place to keep cryptocurrency?
The most popular P2P service Binance
What is your story about getting a foothold in the cryptocurrency world?
What advice can you give to beginner traders?
Main difficulties at the first stages of trading, important problems
Laws regulating Cryptocurrency
What programs, websites do you use?
What investment should I start with?

 

Приблизні запитання до інтерв’ю:

Розкажіть про себе?
Як прийшли у світ криптовалют?
Що таке криптовалюта і на чому вона тримається?
Які є ризики при роботі з криптовалютою?
Шахрайство в криптовалюті?
Як змінюється курс криптовалюти?
У яку криптовалюту порадите вкластися читачам видання?
Де краще тримати криптовалюту?
Найпопулярніший P2P-сервіс Binance
Розкажіть Вашу історію закріплення у світі криптовалют
Які можете дати поради трейдерам-початківцям?
Основні складнощі на перших етапах торгівлі, важливі проблеми
Закони, що регулюють криптовалюту
Якими програмами, сайтами користуєтеся?
З яких вкладень починати роботу?

Administration panel login page:

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 malware, should I format my storage device to get rid of it?

Formatting a storage device is a drastic measure and is usually not necessary to remove malware. There are other methods that can be used to remove malicious software, such as using antivirus software or manually deleting infected files.

What are the biggest issues that malware can cause?

The most common problems caused by malware include data and identity theft, network disruption, financial loss, data encryption, loss of privacy, and system damage.

What is the purpose of Enigma stealer?

The purpose of the Enigma stealer is to gather information from a target system and to steal sensitive data such as tokens, usernames, and passwords from various sources like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Outlook, Telegram, Signal, OpenVPN, among others. It can also take screenshots, collect data from the clipboard, and extract VPN configurations.

How did Enigma malware infiltrate my computer?

Threat actors are spreading the Enigma stealer by sending a malicious RAR archive through phishing emails or social media platforms. The archive contains two files: "Interview questions.txt" and "Interview conditions.word.exe". The infection chain starts after opening the executable file.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from malware?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove a wide range of malware infections. However, it is important to note that some highly advanced malware may hide deep within a system, which is why it is recommended to perform a full system scan to ensure that all potential threats are detected and eliminated.