This evening I downloaded something that appeared harmless enough (in fact it was several things), but I think one of the files may have contained something a little nasty.

I received repeated, regular alerts from Norton informing me that a computer was trying to access mine through a "Deep Throat Trojan Horse". I had a look on the net for what to do, and came across someone saying that once you have the alert you are already infected and Norton cannot remove it. So, after a few seconds of panicking and flapping about my room, I set myself to the task of tracking this thing down, and killing it.

The first instriction I received was to run antispyware and antivirus scans. I have run a few (mostly free, admittedly) and nothing has come up. I was then told to find the registry key "systemDLL32" or "Systemtray" underneath Windows - Current Version - Run, and yet I have found nothing even remotely similar.

I am running Norton again in the vain hope of finding something.

What I am desperate to know is, am I infected, and if I am, how do I remove the trojan horse?

I have been on here a few times, and have always received a direct and often perfect answer to my sometimes rather silly queries, so I shall heed all advice...!!


Thank you for reading, and thanks in advance for any advice you can offer me!

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

Very Important: Before deciding whether you should clean or reformat your system, go and read this thread HERE and decide what it is you want to do.

If after reading the above, you wish to clean your system, do the following.

Go and read the Viruses/Spyware/Malware, preliminary removal instructions. Follow all the instructions exactly.

Post fresh HJT, AVG Antispyware and Combofix logs as attachments into this thread, only after doing the above.

Also, let me know the results of the AVG Antirootkit scan.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

This thread is for the use of Gigi32 only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

Thank you for your reply! It's appreciated!

Okay, well I followed the instructions as best I could. I also tried to run Housecall, but unfortunately it wouldn't load. I even left it on while I was sleeping in the hope that it would finally kick into action - sadly it didn't. I have heard good things about it, so it's a shame I can't use it...

I also ran AVG Anti-root, which found nothing. (also ran two trial Trojan finders - TrojanHunter and Trojan Remover - neither of which located anything suspicious).

Anyhow, I have the files requested (AVG file had to be compressed to fit), and I look forward to your analysis!

All items in your AVG Antispyware log say "Ignored". That`s because you haven`t told AVG Antispyware to quarantine it`s results as per the instructions. See this pictorial guide.

You might want to copy and paste these instructions into a notepad file. Then you can have the file open in safe mode, so you can follow the instructions easier.

Boot into safe mode, under your normal user name(NOT THE ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT). See how HERE.

In Windows Explorer, turn on "Show all files and folders, including hidden and system". See how HERE.

Go to add remove programmes in your control panel and uninstall anything to do with(if there).

MyWaySA
SrchAsDe

Close control panel.

Open your task manager, by holding down the ctrl and alt keys and pressing the delete key.

Click on the processes tab and end process for(if there).

PowerReg Scheduler V3.exe

Close task manager.

Run HJT with no other programmes open(except notepad). Click the scan button. Have HJT fix the following, by placing a tick in the little box next to(if there).

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = http://as.starware.com/dp/search?x=wKX1ILEOi Vh7AfA98Gm4Me69ZMbubcDyUaazwlbdheLv x+1Uszb5Vgt0Dd6CTn0nJcxQ+KkUczeYnu39BEgiyvHtKMhAjtoQlMb3W3Ub/NHFmMWQ189So44v5R0c y00cdFNR+6/cndJ5pV5wqI7loxhs8J/Iuc644l5+9z7/ocJP8dLaX4FQ6mjOa8fAZaz

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://as.weatherstudio.com/dp/search?x=wKX1ILEOi UdWpSlz2q9Dzn13Emww/YwiC273s2R LPl0dh8bCYIUuiJFOhKtpSYXJNWweoqnJHTEPxQSBqlUtSmlIRcml7kpVU9muIppuWMUJsbtwJXI/Hmm 8e6kFDcs

R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - - (no file)

O2 - BHO: (no name) - {4D25F921-B9FE-4682-BF72-8AB8210D6D75} - C:\Program Files\MyWaySA\SrchAsDe\deSrcAs.dll

O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {014DA6C9-189F-421a-88CD-07CFE51CFF10} - (no file)

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [kis] "C:\Program Files\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0\avp.exe"

O4 - Startup: PowerReg Scheduler V3.exe

Click on the fix checked button.

Close HJT.

Locate and delete the following bold files and/or directories(if there).

PowerReg Scheduler V3.exe<Search your system for this file and delete all instances found.

C:\Program Files\MyWaySA<Delete the entire folder.

Reboot into normal mode and rehide your protected OS files.

Post fresh AVG Antispyware, Combofix and HJT logs.

Regards Howard

This thread is for the use of Gigi32 only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

I have done all requested. It was easier than I expected it to be, so that was good!

Just out of curiosity, was the Trojan there? Or did Norton firewall actually manage to catch it?

I shall attach new scan logs...

Oh, and thank you very much for your help! You are a true gentleman!

All items in your AVG Antispyware log say "No Action Taken". That`s because you haven`t told AVG Antispyware to quarantine it`s results as per the instructions. See this pictorial guide.

1. Please download The Avenger by Swandog46 from HERE. Save it to your Desktop and extract it.

2. Download the attached avengerscript.txt and save it to your desktop

Note: the above code was created specifically for this user. If you are not this user, do NOT follow these directions as they could damage the workings of your system.

3. Now, start The Avenger program by double clicking on its icon on your desktop.

Under "Script file to execute" choose "Load script from file".
Now click on the folder icon which will open a new window titled "open Script File"
navigate to the file you have just downloaded, click on it and press open
Now click on the Green Light to begin execution of the script
Answer "Yes" twice when prompted.

4. The Avenger will automatically do the following:

It will Restart your computer. ( In cases where the code to execute contains "Drivers to Unload", The Avenger will actually restart your system twice.)
On reboot, it will briefly open a black command window on your desktop, this is normal.
After the restart, it creates a log file that should open with the results of Avenger’s actions. This log file will be located at C:\avenger.txt
The Avenger will also have backed up all the files, etc., that you asked it to delete, and will have zipped them and moved the zip archives to C:\avenger\backup.zip.

5. Please attach the content of c:\avenger.txt into your reply, as well as a fresh HJT and AVG Antispyware log.

Regards Howard

This thread is for the use of Gigi32 only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

Have done as instructed, and have included scan reports...

Your HJT log is clean.

Delete all files in AVG Antispyware quarantine.

Turn off system restore.(XP/ME only) See how HERE.

Now, turn system restore back on. This will have deleted all your old restore points and any nasties that are in them. It will also have created a new, clean restore point.

If you have any further virus/spyware problems, please post in this thread.

Regards Howard

This thread is for the use of Gigi32 only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

Brilliant! Thank you!!