What is Gh0st RAT?
Gh0st RAT was a threat involved in the operation called GhostNet back in 2008. GhostNet is the name of the network consisting of both compromised computers and C&C servers. Users initiated the installation of Gh0st RAT themselves by opening a phishing email and clicking on a malicious URL inside it, which when clicked, connected the user to the C&C server and downloaded a dropper. The dropper then connected to the C&C server once again and downloaded this Trojan. Infected computers were considered a part of GhostNet. Specialists say that Gh0st RAT infected 1295 computers in 103 countries. Among its victims were diplomatic, political, and military institutions. It is hard to say whether GhostNet is still active, but researchers are sure that users might still discover Gh0st RAT on their PCs if they keep them unprotected because the builder of this Trojan is available for download at GitHub (https://github.com/sincoder/gh0st). It might be downloaded by anyone and then used for various malicious purposes. Specialists say that this infection will not act the same in all the cases because cyber criminals might customize it to fit their needs. Consequently, it might be harder for users to detect it, especially when it infiltrates users’ computers without their knowledge and performs all its malicious activities in the background. Read the rest of this article to find out what it is capable of and how to erase this infection fully from the system.
Where does Gh0st RAT come from?
As has been observed by specialists at anti-spyware-101.com, Gh0st RAT is often spread as an .exe or .dll file, but it might also have another strange extension, for example, .pic, .jpg, .or .gif. It might be placed in any directory, but you should first check %PROGRAMFILES%, %WINDIR%, %ALLUSERSPROFILE%, and %WINDIR%\SysWOW64 directories if you want to find it. Gh0st RAT used to be spread via phishing emails mainly, and it seems that not much has changed. It might still be spread via phishing attacks, malicious keygens and cracks, and unprotected RDPs. Most probably, these are only several tactics that might be adopted to spread it since everything depends on cyber criminals who use it to achieve their goals. If it turns out that this Trojan has already infiltrated your computer, e.g. a diagnostic scanner used finds it, you must delete it right away because it has a point of execution, meaning that it will not stop performing malicious activities even if you restart your computer. Also, it will connect to the Internet behind your back every day. Without a doubt, Gh0st RAT is not the only nasty Trojan you might encounter. A similar threat might infiltrate your computer again soon if your system is unprotected. We do not try to say here that you need to ensure the system’s maximum protection all alone, but, instead, we highly recommend that you enable security software on your computer.
What does Gh0st RAT do?
If Gh0st RAT affects your computer and you do not remove it soon, it might cause you a lot of trouble because it is capable of performing a bunch of malicious activities. For example, it can take control of the remote screen, access webcam and microphone, log keystrokes, download and upload files, shut down or reboot affected machines, disable the victim’s input (e.g. keyboard), view and terminate active processes, etc. As mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, this Trojan might act differently in different cases since it can be customized by cyber criminals. If you suspect that Gh0st RAT has infiltrated your computer, erase it right away because its presence will only result in both privacy and security-related problems.
How to remove Gh0st RAT
Trojan infections are threats that are not easy to delete, but you must disable Gh0st RAT as soon as possible because it will only bring you problems. You will find instructions that will help you to delete it manually below this article; however, if you cannot locate any components of this threat on your computer, you should leave the Gh0st RAT removal for a reputable malware remover. A bunch of scanners that can be downloaded from the Internet for free only pretend to trustworthy, so double-check the one you are about to install on your PC before actually installing it on your system.
Delete Gh0st RAT manually
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click Processes at the top.
- Find the malicious process on the list and select it.
- Right-click it and select Open File Location.
- Kill the process and delete the malicious file from the opened directory.
- Remove the point of execution.
- Empty Recycle bin.
- Scan your system with an antimalware scanner to make sure no Gh0st RAT components are left.
100% FREE spyware scan and
tested removal of Gh0st RAT*
0 Comments.