How to Remove Winnti Malware

This article can help you to remove Winnti Virus. The step by step removal works for every version of Microsoft Windows.

Winnti is a nasty malware. It falls under the Trojan horse umbrella. This virus slithers into your system. It corrupts system directories, drops malicious files, modifies the registry, and starts dangerous processes. This, of course, happens without any noticeable symptoms. Once settled, though, the virus changes its behavior. Winnti affects every aspect of your user experience. It may cause various errors and program malfunctions. You may notice system unresponsiveness and unusual app behavior. These annoying issues, though, may or may not pop up. Winnti affects its individual victims differently. This Trojan is a backdoor. It follows programming to help other viruses invade your computer. What will happen to your OS depends on the malware it installs. The news is very bad! This high-risk Trojan jeopardizes both your security and privacy. It threatens to steal sensitive information, to delete important data, and to exploit your computer resources. No one can tell you what the future holds. The Trojan is unpredictable. You can, however, be certain that it is destructive. The more time you tolerate it, the worse your predicament gets. Don’t prolong its stay! Heed the experts advise: delete the invader immediately. As soon as you become aware of the Trojan’s presence, take action. Find where Winnti lurks and delete it upon detection!

How did I get infected with?

Winnti takes advantage of software vulnerabilities. The virus is reported to exploit a security vulnerability in the popular Adobe Reader app. You, as a user, cannot do much about these vulnerabilities. But there are certain steps that you can take to protect yourself. Be careful what you download. The Trojan does not pop up out of the blue. You, the user, download its payload. You may do so either by downloading a file off the Web or through a message. The scheme is very simple. The criminals camouflage their malicious files. They use corrupted websites and massive spam campaigns. It is up to you to notice the danger. Be vigilant and doubting. Download software, updates, and files from reliable (preferably official) sources only. And be very careful with your inbox. Whether it’s an email or an instant message, treat all unexpected messages as potential threats. Always verify their senders. If, for example, you receive an email from an organization, go to their official website. Compare the email addresses listed there to the questionable one. If they don’t match, delete the pretender. You can also enter the suspicious addresses into a search engine, if they were used for questionable activities, someone might have complained online. Do not be lazy. Even a little extra attention can spare you an avalanche of problems!

Why is this dangerous?

Winnti is an advanced Trojan. It can perform various malicious operations. This virus monitors your system and sends information to the remote attacker. It knows where your files are located, what apps you have installed, your IP and MAC addresses. What’s worse, the virus may monitor even more data points by installing additional data-harvesting malware. Parasites like spyware and keyloggers can easily steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and financial details. And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Security experts warn that Winnti is capable of installing anything. From annoying adware to destructive ransomware, anything may sneak into your OS through the Trojan. Do not test your luck. Winnti is a weapon that is aimed at your privacy and security. This advanced virus can steal sensitive information, destroy your saved data, and wreck your hardware. Do not take chances. Your best an only course of action is the immediate removal of the virus. The sooner you take action against the Trojan, the better!

Manual Winnti Removal Instructions

The Winnti infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Winnti infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Winnti related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Winnti startup location

STEP 3: Delete Winnti traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Winnti related processes in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Winnti startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Winnti virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

Step 4: Undo the possible damage done by Winnti

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Winnti, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

 

• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Winnti Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible virus leftovers or temporary files.