Kovter.c Removal Guide

Do you know what Kovter.c is?

Kovter.c is a fileless Trojan that enters Windows operating systems without their users’ knowledge, and that performs the malicious activity in a silent manner. Because this threat is so clandestine, victims might be unaware of it for a long time. According to our research team, the malicious Trojan.Kovter was first unveiled in 2013, and since then, it has evolved in many ways. The current version of the threat does require files to perform in a malicious manner. Once it slithers into the targeted operating system, it hides within the Windows Registry, which is why detecting and deleting it can be extremely difficult. That being said, removing Kovter.c is crucial, and the sooner this malware is eliminated, the fewer security risks users are likely to deal with. Please keep reading to learn more about the activity of this threat, and if you want to communicate with our research team afterward, start a conversation in the comments section.

It is important to discuss the distribution of Kovter.c because it is important to take measures to ensure that the security backdoors used by cyber criminals are patched up. According to malware analysts, the dangerous Trojan is has been seen spreading via well-known exploit kits, including Angler, Fiesta, Neutrino, and Nuclear. The payload of the infection is hidden within misleading advertisements that are placed on vulnerable sites. Users need to be especially careful about the ads shown on adult content-based websites. It was also discovered recently that Kovter.c could be spread via corrupted spam emails, which is a technique used by various infections, including clandestine Trojans and file-encrypting ransomware. Speaking of ransomware, it is worth mentioning that, in the past, the malicious Kovter virus was spread along with the infamous Locky Ransomware. Obviously, it is easier to uncover hidden malware when it comes with more noticeable infections. If you find that you need to delete a dangerous threat from your operating system, you should ALWAYS perform a full system scan just to check if other threats exist. Unfortunately, additional malware is likely to be found regardless of which version of the Trojan you are facing.

The strength of Kovter.c is that it is stored in the Windows Registry. When the launcher of this threat is executed, it checks for PowerShell, which is a Microsoft utility used to manage tasks. If this utility does not exist, the threat might operate using files, but if the utility exists, the infection creates values in the RUN registry to execute JavaScript. Once it is executed, it then proceeds to execute the second layer of JavaScript from a different entry to load the Trojan into memory. After all this, the initial file dropped onto the PC to unleash Kovter.c is deleted. Basically, the infection runs the code in the Registry without needing a file to initiate malicious activity every time the operating system is restarted. If the threat establishes itself on the computer successfully, it can connect to the Internet without your notice and perform click-fraud. The threat connects to different sites and clicks on various ads just to generate revenue. In this situation, ad creators, advertisers, and regular users like yourself do not win anything.

It is crucial to delete Kovter.c, but, unfortunately, eliminating this threat manually is not easy. Our research team cannot provide you with a manual removal guide as per usual because the infection modifies the Windows Registry in a unique way. Instead of wasting time hunting down for malicious elements – which, at the very least, is extremely time-consuming – we recommend installing trustworthy anti-malware software to have the malicious threat deleted from your operating system automatically. There are two other reasons to use this software: It can unveil and remove other potentially active threats, and it can reinstate full-time protection that you, of course, need if you do not want to encounter malicious Trojans in the future.

In non-techie terms:

The clandestine Kovter.c slithers into your operating in a silent manner and then it runs its own code using the Windows Registry, which makes it a fileless infection. This threat is extremely hard to detect, and unless you run a full system scan to check for malicious threats, you are unlikely to suspect its existence. If you do not want to panic about silent infections or worry about performing scans regularly, it is recommended that you employ anti-malware software as soon as possible. It will automatically delete Kovter.c along with other threats that might exist, but it is most important that it will keep your operating system protected so that malware could not slip in through any security cracks again.