Windows 10 window defender - threats found

Dave K

Active Member
For the last two weeks, every time I boot up Windows 10 Windows Defender find threats! I clear them out and more pop up the next time I reboot. This is something other than the threats. Maybe its buggy software in Windows 10. It's annoying more than anything else.

Here's the threat: Trojan:Win32/Kovter.Allnk

As much as I try to like Windows, I'm about to wipe the hard drive clean and install Linux Mint instead!
 
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It's quite possible the malware has a memory resident persistence mechanism or injects itself into another process, or a heavily encoded component that is re-downloading a new payload. If one of these is the case you will want to boot into safe mode and run a couple of third party tools to clean it. Malware bytes and spybot are a good starting point.
 
It's quite possible the malware has a memory resident persistence mechanism or injects itself into another process, or a heavily encoded component that is re-downloading a new payload. If one of these is the case you will want to boot into safe mode and run a couple of third party tools to clean it. Malware bytes and spybot are a good starting point.
 
Glad Neemo was able to fix your problem.:up: You should also be aware that Mint, Ubuntu, and other linuxes do not work on many government agency sites due to security restrictions. For example, DMV, Social Security, MediCal/Medicare, etc. along with some banking sites or commercial sites that require credit cards for transactions via SSL. Now, many folks don't use their computers to check those government sites, their HMO, or buy stuff on the Internet. And you may be one of those; incredibly folks still use the telephone for all of that. However, if you plan on being one who uses their computer for more than checking their E-mail, facebook, and playing solitaire on, don't think that Linux is going to be your salvation. :noway: Linux has made great strides in the last 15 years or so since I started running it; and they finally figured out a way to make adding a simple peripheral user-friendly, whereas in the old days, that particular task required a PhD in computer programming to accomplish. When Windows doesn't work right, it's fine to be frustrated and we all get that--even us techs get our computers borked from time to time; we don't have to pay someone else to fix them and so it's not as big a deal to us as it is to you.

What a lot of our forum members are doing these days, is to add a 2nd Partition to their Hard Drive, or better yet, add a 2nd physical drive to their PC or laptop and run a dual-boot configuration. They can run a Linux-W10 system, and can select which OS they want to use each time their computer starts up. For instance you could run Linux (Mint) 90% of the time in this fashion, and still have a W10 partition on that same computer to fire up when you had to check something important on a government agency, online banking/credit card, or to make online purchases with.;) Once completed, simply reboot and choose to go back into your Linux and resume working on your daily activities. Another thing we are suggesting to folks thinking about getting off windows is to buy or build a 2nd computer, which can be used or refurbished, and put Linux on that computer. When your Windows PC gets attacked and or locked up by a virus such as yours did, or suffers a catastrophic hardware failure such as a Hard Drive or RAM stick failure; you at least have a 2nd computer with which to do things.:D

Food for thought.:lightbulb:
Best,
<<BIGBEARJEDI>>
 
The only sites that do not work on a Linux distro are those that require special plugins that create vpn tunnels or special token/certificate access. This is generally only in sensitive areas such as direct connections to the FRB or ordering pharmaceuticals otherwise there are little to no issues using Linux for anything else.
 
two things i wish to point out that have not been covered within this post … if you ultimately go with the dual-boot mode, dave k … be aware of two factors:
  • you still need to keep sentries on your computer … updating 'n scanning religiously. not sure you need the sentries on both operating systems … perhaps someone else might clarify this. personally, i would definitely find legitimacy with sentries for each os.
  • you also should consider good encryption software. because … now there are two different portals through which your computer can be exploited. some malware is targeted toward linux … but, the majority is bred for windows.
and … don't forget to back up your personal files.
 
I've encountered the problems I mentioned on multiple versions of Linux including Mint, Ubuntu, ISOLinux, and Zorin Slax. For this reason, I am certainly hesitant to recommend it to any of my Clients for those purposes as I stated. I've tried most of the government agency sites I mentioned in my testing, using Firefox, Chrome, and Pale Moon browsers and got lots of failure errors when trying to connect to their sites with my pre-existing account logins that work just fine on W10 machines (Edge, IE11, Chrome, Safari). This may be changing with some of the newer versions, but I can tell you that even in W10 (or earlier windows versions Vista/W7/W8x), Firefox was the worst browser to use to use with the government agency sites, and a handful of them still don't work with Firefox for security issues (Firefox was the most attacked browser on the planet from 2013-2014 or so after IE). DMV here in California at least, was one of those, as their entire system was shutdown a few years back statewide and no DMV office in the entire state was working for about a week until they could fix it and remove Firefox from all their employee machines:eek:). Of course, different states may be running different network architectures, and I'm sure at least a few states have Firefox working on some of their State or County sites.

Most of my Customers who are seniors often experience these kinds of issues with their Windows machines on sites such as DMV, Social Security, IRS, FTB (State Franchise Tax Board), Medicare, VA, and HMO websites; as those organizations are used most by folks today as those agencies have closed most of their physical offices and it's almost a must to have a computer to connect with these agencies to do stuff with them (of course there's always the telephone, and seniors are often more comfortable using that device since they grew up with it). But, they hate to sit on the phone on hold for uncounted hours waiting to speak to a human being to get help; so they often turn to connecting to these agencies to their computers, which invariably fails for them as they are often less computer literate than younger pre-55 generation.

That's been my experience, and for 5 years now I've been working with folks here and on some other forums to try and make a migration to Linux PCs, or at least a partial migration. I only have maybe 1 or 2 customers who have even tried Linux on PCs, and they were completely lost and they could literally do nothing useful with them. For a variety of reasons above, they are dragging their heels kicking and screaming when I suggest they switch to Linux entirely (since they bitterly complain about Windows so often!), or one of the other partial migration solutions we are working to distribute such as the dual-boot method, or the 2nd Linux computer model. For the pre-55 crowd, I'm sure they have different needs and may not be experiencing all the grief I have with trying to get Linux to work with these many government agencies that seniors have to deal with on a regular basis, as they may infrequently or even never (as in the case of Social Security or Medicare) use those particular sites.

Cheers! :D
BBJ
 
Thanks for the assist, Jack!:applaud: Very salient points you mention. And my personal favorite is your Backup Comment!! Nice job there, bro'!:cheerful:

One thing I will add that may be useful for our OP to know, as well as anyone else reading this thread, is that the 3 Image File Backup programs we have thoroughly tested with W10 (1. Macrium Reflect, 2. EASEus, and 3. Acronis) all do a really outstanding job of backup/restore on W10-Linux dual-boot PCs. They also do a nice job of backup/restore on Linux-only PCs too; but I haven't done as much testing with that configuration but some of our other guys here who helped with the W10 Image File Backup testing may chime in further on their experiences. Overall, it's a totally worthwhile method. It may not totally replace manual folder/file backups such as with File Explorer or File Manager tools (Linux) to external media, but it's certainly handy to have both as I'm sure most would agree on.

Cheers!:cool:
BBJ
 
Glad Neemo was able to fix your problem.:up: You should also be aware that Mint, Ubuntu, and other linuxes do not work on many government agency sites due to security restrictions. For example, DMV, Social Security, MediCal/Medicare, etc. along with some banking sites or commercial sites that require credit cards for transactions via SSL. Now, many folks don't use their computers to check those government sites, their HMO, or buy stuff on the Internet. And you may be one of those; incredibly folks still use the telephone for all of that. However, if you plan on being one who uses their computer for more than checking their E-mail, facebook, and playing solitaire on, don't think that Linux is going to be your salvation. :noway: Linux has made great strides in the last 15 years or so since I started running it; and they finally figured out a way to make adding a simple peripheral user-friendly, whereas in the old days, that particular task required a PhD in computer programming to accomplish. When Windows doesn't work right, it's fine to be frustrated and we all get that--even us techs get our computers borked from time to time; we don't have to pay someone else to fix them and so it's not as big a deal to us as it is to you.

What a lot of our forum members are doing these days, is to add a 2nd Partition to their Hard Drive, or better yet, add a 2nd physical drive to their PC or laptop and run a dual-boot configuration. They can run a Linux-W10 system, and can select which OS they want to use each time their computer starts up. For instance you could run Linux (Mint) 90% of the time in this fashion, and still have a W10 partition on that same computer to fire up when you had to check something important on a government agency, online banking/credit card, or to make online purchases with.;) Once completed, simply reboot and choose to go back into your Linux and resume working on your daily activities. Another thing we are suggesting to folks thinking about getting off windows is to buy or build a 2nd computer, which can be used or refurbished, and put Linux on that computer. When your Windows PC gets attacked and or locked up by a virus such as yours did, or suffers a catastrophic hardware failure such as a Hard Drive or RAM stick failure; you at least have a 2nd computer with which to do things.:D

Food for thought.:lightbulb:
Best,
<<BIGBEARJEDI>>
I think spreading disinformation like this is horrible. Using Linux for confidential stuff is mandatory and becomes more important every single day. (Of course I only use Linux to access many many government run sites...)
If there is any site blocking Linux from accessing them, because of "security risks" then it's probably because they are not able to spy as easily on the user as when he would use Windows 10 instead. But for the user himself Linux is by a million times superior in every fashion. Windows 10 developed to a platform that we are forced to use for Photoshop, commercial games, etc. It has no other reason for using it today.
 
Linux isn't anymore secure than Windows. Malware has very little to do with Security. For a good list of what defines a secure operating system I'd look at STIG also they have a good list of tweaks mandated for the DoD for their systems which are good to use for any system.
Operating System Security Requirements Guide
 
" I think spreading disinformation like this is horrible. Using Linux for confidential stuff is mandatory and becomes more … "

akito … if any of the information here was misleading … we apologize. we also welcome you into our forum … and would appreciate you sharing your own knowledge 'n experience, when issues develop with other members of our community. sorry … we have no hot-coffee or donuts to share … i finished every last one this morning.

now then … as neemobeer offered you so generously in his latest post … stig seems to offer security which may even be up to your discriminating levels. i have not dealt with that particular approach personally … then again, i feel adequate in my current environment and protocol. however … i also look forward to the day in dropping microsoft's operating system … the moment they start mandating subscription levels for all users. and it is coming.

if you have further interest in stig (security technical implementation guides) … pls reference the materials below. and again, akito … welcome to windowsforum. enjoy the new week.

ref:

hey, bigbearjedi … hope the weekend found you okay … stay cool. :headache:
 
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Hi

I'd just like to add that I use Malwarebytes Pro, as my security software and in all the years that I've been running it, I've never had Windows Defender show a positive hit on any malware.

I kind of wondered if it even works.

But in reality I'm assuming that it's because Malwarebytes always finds it first.

Since the recent news about ransom ware I've moved all my personal data, password document, financial etc, to a flash drive that I only plug in if I need access to the material on it.

Otherwise it just lays on the desk next to my monitor, I made two of them so that there is a backup just in case.

Then I always have my system image to restore my C:\ drive it I really get an infection.

Mike
 
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