Firstly, how does a Trojan horse infect your computer? Well it may be hard to believe but you actually play a part in the infection yourself because for a Trojan horse to do its damage, you actually need to install the client part of the application yourself. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Why would you physically take steps to infect your own computer, you ask, and quite rightly so. Well this is where the malicious intent behind the Trojan comes in to play as the creator of it needs to somehow convince you to download the application.
Typically this is done by social engineering – what this means is that the author of the Win32.downloader.gen will manipulate and convince you to perform an action or to divulge personal information somewhat unwittingly or against your will. Another way of getting you to install the Trojan horse on your computer system is to send you it in an email, with the hope that you will open the attachment. And this is precisely why it is called a Trojan horse; because you have to run the .exe file in order to install the program on your computer. Whether you do this knowingly or unknowingly is irrelevant, but the end result will be a nasty infected PC or laptop.
Although people often call it such, it is precisely because of this that a Trojan horse cannot be classed as a virus; because viruses reproduce on their own. As soon as you have executed the program, the application belonging to the Trojan will be installed and will immediately start running automatically every time you log on to your computer.
Win32.downloader.gen can quite literally spread like online wildfire as the majority of their developers like to spread them via email. They will send out possibly hundreds, or maybe even thousands of emails to a random selection of people via spam email and anyone who opens the email and is then unlucky or incautious enough to download the attachment will end up with an infected computer system.
Did you know that your computer can become a zombie? And no, we’re not talking about one of the walking dead from a TV show or movie. It doesn’t even have to be a person sitting at their computer and maliciously emailing their Trojan horses to unsuspecting users. It could actually be your very own computer that is at fault! If your computer system has already been infected, the person responsible for the Trojan horse in the first place may have sent you, amongst other victims, a Trojan that has turned your PC into a so-called ‘zombie computer’, meaning that they are actually in control of your system! As its name suggests, this particular Trojan will download and install additional malware onto your computer, that's why it's called downloader. Of course, it can easily install spyware or DDos modules or even Bitcoin mining trojan. This type of Trojan horse is particularly nasty because you will very likely be completely unaware that you are being remotely controlled by a hacker who will in turn be using your computer to send out more Trojans or viruses. This will eventually create an entire network of zombie computers, all at the mercy of the malicious hacker. These networks are called botnets.
If all of this sounds like something from a science fiction horror movie, don’t panic because there are steps you can take to protect yourself from becoming the victim of Win32.downloader.gen – or becoming the owner of a zombie computer. First of all, you should never even open an email from a sender that is unknown to you, and you should most definitely not download any attachments included in an email from an unknown sender either. Most spam messages will probably find their way directly to your junk email folder anyway, but don’t be fooled if one does slip through the net and make it to your inbox. If it doesn’t come from someone you know, if in the slightest bit of doubt, delete it.
Another thing to do is to make sure you have reputable – and up-to-date antivirus software installed on your computer as this will scan all of the files that you download, even ones from someone in your contact list. Furthermore, make sure your software and OS is up-to-date as well. This can be easily done using Personal Software Inspector from Secunia. If you do suspect that you’ve been infected with Win32.downloader.gen, you should download recommend antimalware software and run full system scan. Very often users say that their antivirus found the infection but can't remove Win32.downloader.gen, in such case please follow the removal instructions below. If you need help, leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!
Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com
Win32.downloader.gen removal instructions:
1. Download and run TDSSKiller. Press the button Start scan for the utility to start scanning.
2. Wait for the scan and disinfection process to be over. Then click Continue. Please reboot your computer after the disinfection is over.
3. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove the remnants of this virus from your computer.
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