GravityRAT Trojan – How to Detect and Remove It from Windows

Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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This article has been created in order to help you to learn what is the GravityRAT remote access Trojan and how to remove this malware completely from your computer plus protect your PC against future infections as well.

A new Trojan horse has been detected by security researchers. The malware’s primary purpose is to infiltrate while remaining unnoticed in victim PC’s. Named GravityRAT, the Trojan aims to control your computer from distance, something that is very similar to a remote control. Only that remote control is in the hands of the cyber-criminals. Such an infection may enable GravityRAT to do all sorts of malicious things to your PC, including stealing your data, passwords and even important files, plus the malware may also infect your PC with all sorts of other malicious applications as well. If your PC has been affected by this malicious application, you should read the following article and learn how to remove this Trojan and secure your PC.

Threat Summary

Name	GravityRAT
Type	Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
Short Description	Aims to remain undetected for long periods of time on your computer after which may do what the operator wants it to do (steal data, take screenshots, etc.).
Symptoms	Your computer may start to behave in a weird manner. You may notice new and strange files or processes running in the background.
Distribution Method	Via malicious e-email attachments, fake setups, web links or other objects.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by GravityRAT Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss GravityRAT.

GravityRAT – Distribution Methods

In order to be infect the computers of unsuspecting users, the GravityRAT may engage in multiple different infection activities, the main of which is believed to be via spam e-mail messages. Such messages often pretend to be legitimate as in the fact that they imitate big companies, like the example e-mail below, used to infect with another remote access trojan by posing as a Dropbox activation link:

In addition to via e-mail, Trojans, like GravityRAT may also come into your computer by being downloaded as files, you may have been misled to thinking are legitimate. Such files are often attachments on e-mails, like fake Invoices or other forms of documents or:

• Fake setups of programs.
• Fake key generators.
• Fake software license activators.
• Fake patches, cracks or other executable types of files.

GravityRAT – Purpose and Activity

GravityRAT is a remote access Trojan – this basically means that the threat is not the type of malware that contains one or two malicious files. GravityRAT has a lot of malicious files and folders, which are dropped by it upon infecting the victims. These files may be under different names and may exist in the most often used by malware Windows folders, such as:

After dropping it’s payload, GravityRAT may heavily modify the Windows Registry Editor, starting with attacking the Run and RunOnce registry sub-keys in order to make it’s malicious modules start automatically alongside Windows.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

After doing so, GravityRAT may initiate it’s full potential. For starters, the malware may connect to a remote host from which it may download and run absolutely any type of file on your computer. This is because the GravityRAT malware obtains administrative privileges by interfering with crucial Windows components that are responsible for that.

Among the activities of GravityRAT is to search your computer for any Antivirus programs and decide what to do. If there is danger for the malware’s “cryptor” also known as obfuscation software to be detected, then the malware may take the appropriate actions.

The main purpose of GravityRAT however is to aim at the important documents of your computer, such as:

• PDF types of files.
• Scanned photos.
• Scanned Microsoft Word files.
• Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
• Images.
• Other often used types of files.

The main goal of GravityRAT does not stop it from doing other information stealing and collection and also other nefarious actions on your computer, like:

• Create copies of itself to fool you into thinking you or your antivirus software has removed the threat.
• Steal your passwords and other important information saved on your PC.
• Copy text from your documents.
• Log the keystrokes you type to steal passwords and other critical data (financial information).
• Download and install other malware on your computer.
• Update it’s obfuscation software to remain hidden for longer periods of time.
• Delete files and damage Windows.
• Control the hardware of your computer. (Eject flash drives, eject CD/DVD drives, etc.)

Remove GravityRAT from Your Computer

In order to make sure that this nefarious software is completely gone from your computer, security researchers strongly advise following the manual or automatic removal instructions underneath. They are created in order to assist you based on how much experience you have in malware removal. If you lack such experience, be advised that security analysts strongly advise to download an advanced anti-malware software and remove GravityRAT automatically by scanning for all of it’s objects and changed settings and reverting them back to normal. Such tool has the capability to not only fully secure your PC after removing GravityRAT, but also make sure it’s operating system remains protected against future intrusions that might take place.

Note! Your computer system may be affected by GravityRAT and other threats.
Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as GravityRAT.
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

To remove GravityRAT follow these steps:

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove GravityRAT files and objects

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista and 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open up the Start Menu.

Step 2: Click on the Power button (for Windows 8 it is the little arrow next to the “Shut Down” button) and whilst holding down “Shift” click on Restart.

Step 3: After reboot, a blue menu with options will appear. From them you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: From the Startup Settings menu, click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You can choose any of the three Safe Mode options by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.

2. Find files created by GravityRAT on your PC

Find files created by GravityRAT

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting the Automatic Removal below, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs

3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Scan your PC and Remove GravityRAT with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for GravityRAT and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove GravityRAT. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.

Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.

Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

More Posts - Website

Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

More Posts - Website