Remove The .IQY Virus & Restore Your PC From Infections

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

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This article has been created in order to help you by explaining to you how to remove the .IQY Virus which can be encountered via email messages.

The .IQY virus is a very dangerous malicious threat that incorporates an advanced Trojan. Infections with it can lead to network-wide propagation of virus code and the deployment of other viruses. Our article examines it in details and shows how victims can remove it from their computers.

Threat Summary

Name	.IQY
Type	Scam / Malware
Short Description	Silently infects the computer victims and modifies the operating system.
Symptoms	The victims may not experience any symptoms .
Distribution Method	Via e-mail messages that imitate well-known companies .
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by .IQY Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss .IQY.

.IQY Virus – Overview

The .IQY virus attack is a recent example of how computer hackers leverage different tactics in order to infiltrate as many hosts as possible. The main driving force behind the reported instances is the Necurs botnet which is one of the most commonly used methods for orchestrating worldwide campaigns.

The first reported incidents were identified back in May using the SPAM email messages tactic. The computer hackers behind the .IQY virus campaigns utilize advanced social engineering scams that attempt to blackmail the victims into believing that they originate from a well-known company. The criminals spoof original notification messages and are spreading false “unpaid invoice” emails.

The security analysis reveals that the email SPAM messages follow a template with two components — a fake message ID and a fake email domain name. The subject names usually have a name such as UNPAID INVOICE [ID:0203959101].

The actual email messages look like the real messages that are being sent out. The computer hackers have take the legitimate templates including all associated photos and text. Normally the criminals will also mimic the behavior of the companies by including a non-personalized greeting.

One of the most dangerous aspects of the .IQY virus is the fact that its signature was not initially recognized by most anti-virus programs. The reason for this is the fact that the first campaigns were very limited in size and scope. As such the signatures were not made until the large-scale infections started.

It is very possible that the criminals behind the .IQY virus can use other methods of distribution as well. A popular alternative is the use of payload carriers, two of the most popular forms are the following:

• Infected Documents — The criminals can embed the dangerous virus scripts into documents (text files, spreadsheets, presentations and others) by using scripts (macros). Typically once they are opened by the victims a notification prompt appears which asks the users to enable the built-in scripts. If this is done the infection follows.
• Software Installers — Using a similar tactic the hackers can embed the dangerous code into application installers of popular software. They are usually chosen to be productivity and office tools, creativity suites, system utilities and etc. The files are downloaded from the legitimate vendor sites and modified by the hackers in such a way that it doesn’t show to the end users.

The hackers can create their own download sites that can mimic the real ones. The hackers can take images, text and use similar sounding domains to fool the users. In addition they can use file sharing networks such as BitTorrent as well.

.IQY Virus — Possible Development

Once the respective .IQY virus is activated on the infected host it launches a payload downloader. It contains a built-in list of URLs that host the actual virus instances.

The security analysis reveals that this downloads a hacker-modified copy of the leaked remote desktop program called Ammyy Admin known as FlawedAmmy. It has been in use by hackers since 2016 in various similar Trojan instances. At the moment it seems that most FlawedAmmy attack campaigns are being used in two attack types:

• Targeted Attacks — The hackers use highly-targeted email attacks against major companies in set industries, for example the automobile industry.
• Bulk SPAM Campaigns — A large-scale campaign that can encompass millions of messages over the span of several years have been detected. They typically spoof the messages of well-known Internet services in order to manipulate the victims into interacting with the dangerous elements.

The FlawedAmmy tool offers advanced functionality that can enable the .IQY virus to function as an advanced Trojan. It is able to connect to a hacker-controlled server and report back all harvested information. This includes information that can directly expose the victim’s identity: their name, address, location, interests, location, passwords and account credentials. The very same data gathering engine is used to extract other information that can be used to help the hacker operators to optimize the campaign metrics. This includes a full profile of the hardware components and certain strings from the host operating system. The Trojan component can also be used to spy on the victims in real-time, as well as overtake their computers. The .IQY virus instances can be used to deploy additional threats to the affected systems. This is a very dangerous scenario that is often performed in advanced infiltration attempts.

The .IQY virus by itself can be configured to manipulate the Windows Registry entries. When this is against any of the user-installed applications as a result some functions may stop working. If the changes affect the operating system itself the overall computer performance may be affected.

One of the reasons why the .IQY virus and its associated Trojan is difficult to handle by cybersecurity experts is the fact that its being sent out in very large numbers. One of the major targets are large international companies that heavily utilize documents of various types in their external and internal communications. By default system administrators are known to disable the macros execution by default. However as the messages do look like the real notifications that are being sent out by the companies many users may fall victim to it. As a result this can lead to a devastating network-wide infection.

Remove .IQY Virus from Your Computer

In order to make sure that the “.IQY Virus” scam is fully gone from your computer, we recommend that you follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They have been divided in manual and automatic removal manuals so that they can help you delete this threat based on your malware removal experience. If manual removal is not exactly something that you feel confident in doing, recommendations are to remove this malware or check if it has your infected your computer automatically by downloading and scanning your computer via an advanced anti-malware program. Such software will effectively make sure that your PC is fully secured and you passwords and data remain safe in the future.

Note! Your computer system may be affected by .IQY 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 .IQY.
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 .IQY follow these steps:

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove .IQY 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 .IQY on your PC

Find files created by .IQY

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.

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 .IQY with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for .IQY and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove .IQY. 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

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: