What You Need To Know About The Zlob Trojan
What you need to know about the Zlob Trojan comes down to understanding that, first of all, this is a method that can end up in the placing of a fake anti–spyware program in which the Trojan virus is hidden. What this means, is that a personal computer can end up with a hidden virus that can lead to a lot of issues related to reboots and shutdowns for computers and networks.
Initially, a computer user ends up getting this virus when he or she downloads a codec for a video file and in which the Trojan is hidden. Usually, the Trojan will say that an ActiveX codec is needed. It’s in this little piece of code that the Trojan hides and begins its attack upon downloading of that fake ActiveX file.
Once the Trojan is in, a number of pop-ups might appear and which might also look like something that Microsoft would use to advise a PC user that the computer might be infected with a virus. It really doesn’t matter what is clicked on in the pop up, though, because even if it’s being closed it will trigger a download of a fake anti-virus software program that the Trojan horse uses for its own benefit.
Many times, the Trojan will also try to masquerade as an executable file that needs to be downloaded and that will also cause the Microsoft Windows Security icon to appear in order to give a more genuine look to the attack and fooled the person into thinking that the antivirus program comes from Microsoft itself. This is particularly devious, so beware.
If this file is enabled — and installing it will usually enable it — it can cause a great number of problems with the computer, including one commanded shutdowns of the PC and also reboots that are caused by those programs using the Windows Scheduled Tasks function to run a specific file called “zlberfker. Exe”. Needless to say, at minimum, a PC user will be confronted with endless random reboots and shutdowns until the problem can be addressed.
Another thing that this nasty little Trojan does is set up a redirect program that sends an Internet user to sites that could be fronts for Russian criminal groups in that country who want to try to increase visits to websites they control, including any number of pornographic sites. That can be a nasty shock to people who never use the Internet in such a manner.
A PC user is well advised to never, ever click on a pop up ad that advises that their computer could be infected with spyware or other problems. Instead, when that pop up appears immediately turn off the power to the computer (called a hard shutdown) and then turn it back on and reboot and have the system run a diagnostic check before powering up the operating system.
