Malware That Fakes Hard Drive Failure

From precious photos to important work documents, a computerâ��s hard drive typicallycontains heaps of priceless data. � Thatâ��s why losing everything in the hard drive is a greatfear for manyâ��especially those who havenâ��t takenhttp://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-free-antivirus-firewall.htm precautions to backtheir files up, either in the cloud or on an external hard drive.� A new piece of malware calledTrojan.Fakefrag capitalizes on this fear with a pretty elaborate ruse.

Trojan.Fakefrag differs from other malware in that it actually moves files from the desktop and Startmenu to hidden locations in the computer, making it appear as though the hard drive is beingattacked and important files are being deleted.

How Trojan.Fakefrag Works

Trojan.Fakefrag can evidently make it onto a computer through a variety of methods, but a commonmethod of infection is through drive-by-download.� Once the Trojan executes, an error messageappears, citing a â��Problem with the hard disksâ�� and asking that you restart yourcomputer.

Helping to further incite a sense of urgency, the malware causes icons to disappear from yourdesktop and Start menu.� However, further investigation into the matter reveals that the fileshavenâ��t been deleted; theyâ��ve just been relocated to hidden or inconspicuous locationson the computer.

Soon, other alerts pop up, including one that encourages the victim to run a (fake) diagnosticsscan.� The fake diagnostics scan is actually a variant of the UltraDefraggerFraud family.� When it has finished â��scanning,â�� it finds that the computer has beeninfectedâ��surprise, surpriseâ��and offers a malware removal tool for $79.50.

If these messages are ignored, other increasingly urgent warnings appear, and eventually, themalware renders the computer unusable.

What to Do if Your Computer�s Infected with Trojan.Fakefrag

Firstly, make sure you donâ��t pay the $79.50 for the fraudulent removal tool.� Thatâ��s just what the cybercriminals behind the malware attack want you to do, and it reallydoesnâ��t fix anything anyway.� On the contrary, Trojan.Fakefrag not only results in youlosing 80 bucks; it leaves your personal information in the hands of criminals.

Trusted Antivirus programs should be able to clean the infection, and your missing files can berecovered with some digging (use Windows search tool or Windows Explorer and browse to%temp%smtemp).� And if you havenâ��t done so already, make sure to back your filesup!� A hard driveâ��s a terrible thing to lose.