An infection with the dangerous SYSDOWN Virus leads to serious security issues. Victims can restore and protect their computers by following our complete removal guide.
Remove SYSDOWN Virus and Restore PC
Manual Removal Guide
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Distribution of SYSDOWN Virus
The SYSDOWN Virus is a new virus which has been sighted in a limited attack campaign. At the moment the security researchers cannot determine the primary infection strategy. We presume that the most widely used tactics are going to be employed.
Among them are the email messages created in an automated way and sent to large lists of potential victims. The SYSDOWN Virus can be directly attached to the messages. This is one of the easiest way for the criminals to attempt the infection. However a lot of email hosting providers usually capture the signatures of the virus and as such discard such messages or label them as dangerous or spam. Other infection methods related to this one is the option of inserting hyperlinks in the body content of the messages. The links are usually labelled as leading to a familiar website or a file of user interest. Redirects can redirect to hacker-controlled sites, infected payloads or other instances that can lead to an SYSDOWN Virus infection.
The computer criminals behind the malware can create malicious sites or download portals which distribute malware of different kinds, including the SYSDOWN Virus. A popular option is the use of infected documents which may be of different types ‒ spreadsheets, rich text documents, presentations and databases. They are modified to initiate the virus once the built-in scripts are run. Usually when the files are opened a notification will ask the users to run the macros (scripts). If this is done the infection follows.
The hacker-controlled sites are specialist portals that have been created either manually or automatically by the criminals behind the SYSDOWN Virus. They can either directly distribute the threat by initiating various scripts or automated operations or link to such instances. Redirects are usually caused by email interaction, ad networks or other browsing activity. However one of the main sources is the availability of browser hijackers. They are malicious addons made for the most popular web browsers ‒ Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Once installed they not only infect the users with the malware, but also redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled site. Depending on the configuration the browser hijackers can also steal sensitive information such as any stored passwords, account credentials, history, bookmarks, form data and settings.
Impact of SYSDOWN Virus
The SYSDOWN virus is a family of threats that has just been discovered by malware analysts. At the moment the initial code analysis reveals that the collected malware samples do not originate from a known family of threats. It is very possible that the code has been made from scratch by its creators. No information is available at the moment about the hacker or criminal collective behind it. An in-depth look into the way the SYSDOWN virus reveals that it includes several advanced capabilities by outlying several attack stages.
The analysts uncovered that the SYSDOWN virus has integrated anti-debugging techniques that are activated after the infections have taken place. Such measures allow the samples to guard themselves from security software. In addition steps like this one can also be made for virtual machines and sandboxes which are also used to scan for malware threats and analyze found samples. The SYSDOWN virus can also probe any found kernel debugger modules for information. The malware engine creates guarded memory regions that block access to the processes by the security software.
The next step in the infiltration process is the information gathering phase. The SYSDOWN malware virus can extract sensitive data from the infected hosts which includes both information from the system itself, as well as the most popular applications. Internet browsers are among the most widely impacted as the infection engine can gain access to data such as: cookies, bookmarks, history, passwords, form data and account credentials. As a consequence the SYSDOWN virus can also read configuration files of the operating system and perform various changes. One of the most prominent steps taken by the virus is the ability to extract all settings and user values that are related to the regional preferences. This is often used in more complex versions where the payload offers several different versions of the ransomware note.
The SYSDOWN virus proceeds to launch the second stage attack by modifying the operating system itself as well. Changes include the dropping of executable fies, manipulation of the Windows registry, as well as deleting values, files and certain strings from components part of the operating system. This gives hackers the ability to interact with the Windows Volume manager which allows the ransomwareto act against data found on removable storage devices and accessible network shares.
When all prerequisite conditions have been met the SYSDOWN virus engine starts the ransomware process. Like other similar threats it uses a built-in list of file type extensions. Popular cases tend to act against the most commonly used user data: archives, documents, backups, images, music, videos and etc. At the moment two separate versions have been identified, they can be differentiated by the different extensions — the resulting files are renamed as either .SysDown or .SysDown.SysDown. A lockscreen instance is enforced on the victims which prohibits the ordinary computer interaction until the threat has been completely removed. It reads the following:
SYSDOWN
Pwned by the SYSDOWN virus!
Remove SYSDOWN Virus and Restore PC
WARNING! Manual removal of the SYSDOWN Virus requires being familiar with system files and registries. Removing important data accidentally can lead to permanent system damage. If you don’t feel comfortable with manual instructions, download a powerful anti-malware tool that will scan your system for malware and clean it safely for you.
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SYSDOWN Virus – Manual Removal Steps
Start the PC in Safe Mode with Network
This will isolate all files and objects created by the ransomware so they will be removed efficiently. The steps bellow are applicable to all Windows versions.
1. Hit the WIN Key + R
2. A Run window will appear. In it, write msconfig and then press Enter
3. A Configuration box shall appear. In it Choose the tab named Boot
4. Mark Safe Boot option and then go to Network under it to tick it too
5. Apply -> OK
Remove SYSDOWN from Windows
Here’s a way to remove the program. This method will work regardless if you’re on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP. Simply selecting the program and pressing delete won’t work, as it’ll leave a lot of small files. That’s bad because these leftovers can linger on and cause all sorts of problems. The best way to delete a program is to uninstall it. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Hold the “Windows” button (It’s between CTRL and Alt on most keyboards) and press “R”. You’ll see a pop-up window.
2. In the textbox, type “appwiz.cpl”, then press“ Enter ”.
3. The “Programs and features” menu should now appear. It’s a list of all the programs installed on the PC. Here you can find the program, select it, and press “Uninstall“.
Remove SYSDOWN Virus From Your Browser
Before resetting your browser’s settings, you should know that this action will wipe out all your recorded usernames, passwords, and other types of data. Make sure to save them in some way.
- 1. Start Mozilla Firefox. In the upper right corner, click on the Open menu icon and select “Add-ons“.
2. Inside the Add-ons Manager select “Extensions“. Search the list of extensions for suspicious entries. If you find any, select them and click “Remove“.
3. Click again on the Open menu icon, then click “Options“.
4. In the Options window, under “General” tab, click “Restore to Default“.
5. Select “Search” in the left menu, mark the unknown search engine and press “Remove”.
- 1. Start Google Chrome. On the upper-right corner, there a “Customize and Control” menu icon. Click on it, then click on “Settings“.
2. Click “Extensions” in the left menu. Then click on the trash bin icon to remove the suspicious extension.
3. Again in the left menu, under Chrome, Click on “Settings“. Go under “On Startup” and set a new page.
4. Afterward, scroll down to “Search“, click on “Manage search engines“.
5. In the default search settings list, find the unknown search engine and click on “X“. Then select your search engine of choice and click “Make default“. When you are ready click “Done” button in the right bottom corner.
2. In the “Manage add-ons” window, bellow “Add-on Types“, select “Toolbars and Extensions“. If you see a suspicious toolbar, select it and click “Remove“.
3. Then again in the “Manage Add-ons” window, in “Add-on Types“, Select “Search Providers“. Chose a search engine and click “Set as default“. Select the unknown search engine and click “Remove and Close”.
4. Open the Tools menu, select “Internet Options”.
5. In the “General” tab, in “Home page”, enter your preferred page. Click “Apply” and “OK”.
Repair Windows Registry
1. Again type simultaneously the WIN Key + R key combination
2. In the box, write regedit and hit Enter
3. Type the CTRL+ F and then write the malicious name in the search type field to locate the malicious executable
4. In case you have discovered registry keys and values related to the name, you should delete them, but be careful not to delete legitimate keys
Click for more information about Windows Registry and further repair help
