Cloud Protection

By Domesticus in Rogue Anti-Spyware Program

Threat Scorecard

Threat Level: 100 % (High)
Infected Computers: 43
First Seen: October 10, 2011
Last Seen: August 17, 2022
OS(es) Affected: Windows

Cloud Protection Image

Cloud Protection is a fake anti-virus program that belongs to the Guard Online family of rogue anti-virus programs. Do not be fooled by Cloud Protection's sleek black interface with big colorful buttons and red lettering. Despite Cloud Protection's stylish design, Cloud Protection is nothing more than a fake anti-virus application designed to scam inexperienced computer users. Cloud Protection will always detect a virus infection, usually with big alarming red letters and a fake system scan. This virus infection is, of course, completely imaginary. Cloud Protection is part of a well-known scam that has been around in some variation or another for a very long time. ESG security researchers recommend handling a Cloud Protection infection with a real and reliable anti-virus application. Failure to remove Cloud Protection from your computer system can result in the loss of your personal data, your credit card information being stolen, and at risk of further malware infections.

How the Cloud Protection Scam Works

Rogue security programs like Cloud Protection are part of a scam that is aimed at inexperienced computer users. The Cloud Protection scam basically boils down to convincing the victim to pay for this fake anti-virus program, by claiming that the computer system is severely infected with a variety of viruses and Trojans. Cloud Protection achieves this in a number of different ways:

  1. Cloud Protection directly attacks Cloud Protection's victim with a barrage of fake error messages, security alerts, system alerts and pop-up notifications from the task bar. Cloud Protection also displays a number of alarming messages in Cloud Protection's interface, using big red letters. To add to the illusion that the victim's computer is severely infected, Cloud Protection also runs a fake system scan upon start-up, forcing the victim to wait while a progress bar slowly fills up. This is all just for show, since, regardless of the actual virus problems on the infected computer, the results will always be the same.
  2. Cloud Protection consumes system resources, and often comes into conflict with other installed programs, services and applications. This means that the victim's computer will often become slow, inefficient, and unstable.
  3. Cloud Protection uses a variety of different malicious scripts, Trojans, and may even use a rootkit, in order to hide itself, prevent legitimate security applications from removing and detecting Cloud Protection, block access to the Internet and hide the user's files. These kinds of activities reinforce the illusion that there is something seriously wrong with the victim's computer system.

Aliases

15 security vendors flagged this file as malicious.

Anti-Virus Software Detection
Sophos Mal/FakeAV-OZ
NOD32 a variant of Win32/Kryptik.AAJZ
Panda Adware/WindowsRecovery
BitDefender Gen:Variant.Kazy.40147
NOD32 a variant of Win32/Kryptik.TWI
Ikarus Trojan.Win32.Jorik
McAfee-GW-Edition Artemis!1B426E933853
Kaspersky Trojan.Win32.Jorik.Fraud.fla
NOD32 a variant of Win32/Kryptik.UES
McAfee Generic FakeAlert.bz
GData Win32:FakeAlert-BHX
AntiVir TR/Fakealert.TZ
DrWeb Trojan.Packed.189
Kaspersky Trojan.Win32.Jorik.Fraud.fmf
Avast Win32:FakeAlert-BHX [Trj]

SpyHunter Detects & Remove Cloud Protection

File System Details

Cloud Protection may create the following file(s):
# File Name MD5 Detections
1. svhostu.exe 55e3ebfc4a5b7a14a46b9051c10a08ec 14
2. 6DSS92c31Apgjk.exe 15d961278fc23d262a41b43c91b79849 6
3. lvvm.exe 30b417d498af215d9d4c04f9182813f7 5
4. 1kAlMiG2Kb7FzP.exe 19db38e4385b31dd3460bffd8be2ee7f 3
5. PeOuyECqQC.exe 1b426e933853d2bcb271183c696a3084 3
6. NRZqhYXwkVlBx0c.exe 9ca34506acf87aa24c3bbd1ea2218609 2
7. svhostu.exe 07c237f3ee4e19dbf8058166e766333c 2
8. 9b88.exe a537b08413c63a31533833bed1002b13 1
9. cmhost.exe 999ab3d32d2aa4c05962142ebbca8f41 1
10. eDQmkk06sEUM5g.exe b8d9e640f6eb41142455c213a1e01b97 1
11. %Programs%\Startupcrss.exe
12. %TempDir\svhostu.exe
13. %SystemDir%\D88olEDV7kS7kSu.exe
14. %AppData%\E77ikC6uQA5hAym
15. %AppData%\g44tgnOLrfI2dJw\Cloud Protection.ico
16. %ProgramFiles\Internet Explorer\1.tmp
17. %TempDir\2.tmp
18. %AppData%\g44tgnOLrfI2dJw
19. %Programs%\Cloud ProtectionCloud Protection.lnk
20. %Desktop%\Cloud Protection.lnk
21. %AppData%\GxxTGN9pzF
22. %AppData%\ldr.ini

Registry Details

Cloud Protection may create the following registry entry or registry entries:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "[RANDOM CHARACTERS]"

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