Cloud Protection

Cloud Protection Description

ScreenshotCloud 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: Mal/FakeAV-OZ [Sophos], a variant of Win32/Kryptik.AAJZ [NOD32], Adware/WindowsRecovery [Panda], Gen:Variant.Kazy.40147 [BitDefender], a variant of Win32/Kryptik.TWI [NOD32], Trojan.Win32.Jorik [Ikarus], Trojan.Agent/Gen-FakeSys, Artemis!1B426E933853 [McAfee-GW-Edition], Trojan.Win32.Jorik!IK, Trojan.Win32.Jorik.Fraud.fla [Kaspersky], TROJ_FAKEAV.ZXN, a variant of Win32/Kryptik.UES [NOD32], Generic FakeAlert.bz [McAfee], Gen:Variant.Graftor.1637 and Win32:FakeAlert-BHX [GData].

Technical Information

File System Details

Cloud Protection creates the following file(s):
# File Name Size MD5 Detection Count
1 %TEMP%svhostu.exe 102,912 55e3ebfc4a5b7a14a46b9051c10a08ec 14
2 %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\6DSS92c31Apgjk.exe 347,136 15d961278fc23d262a41b43c91b79849 6
3 %PROGRAMFILES%\1B272\lvvm.exe 193,536 30b417d498af215d9d4c04f9182813f7 4
4 %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\1kAlMiG2Kb7FzP.exe 429,056 19db38e4385b31dd3460bffd8be2ee7f 3
5 %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\PeOuyECqQC.exe 502,784 1b426e933853d2bcb271183c696a3084 3
6 %TEMP%\Low\9b88.exe 430,080 a537b08413c63a31533833bed1002b13 1
7 %USERPROFILE%cmhost.exe 174,592 999ab3d32d2aa4c05962142ebbca8f41 1
8 %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\eDQmkk06sEUM5g.exe 349,184 b8d9e640f6eb41142455c213a1e01b97 1
9 %Programs%\Startupcrss.exe N/A
10 %TempDir\svhostu.exe N/A
11 %SystemDir%\D88olEDV7kS7kSu.exe N/A
12 %AppData%\E77ikC6uQA5hAym N/A
13 %AppData%\g44tgnOLrfI2dJw\Cloud Protection.ico N/A
14 %ProgramFiles\Internet Explorer\1.tmp N/A
15 %TempDir\2.tmp N/A
16 %AppData%\g44tgnOLrfI2dJw N/A
17 %Programs%\Cloud ProtectionCloud Protection.lnk N/A
18 %Desktop%\Cloud Protection.lnk N/A
19 %AppData%\GxxTGN9pzF N/A
20 %AppData%\ldr.ini N/A
21 %WINDIR%\system32\NRZqhYXwkVlBx0c.exe 1,699,840 9ca34506acf87aa24c3bbd1ea2218609 0
More files

Registry Details

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

Site Disclaimer

Enigmasoftware.com is not associated, affiliated, sponsored or owned by the malware creators or distributors mentioned on this article. This article should NOT be mistaken or confused in being associated in any way with the promotion or endorsement of malware. Our intent is to provide information that will educate computer users on how to detect, and ultimately remove, malware from their computer with the help of SpyHunter and/or manual removal instructions provided on this article.

This article is provided "as is" and to be used for educational information purposes only. By following any instructions on this article, you agree to be bound by the disclaimer. We make no guarantees that this article will help you completely remove the malware threats on your computer. Spyware changes regularly; therefore, it is difficult to fully clean an infected machine through manual means.

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By Domesticus in Rogue Anti-Spyware Program
Threat Scorecard
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Each of the fields listed on the ESL Threat Scorecard, containing a specific value, are as follows:

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Top 3 Countries Infected: Lists the top three countries a particular threat has targeted the most over the past month. This data allows computer users to track the geographic distribution of a particular threat throughout the world.
Ranking: N/A
Threat Level: 10
Infected Computers: 38