Guntior

The Guntior Bootkit is one of the most common malware threats that exploit the Master Boot Record (MBR) to infect a computer. Due to security measures present in recent versions of Windows, these kinds of attacks have gained prominence as effective ways of bypassing a computer's protection. Bootkits like the Guntior Bootkit are sophisticated threats that have numerous variants and that are often quite difficult to remove. The Guntior Bootkit is of Chinese origin and has been observed since at least 2010. Typically, a dropper is installed on the victim's computer, a secondary malware infection that then infects the victim's computer with the Guntior Bootkit. Due to the fact that the Guntior Bootkit has been around for such a long time, the Guntior Bootkit has been studied quite thoroughly by PC security analysts. In fact, while the Guntior Bootkit itself has not been modified that much in recent years, the variety of droppers that are used to install the Guntior Bootkit have.

Distribution Methods Used by the Guntior Rootkit

Droppers associated with Guntior Bootkit have been known to use malicious DLL files to infect computers. With a fake version of the Windows Help and Support Center application, they can call on this malicious DLL in order to execute malicious code on the victim's computer without being detected. These droppers are typically distributed through social media or email spam or bundled with popular files on file sharing networks.

The Difficult Task of Detecting the Guntior Bootkit

Malware like the Guntior Bootkit affect a computer on a very deep level that is quite difficult to detect or remove. Often, they will exploit drivers in order to infect a computer beyond the operating system, ensuring that the infection remains from the moment the affected computer starts up. Doing this makes it very difficult for conventional anti-malware software to detect or remove the Guntior Bootkit, often requiring a specialized tool used to detect and remove bootkits and rootkits. The Guntior Bootkit itself is designed so that the Guntior Bootkit will cause very few, if any symptoms. However, since the Guntior Bootkit is designed to install and protect other malware on the victim's computer, these will often alert the victim of their presence. To protect yourself from the Guntior Bootkit, ESG malware researchers advise the following three measures:

1. Follow general online safety measures such as avoiding generally unsafe websites and never clicking on unknown links.
2. Use a reliable anti-malware program and firewall to protect your computer.
3. Keep all of your software fully up-to-date at all times.