A Trojan Horse is a malicious type of computer program that can enter the system disguised as a file or a program that looks legitimate. The goal of most such malware pieces is to provide their creators with unauthorized access to the targeted machine. However, the abilities of the Trojan viruses can actually be quite versatile and apart from providing access to your system to hackers, such pieces of malware can be used for a number of other criminal deeds such as espionage, theft of personal information, data corruption and more.

If you are on this page, then you most probably are faced with a Trojan Horse named Plurox (which is simmilar to Win32/BITSAbuse.Z and Win.Trojan.Bledoor). This particular threat is a newly reported Trojan-based infection that is rapidly spreading across the Internet and attacking its victims by launching some very harmful activities inside their computers. In the removal guide below, you will learn how to locate and remove this nasty infection, as well as how to protect your system from it in the future. We encourage you to read the entire page until the end and then quickly deal with Plurox Malware before it manages to cause any fatal damage because, if not removed on time, this infection can cause some very serious issues.

Risks of Plurox Backdoor Malware

A Trojan Horse, as a term in the cyber community, has been inspired by the Greek myth about the Trojan War and the cunning trick which was used to conquer the city of Troy. In the myth, the Trojan horse was a large wooden horse, which had supposedly been offered as a gift of peace from the Greeks to the Trojans. As a gift to the king, the Trojans carried the horse into the city which was protected with unconquerable walls. During the night, when all slept, the Greek soldiers, who were hiding inside the hollow wooden frame of the horse, got out and opened the gates for the whole army to enter and burn down the city.

Just like in this myth, a Trojan Horse in the computer world operates like a program that looks harmless on the outside and may even seem to offer some useful functionality when, in fact, it hides some malicious code that can cause harm to the computers and their users. A Trojan may create system vulnerabilities and invite other malware (Viruses, Ransomware, Spyware, etc.) to sneak inside and cause damage. The main form of distribution of these threats is through the Internet, where they may even get promoted as tools with useful (or even vital) functions for the computers. Very commonly, infections like Plurox may also be distributed via spam and malicious email attachments, or inside fake ads, misleading links or cracked software. It takes just one careless click for the contamination to happen and, usually, there are no visible symptoms that can indicate that.

The two most common uses of Trojans are as Keyloggers (programs which are commonly used to steal passwords) and as Backdoors (infections that open backdoors in the computer and allow more malware to enter). Unlike Viruses and Worms, those threats do not replicate themselves and do not need to infect other programs to perform their functions: they are autonomous and can be given different commands remotely. Therefore, they are much more challenging to deal with and, in order to be detected and removed, the victims normally need to use the help of professional malware removal software.

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Remove Plurox Backdoor Malware

1: Preparations

Note: Before you go any further, we advise you to bookmark this page or have it open on a separate device such as your smartphone or another PC. Some of the steps might require you to exit your browser on this PC.

2: Task Manager

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to enter the Task Manager. Go to the Tab labeled Processes (Details for Win 8/10). Carefully look through the list of processes that are currently active on you PC.

If any of them seems shady, consumes too much RAM/CPU or has some strange description or no description at all, right-click on it, select Open File Location and delete everything there.

Also, even if you do not delete the files, be sure to stop the process by right-clicking on it and selecting End Process.

3: IP related to Plurox

Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open the hosts file with notepad.

Find where it says Localhost and take a look below that. 

If you see any IP addresses there (below Localhost) send them to us here, in the comments since they might be coming from the Plurox.

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4: Disable Startup programs

Re-open the Start Menu and type msconfig.

Click on the first search result. In the next window, go to the Startup tab. If you are on Win 10,  it will send you to the Startup part of the task manager instead, as in the picture:

If you see any sketchy/shady looking entries in the list with an unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer name that looks suspicious as there could be a link between them and Plurox , disable those programs and select OK.

5: Registry Editor

Press Windows key + R and in the resulting window type regedit.

Now, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus.

Delete everything that gets found. If you are not sure about whether to delete something, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments. Keep in mind that if you delete the wrong thing, you might cause all sorts of issues to your PC.

6: Deleting potentially malicious data – Plurox

Type each of the following locations in the Windows search box and hit enter to open the locations:

%AppData%

%LocalAppData%

%ProgramData%

%WinDir%

%Temp%

Delete everything you see in Temp linked to Plurox Malware. About the other folders, sort their contents by date and delete only the most recent entries. As always, if you are not sure about something, write to us in the comment section.

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