What is TaksHostMiner?
TaksHostMiner is a Crypto miner Trojan that seeks back door entry to attack the targeted system or a Network. This Trojan rely on unsuspected game plugins and infect the system when the plugin is executed. The Trojan was recently discovered and is known to have infected thousands of computer in one day.
Once infiltrated detection of this malicious program is difficult as the Trojan has this extraordinary capability to end itself from the task manager if the user tries to monitor the CPU Usage or task manger and reappear later.
The Trojan mainly targets information stored on the hard drive may it be the OS Loader or user specific files. They are designed by Cyber criminals with the purpose to destroy the OS loaders and remotely access and steal sensitive user information.
How does the Trojan invade the system?
Trojans are disguised as important software programs to deceive the user. So does Takshostminer.
Disguised as game cracking plugin, the Trojan lures the user into installing the program in their system. In a bid to unlock the game or its various stages, the game enthusiasts are prompted to download the various plugins available online. In a haste they do so without going through the security documents and hence end up installing this vicious OS infection which decompress itself when the plugin is executed.
The Trojan is also bundled to the payload files of various game applications, information about which is not disclosed to the user unless the user goes for advanced settings to install the application. Custom Settings gives user the transparency to choose which additional software to keep from the main installation and which to leave.
How is Takshostminer dangerous?
This pernicious infection once infiltrated keeps an eye on user activity to access users’ personal information such passwords, banking information, email id, credit card number etc.
If task manager or related programs are run, the malware kills its mining process to prevent its detection and restart the malicious activity later when the program is closed. Not only this, the Trojan hides its files and folders in the log files to prevent being observed.
Preventive steps to prohibit the entry of the Trojan in the system
Since the virus possess the ability to hide or kill itself when to prevent its detection, it is difficult to eject the virus once infiltrated. Hence it is strongly recommended to follow preventive steps to prohibit the virus entry. One such way to do this is to enable antivirus software while installing new applications.
Also it is advised to be vigilant while installing third party application to prevent the entry of the infction in the system.
In order to remain protected and avoid such infections, it is recommended to keep your Operating System updated by enabling the automatic update on your system. The systems with outdated or older versions of Operating System become an easy target for the attackers.
Threat Summary
Name: TaksHostMiner
Browsers Affected: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox
Targeted Operating System: Windows
Category: Trojan
Symptoms: Unnatural Network activities, slow and unusual computer behavior. The Trojan operates silently in the background to steal user sensitive information from the system.
Steps to prevent the infiltration of TaksHostMiner Trojan in the system
Reboot your system to safe mode with networking
To restart the system to Safe Mode with Networking, if already switched ON then follow the below steps:
Update your system software
Protect your system with Windows Defender
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