13/12/2014
Shortcut Virus!!! Is Your USB Pendrive,Computer or Hard disk creating unwanted shortcut files which appears again and again even after removing/deleting them?
The Shortcut Virus or bug may look to many as a small problem and usually the infected victims do not take any action to remove it, while others take it seriously and look on the internet to find a shortcut virus removal tool or a way to remove the shortcut virus from there device.
Before I begin the tutorial on how to remove the shortcut virus, let me first explain what the shortcut virus is capable of doing.
What is Shortcut Virus and How it infects your device?
Shortcut Virus which is also known as Houdini is a worm which has infected several computers/devices around the world.
The Shortcut Virus usually spread through USB peripheral devices including pen drives, Memory cards, Mobile phones, Digital Cameras or external hard disks. Once you have completed copying a file to your device you may see files on your device with a shortcut arrow in the preview. This is where the infection begins. Once clicked the file, it starts running a “.vbs” file/script which runs a series of task including making two copies of its code or registry key one for temporary use and other for start/restart.
You may think by removing the Shortcut created the problem is solved, but infact it will appear again every time the computer or device is started/restarted.
After infecting your computer/device the Shortcut virus looks for peripheral devices connected to the system and infects them. The virus is so infectious that no external device is safe from it.
What is the Shortcut virus capable of doing?
Once your device is infected by the shortcut virus it then connects to its C&C server, to obtain the commands and send the stolen information.
Once infected by the shortcut virus, the attacker can take advantage of the situation and is capable of stealing victim’s data on the pc as well as download other malwares or update the codes of the present shortcut virus.
