Malicious Software Encyclopedia: Win32/Goweh
Published:
April 26, 2005
Trojan:Win32/Goweh is a Trojan that alters several settings in Internet Explorer, changing the default home page and redirecting search queries and traffic to other Web pages.
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Threat Overview
| Class/type | Potentially Unwanted Software - Browser Modifier
|
| Discovered | November 10, 2004 |
| Circulating | Yes |
| Affected operating systems | |
| Affected software |
Not specified
|
| Infection rating | Medium |
| Recovery difficulty | Moderate |
| Damage rating | Low |
| Transmission rating | Low |
Aliases (Also Known As)
Different antivirus vendors may be using different names to refer to this malicious software. Here are some of the names currently in use by antivirus software vendors participating in the Microsoft Virus Information Alliance (VIA):
CA:
Win32/DigitsMcAfee:
Dowloader-GKSymantec:
Trojan.DigitsTrend Micro:
TROJ_GOWEH
Learn more about the
Microsoft Virus Information Alliance.
Technical Analysis
When a Win32/Goweh variant runs, it copies itself to a location on the infected computer that is randomly selected from a list. It also copies itself to other random locations selected from another list.
The Trojan periodically downloads and installs updates as they become available from a certain Web site. The original instance of the Trojan then exits. The Trojan can also download a file from a Web site that contains commands and configuration settings.
The Trojan changes home page and search page settings in Internet Explorer to redirect traffic to other Web sites.
Later variants of this Trojan overwrite the Windows hosts file to prevent the user from accessing certain security and antivirus Web sites.
How to Prevent Infection
Take the following steps to help prevent infection on your system:
- Enable a firewall on your computer.
- Get the latest computer updates.
- Use up-to-date antivirus software.
Enable a firewall on your computer
Use a third-party firewall product or turn on the Microsoft Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall.
To turn on the Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP
- Click Start, and click Control Panel.
- Click Network and Internet Connections, and click Network Connections. If you do not see Network and Internet Connections, click Switch to Category View.
- Highlight a connection that you want to help protect, and click Change settings of this connection.
- Click Advanced, and select Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet.
- Click OK.
Get the latest computer updates
Updates help protect your computer from viruses, worms, and other threats as they are discovered. You can use the Automatic Updates feature in Microsoft Windows XP to automatically download future Microsoft security updates while your computer is on and connected to the Internet.
To turn on Automatic Updates in Windows XP
- Click Start, and click Control Panel.
- Click Performance and Maintenance. If you do not see Performance and Maintenance, click Switch to Category View.
- Click System.
- Click Automatic Updates, and select Keep my computer up to date.
- Select a setting. Microsoft recommends selecting Automatically download the updates, and install them on the schedule that I specify and setting a regular update time.
- If you choose to have Automatic Updates notify you in step 5, you will see a notification balloon when new downloads are available to install. Click the notification balloon to review and install updates.
Use up-to-date antivirus software
Most antivirus software can detect and prevent infection by known malicious software. You should always run antivirus software on your computer that is updated with the latest signature files to automatically help protect you from infection.
How to Tell If Your Computer Is Infected
Your computer may be infected with Trojan:Win32/Goweh if you notice one or more of the following symptoms:
- Your Internet Explorer home page has changed to a page that you did not specify. In some cases you cannot change the home page to the original value.
- Internet Explorer is accessing Web sites at a slower pace than normal.
How to Recover from Infection
Automatic Recovery
To attempt to automatically remove this threat, run one of the following removal tools:
Manual Recovery
