Trojan.Killfiles

Trojan.Killfiles is a generic name for a subgroup of trojans that delete files on your computer, usually with no other purpose besides simply causing damage. Although the earliest versions of Trojan.Killfiles are long since out of date, newer versions of Trojan.Killfiles have been created over the years and may still be in distribution. You should take appropriate steps to protect your PC from Trojan.Killfiles and act quickly to delete Trojan.Killfiles if you suspect that you have such a trojan on your computer.

The Origin of the Trojan.Killfiles Threat

Trojan.Killfiles was first spotted in 2003 and has sprouted off into different versions and been updated for many years afterwards. One of the most destructive versions of Trojan.Killfiles, Trojan.Killfiles.904, was even seen as late as 2009. Different types of Trojan.Killfiles will delete different files, but you can expect heavy loss of files from any given version of Trojan.Killfiles.

Distribution for Trojan.Killfiles is very low due to its age, but Windows-based computers are still vulnerable to Trojan.Killfiles attacks. Known systems that can be attacked by Trojan.Killfiles include Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, NT and XP.

Most trojans like Trojan.Killfiles will operate in the form of a background memory processes, and the more sophisticated variants may even inject themselves into native processes. This means that catching Trojan.Killfiles in the act is very difficult; you may see no signs of Trojan.Killfiles attack until you notice missing files or are seeing an unusual spike in system resource usage.

Trojan.Killfiles - In Your Hard Drive and Killing Your Files

The types of file deletions used by Trojan.Killfiles variants may or may not be destructive to your operating system, depending on the variant of Trojan.Killfiles infection that gets on your PC. Trojan.Killfiles.904, for instance, is coded to avoid deleting system files - however, this version of Trojan.Killfiles will delete practically everything else.

By contrast, other versions of Trojan.Killfiles may only delete important OS files like the Windows NTLOADER. The loss of this file will prevent Windows from loading, and you'll need to repair your operating system from the original CD or DVD source.

You may also notice the loss of certain programs – many types of Trojan.Killfiles have been seen to target Notepad, Calculator, and other baseline Windows applications.

Finally, even if a file proves to be invulnerable to deletion for whatever reason, Trojan.Killfiles may change its attributes to Hidden or System. This hides the file from your view to make it appear as though the file is deleted, even though it's perfectly fine. You can remedy this by changing your file-viewing settings to allow you to see Hidden and System files.

Since the danger inherent in Trojan.Killfiles is so great, you should take steps to remove Trojan.Killfiles by applying a good ant-malware scanner. Updated threat definitions are important for deleting Trojan.Killfiles, since Trojan.Killfiles comes in so many different variants.