Any type of malware exists with the only target – make money on you¹. And the programmers of these things are not thinking of morality – they utilize all available methods. Grabbing your personal data, receiving the comission for the advertisements you watch for them, exploiting your PC to mine cryptocurrencies – that is not the complete list of what they do. Do you like to be a riding horse? That is a rhetorical question.

What does the pop-up with HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K detection mean?

The HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K detection you can see in the lower right corner is displayed to you by Microsoft Defender. That anti-malware software is good at scanning, however, prone to be basically unreliable. It is prone to malware attacks, it has a glitchy user interface and bugged malware removal features. Therefore, the pop-up which states about the Keygen.K is simply a notification that Defender has found it. To remove it, you will likely need to make use of another anti-malware program.

Microsoft Defender: “HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K”

The exact HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K virus is a very undesirable thing. It digs inside of your PC under the guise of something benevolent, or as a part of the application you downloaded from a forum. Then, it makes everything to weaken your system. At the end of this “party”, it injects other malicious things – ones which are wanted by cyber burglars who manage this malware. Hence, it is impossible to predict the effects from Keygen.K actions. And the unpredictability is one of the most upleasant things when we are talking about malware. That’s why it is better not to choose at all, and don’t give it even a single chance to complete its task.

Threat Summary:

Is HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K dangerous?

As I have specified before, non-harmful malware does not exist. And HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K is not an exception. This virus modifies the system setups, alters the Group Policies and Windows registry. All of these components are crucial for proper system functioning, even in case when we are not talking about system safety. Therefore, the virus which Keygen.K carries, or which it will download later, will try to get maximum revenue from you. Crooks can steal your personal information, and then push it on the Darknet. Using adware and browser hijacker functions, embedded in HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K virus, they can make profit by showing you the banners. Each view gives them a penny, but 100 views per day = $1. 1000 victims who watch 100 banners per day – $1000. Easy math, but sad conclusions. It is a bad choice to be a donkey for crooks.

How did I get this virus?

It is hard to line the sources of malware on your computer. Nowadays, things are mixed up, and distribution methods used by adware 5 years ago can be utilized by spyware nowadays. But if we abstract from the exact distribution method and will think of why it has success, the answer will be pretty simple – low level of cybersecurity knowledge. Individuals click on advertisements on weird websites, click the pop-ups they receive in their web browsers, call the “Microsoft tech support” assuming that the strange banner that states about malware is true. It is important to understand what is legit – to stay away from misconceptions when trying to find out a virus.

Microsoft tech support scam page

Nowadays, there are two of the most extensive tactics of malware spreading – lure e-mails and also injection into a hacked program. While the first one is not so easy to avoid – you must know a lot to understand a fake – the second one is simple to handle: just don’t utilize hacked applications. Torrent-trackers and other sources of “totally free” applications (which are, exactly, paid, but with a disabled license checking) are just a giveaway place of malware. And HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K is simply among them.

How to remove the HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K from my PC?

HackTool:Win32/Keygen.K malware is incredibly hard to eliminate by hand. It places its documents in multiple places throughout the disk, and can restore itself from one of the parts. Moreover, countless modifications in the registry, networking settings and Group Policies are quite hard to identify and revert to the initial. It is far better to use a specific tool – exactly, an anti-malware tool. GridinSoft Anti-Malware will fit the most ideal for virus removal goals.

Why GridinSoft Anti-Malware? It is pretty lightweight and has its detection databases updated practically every hour. In addition, it does not have such bugs and vulnerabilities as Microsoft Defender does. The combination of these facts makes GridinSoft Anti-Malware perfect for clearing away malware of any type.

Remove the viruses with GridinSoft Anti-Malware

• Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. After the installation, you will be offered to perform the Standard Scan. Approve this action.
• Standard scan checks the logical disk where the system files are stored, together with the files of programs you have already installed. The scan lasts up to 6 minutes.
• When the scan is over, you may choose the action for each detected virus. For all files of Keygen.K the default option is “Delete”. Press “Apply” to finish the malware removal.

References

1. Read about malware types on GridinSoft Threat encyclopedia.