There has been a recent discovery in the PC-Malware world.There is a computer malware which infects a users PC and gathers passwords and other information from the user. What makes this virus so unique is that when an anti-malware program attempts to scan the PC the malware detects it and then deletes the Master Boot Record. This in turn causes the Windows operating system to not turn on. Basically windows will not work and you’ll have to re-install the operating system. The good news is that your files still exist you just have to have another PC to retrieve them off the hard drive. Once you have retrieved the files you can re-install the OS and transfer the files back over. I recommend scanning the files remotely before moving them back to the new PC if you have to transfer files.

We have seen malware that gathers information, often called spyware, but seeing one that deletes the Master Boot Record are quite rare. This is because typically the malware wants to go unnoticed and gather as much information as possible. If malware/spyware is found and removed the hackers already have their data so there is no reason to attack the computer, but in this case it does. In reality there is no reason for the malware to cause this type of damage other than because they can.

Typically malware just monitors users webpage visits and uses that information to sell items, legitimate and not to the end user. So having one that steals personal information and then damage the operating system is unheard of. Overall it isn’t too big of a concern because it is easy enough to retrieve your files, it just mean’s we’re looking at people who want to do damage for no other reason than to do damage.