GoldBrute Removal Guide

If your remote desktop connection is vulnerable, GoldBrute can breach it without much trouble. The attackers behind this infection definitely do not need to do a thing as the threat is calibrated in a way that it would create new victims as it moves along. Unfortunately, many Windows users opt to use simple password and username combinations, and that is why cybercriminals are so successful. If your password and username combo is easily guessable, RDP login can be brute-forced by malware, and then the attackers, potentially, have full access to your entire operating system. Using this backdoor, they could drop Trojans, ransomware, miners, and other malicious infections. That is not all. If you discover that you need to delete GoldBrute from your operating system, your device has been turned into a bot and was added to a botnet (network of bots). It is hard to say what the attackers could do with that. Continue reading to learn how to remove the infection and how to secure your remote access connection.

Do you keep remote access on Windows enabled at all times? Hopefully, you do not because that is very risky. When it is enabled, are you cautious? You will not notice when GoldBrute attacks because this infection guesses your password, and that can be done without your notice at all. Of course, only weak, unprotected systems are harmed, which is another important thing to think about. If your system’s security is breached, a .ZIP archive is downloaded, and it contains the malicious code of GoldBrute. Once the archive is unzipped, a file called “bitcoin.dll” runs. The name of this file could change in the future, and it is unlikely to have an exact location. According to our malware experts, you are most likely to find it in the %TEMP% directory along with all temporary files. If that is the case, all you have to do is delete all components in the directory, and, hopefully, the infection will be gone. If you do not remove the threat in time, your own computer could be used to brute-force other vulnerable RDP systems.

Once your computer is turned into a bot, it can be used to scan the web for RDP servers that can be breached. The information about the detected servers is sent to a C&C server using WebSocket connection. Once there are enough servers in the list, the bot starts guessing passwords, usernames, and hosts to take over. The retrieved login credentials can make it possible for remote attackers to gain access to operating systems via RDP at any point, and the removal of GoldBrute will not have an impact on that. This is why you must not forget to change login credentials after you delete this malicious threat. If you postpone the removal – which might happen if you do not discover the infection in time – the botnet could use the power of all connected bots to perform email-bombing attacks as well as DDoS attacks via directed traffic. Needless to say, nothing good can come out of that, and so you must make sure that your operating system is clean and safe.

A reliable malware scanner can quickly determine if you need to remove GoldBrute from your operating system. If that happens to be the case, you can try deleting all files from %TEMP%, but, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee success. Other threats could already exist on your system if the attackers gained access via a breached RDP connection. Also, you need to think about your virtual security in the future. Due to all of these reasons, we strongly advise installing anti-malware software. It will continuously protect your operating system against new threats, and if any exist right now, it will eliminate them automatically. Of course, once you delete GoldBrute, you must not forget to change the password to secure your remote access connection. If you replace it with another weak password, someone could succeed at guessing it and invading your system again. We also recommend disabling remote access when you do not need this feature. Steps on how to do this are included in the manual removal guide below.

How to delete GoldBrute

1. Tap Win+E keys to access Explorer.
2. Enter %TEMP% into the field at the top.
3. Select all items and click Delete (or delete just bitcoin.dll).
4. In the menu on the left click Control Panel.
5. Click System and Security and then System.
6. In the menu on the left click Remote settings.
7. Choose Don’t allow remote connections to this computer and click Apply.
8. Empty Recycle Bin.
9. Install a trusted malware scanner to check for malware leftovers (delete if found).