What is SystemTools?
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that SystemTools is an adfraud tool. These adfraud applications earn money by connecting affected machines to websites in a way that makes the advertiser think you viewed their ads, when in reality you didn't.
Even though you may feel there is no harm in it for you, these trojans may compromise your security and use your resources.
For example these are some of the connections this trojan.clicker makes:
How do I know if my computer is affected by SystemTools?
You may see this entry in your list of installed programs and features:
this entry in your startmenu:
and this warning during install:
How did SystemTools get on my computer?
Adfraud tools use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was bundled with other software.
How do I remove SystemTools?
Our program Malwarebytes can detect and remove this trojan.clicker.
- Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop.
- Double-click mb3-setup-consumer-{version}.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
- Then click Finish.
- Once the program has fully updated, select Scan Now on the Dashboard. Or select the Threat Scan from the Scan menu.
- If another update of the definitions is available, it will be implemented before the rest of the scanning procedure.
- When the scan is complete, make sure that all Threats are selected, and click Remove Selected.
- Restart your computer when prompted to do so.
- No, Malwarebytes removes SystemTools completely.
We hope our application and this guide have helped you eradicate this trojan.clicker.
As you can see below the full version of Malwarebytes would have protected you against the SystemTools adfraud tool. It would have warned you before the adfraud tool could install itself, giving you a chance to stop it before it became too late.
The web protection module also blocks some of the connections the installer tries to make:
Technical details for experts
Possible signs in FRST logs:
() C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\SystemTools.exe HKCU\...\Run: [SystemTools] => C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\SystemTools.exe [462336 2017-04-30] () C:\Users\{username}\Desktop\System Tools 9.0.0 Setup 9.0.0 - Changes.txt C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\System Tools C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools 9.0.0 C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0 System Tools 9.0.0 version 9.0.0 (HKLM-x32\...\{FFB1E223-2052-49F4-B500-2F9A2DDBA756}}_is1) (Version: 9.0.0 - SystemTools, Inc.)Alterations made by the installer:
File system details [View: All details] (Selection) --------------------------------------------------- Adds the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0 Adds the file SystemTools.exe"="4/30/2017 7:24 AM, 462336 bytes, A Adds the file unins000.dat"="7/19/2017 9:33 AM, 1365 bytes, A Adds the file unins000.exe"="7/19/2017 9:33 AM, 721573 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools 9.0.0 Adds the file System Tools 9.0.0.lnk"="7/19/2017 9:33 AM, 1112 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\System Tools Adds the file config.bin"="7/19/2017 9:34 AM, 17 bytes, A Registry details [View: All details] (Selection) ------------------------------------------------ [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{FFB1E223-2052-49F4-B500-2F9A2DDBA756}}_is1] "DisplayName"="REG_SZ", "System Tools 9.0.0 version 9.0.0" "DisplayVersion"="REG_SZ", "9.0.0" "EstimatedSize"="REG_DWORD", 1145 "HelpLink"="REG_SZ", "http://systemtools.com/" "Inno Setup: App Path"="REG_SZ", "C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0" "Inno Setup: Icon Group"="REG_SZ", "System Tools 9.0.0" "Inno Setup: Language"="REG_SZ", "english" "Inno Setup: Setup Version"="REG_SZ", "5.5.9 (a)" "Inno Setup: User"="REG_SZ", "{username}" "InstallDate"="REG_SZ", "20170719" "InstallLocation"="REG_SZ", "C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\" "MajorVersion"="REG_DWORD", 9 "MinorVersion"="REG_DWORD", 0 "NoModify"="REG_DWORD", 1 "NoRepair"="REG_DWORD", 1 "Publisher"="REG_SZ", "SystemTools, Inc." "QuietUninstallString"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\unins000.exe" /SILENT" "UninstallString"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\unins000.exe"" "URLInfoAbout"="REG_SZ", "http://systemtools.com/" "URLUpdateInfo"="REG_SZ", "http://systemtools.com/" "VersionMajor"="REG_DWORD", 9 "VersionMinor"="REG_DWORD", 0 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "SystemTools"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\SystemTools.exe""Malwarebytes log:
Malwarebytes www.malwarebytes.com -Log Details- Scan Date: 7/19/17 Scan Time: 1:20 PM Log File: mbamSystemTools9.txt Administrator: Yes -Software Information- Version: 3.1.2.1733 Components Version: 1.0.160 Update Package Version: 1.0.2398 License: Premium -System Information- OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 CPU: x64 File System: NTFS User: {computername}\{username} -Scan Summary- Scan Type: Threat Scan Result: Completed Objects Scanned: 338692 Threats Detected: 12 Threats Quarantined: 12 Time Elapsed: 1 min, 25 sec -Scan Options- Memory: Enabled Startup: Enabled Filesystem: Enabled Archives: Enabled Rootkits: Disabled Heuristics: Enabled PUP: Enabled PUM: Enabled -Scan Details- Process: 1 Trojan.Clicker, C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\SystemTools.exe, Quarantined, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Module: 1 Trojan.Clicker, C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\SystemTools.exe, Quarantined, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Registry Key: 1 Trojan.Clicker, HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\UNINSTALL\{FFB1E223-2052-49F4-B500-2F9A2DDBA756}}_is1, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Registry Value: 1 Trojan.Clicker, HKCU\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN|SystemTools, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Registry Data: 0 (No malicious items detected) Data Stream: 0 (No malicious items detected) Folder: 2 Trojan.Clicker, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\SYSTEM TOOLS 9.0.0, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Trojan.Clicker, C:\PROGRAMDATA\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS\SYSTEM TOOLS 9.0.0, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417828],1.0.2398 File: 6 Trojan.Clicker, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\ROAMING\SYSTEM TOOLS\CONFIG.BIN, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417829],1.0.2398 Trojan.Clicker, C:\USERS\{username}\DESKTOP\SYSTEMTOOLS.EXE, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417832],1.0.2398 Trojan.Clicker, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\SYSTEM TOOLS 9.0.0\UNINS000.DAT, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Trojan.Clicker, C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\SystemTools.exe, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Trojan.Clicker, C:\Program Files (x86)\System Tools 9.0.0\unins000.exe, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417827],1.0.2398 Trojan.Clicker, C:\PROGRAMDATA\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS\SYSTEM TOOLS 9.0.0\SYSTEM TOOLS 9.0.0.LNK, Delete-on-Reboot, [26], [417828],1.0.2398 Physical Sector: 0 (No malicious items detected) (end)As mentioned before the full version of Malwarebytes could have protected your computer against this threat.
We use different ways of protecting your computer(s):
- Dynamically Blocks Malware Sites & Servers
- Malware Execution Prevention