The new version of the c’t security tool Desinfec’t 2022 is here. The system starts directly from a USB stick and detects malware under Windows.
Windows – Attention users: The emergency package consisting of virus scanner, data rescue and remote help Desinfec’t 2022 has been released. Magazine buyers download it directly and install it on a USB stick in order to use it to examine Windows that may be infected with Trojans.
Desinfec’t 2022 appears with c’t 13/2022. The magazine will be available at newsstands from June 4, 2022. The print edition is available online postage free up to and including June 11th. The e-paper is available now, for heise+ subscribers the article is available under “Security: How to catch viruses and Trojans with Desinfec’t 2022”. ready. The booklet is also available on a USB stick, from which Disinfec’t also starts. Here the postage is omitted up to and including 19.6. Subscribers get the stick cheaper and permanently free of postage.
Start virus hunt
The c’t editorial team’s security tool comes with virus scanners from ClamAV, Eset and WithSecure. You use the scanners to examine a Windows installation and remove any Trojans found. Signature updates are included for a year so that no current threats slip through the scanners. The special feature of Desinfec’t is the live system approach. The Linux distribution Ubuntu 20.04 LTS serves as the basis for this. Equipped with this, the system starts directly from a USB stick.
This has the great advantage that you do not have to start a possibly infected Windows and can analyze it with Disinfec’t from a safe distance . After all, a Trojan cannot do any further damage in an inactive Windows. Scanning also works with Bitlocker or VeraCrypt encrypted hard drives. In addition, with Desinfec’t you bring data from a Windows system that no longer starts to safety.
Something for everyone
The user interface is deliberately kept simple and based on the Windows desktop, so that even inexperienced computer users users cope with it. If you are still stuck, call for help via the integrated TeamViewer and the family admin takes over control.
Professionals dig even deeper for malware with the Open Threat Scanner (OTS) and Thor Lite Scanner. Linux hobbyists install the additional virus scanner Windows Defender. An article in one of the following issues of c’t shows how this is done. With expert tools, professionals save data or clone entire hard drives. It is also possible to access the Windows registry from Desinfec’t.
