The WebHelper Virus is malicious software that can infect your Windows PC and cause all kinds of trouble. It’s commonly spread through email attachments and fake uTorrent client links. If you’re trying to download a torrent client, you need to be really careful!

I mean it! A close friend googled uTorrent and found a seemingly legitimate mirror link for the uTorrent client. He downloaded and installed it, but little did he know that it had the WebHelper virus attached to it under the name uTorrentIE.exe.

He thought he had downloaded a simple torrent client for downloading media, but then he realized that almost 50% of his CPU was being taken up by a new process called “WebHelper”.

It turned out that WebHelper was not “helping” him at all…

The virus then went on to monitor all of my friend’s activity, from his webcam and his keystrokes to his browsing details. He only realized he was hacked when he noticed that some suspicious transfers had been initiated from his PayPal account.

But luckily, removing the WebHelper virus is easy if you follow the right steps. That said, never try to uninstall the virus manually or move it to your recycling bin — you risk doing irreparable damage to your system.

The best way to remove the WebHelper virus is to download and install a comprehensive antivirus program. This will not only isolate and remove the WebHelper virus, but it will also destroy any other viruses that may have infected your system. You will then remain safe from further attacks through your antivirus’s real-time malware scanning engine.

Quick Tip: Norton 360 is excellent software for removing WebHelper and other viruses. It isn’t free, but you can buy Norton, remove WebHelper, and then ask for a full refund with the company’s 60-day money-back guarantee.

Get Started Now — How to Remove the WebHelper Virus

Preliminary Step: Checking for a WebHelper Infection

This step is for advanced users who want help in understanding malware diagnostics. If you simply want to remove the WebHelper infection, skip ahead to learn how.

WebHelper is not affiliated with Windows in any way — so if it’s on your computer, you should take steps to remove it. If you’re not sure if WebHelper is on your system, you can just download an antivirus software and run a disc scan — or follow these steps to check if WebHelper is on your system.

First, it’s important to know the WebHelper virus can also appear as “utorrentie.exe”.

Hit CTRL + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to bring up Windows Task Manager. If you see either “webhelper.exe” or “uTorrentie.exe” running as a background process, your system is infected, and you should follow these removal steps.

What’s scary about this virus is that if you simply delete or uninstall “uTorrontie.exe” or “webhelper.exe”, WebHelper.dll — hidden in your system files — will reinstall the virus when you restart your PC.

So, even though you’ll think you’re safe when you restart your system, you’ll find the virus can still:

• Display ads or play sounds on your computer.
• Record your keystrokes.
• Take control of other programs.
• Steal banking details.
• Steal passwords.

Because WebHelper records keystrokes, it’s recommended you change your passwords  after the virus has been removed from your PC.

No matter how you identify the virus on your system, you should follow these removal steps to protect yourself from both WebHelper and future threats.

Step 1. Identify the WebHelper Virus With Your Antivirus (And Don’t Make the Problem Worse!)

IMPORTANT: Do not connect your cell phone, tablet, or USB drive to an infected computer. In doing so, you risk the virus replicating itself onto those devices.

Once you’ve downloaded a secure antivirus program, run a full disk scan on your computer. Even if you think you know where the infection started or you know where the suspicious .exe file is located, a full disk scan is best.

A full disk scan will detect, quarantine, and remove every copy of the WebHelper virus, as well as ensure that your device isn’t infected with any other malware, including spyware, rootkits, or worms that can often run undetected.

Remember: Run the full system scan until it’s finished. DO NOT cancel the scan when you see the virus appear on the infected file list. There’s no way of knowing how many other copies of it exist in your system.

The full scan can take anywhere from 1–4 hours, so sit tight because your antivirus needs to analyze every single file and process on your computer.

When your antivirus has alerted you that the scan is complete, every instance of malware on your system will be identified and quarantined — including the WebHelper virus.

You can now proceed to Step 2.

Step 2. Remove the WebHelper Virus Infection and Delete Any Other Infected Files

When your antivirus has identified and quarantined all of your compromised files, it will give you the option to delete them. Advanced users can go through the quarantined files and make sure there are no false positives before hitting the Delete button. But most users will just want to trust their antivirus software — if it’s been flagged as malware by a program like Norton, chances are you don’t want it on your device.

After you’ve removed all of the compromised files from your system, it’s a good idea to restart your computer.

After you restart your device, run a second full disk scan to ensure your antivirus has removed all traces of the WebHelper virus infection. This may not take as long during the second scan — many antiviruses, including Norton, remember which files they have already scanned and are able to analyze your disk much more rapidly after the first full disk scan.

As before, be sure to let your antivirus finish its second scan. Once the scan is finished, and you’ve reviewed and deleted all of the compromised files in your quarantine, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Your device is 100% malware-free! For now…

Even though you’ve finished removing the WebHelper virus, there are still thousands of malware files out there that can infect your devices, compromise your online accounts, and spread through your Wi-Fi network.

Step 3. Keep Your Device from Getting Re-Infected

Since the WebHelper virus has infected you once already, you’ve witnessed first-hand just how easy it is to get malware on your PC.

New malware is released every day, and there’s also the risk of online data harvesting, identity theft, and public Wi-Fi hackers.

In today’s online world, how can you keep your devices and data safe? There are several things you can do:

• Keep Your Software, OS, and Drivers Up-To-Date

When developers find vulnerabilities in their software that are being exploited by hackers, they patch those vulnerabilities and send the patches to users in the form of software updates.

Software updates can be annoying, but they are essential to keeping your computer safe from the latest malware threats.

However, with the amount of devices, apps, and programs that most users are running these days, it can be really hard to keep track of which programs need to be updated. One great tool comes from the antivirus provider Avira — it lets you scan your PC for out-of-date software and automatically update it.

It’s also incredibly important that you stay on the latest operating system and keep your drivers updated.

When an operating system ages, developers will stop supporting it. So any vulnerabilities won’t be fixed with updates. This means that older operating systems grow more and more vulnerable every day as hackers continue to develop tools to infiltrate them.

Most operating systems and programs have an auto-update option. Wherever possible, select this option to make sure you’re keeping all of your devices and system drivers up-to-date.

• Don’t Download Suspicious Files

Whether it’s from an email or a suspicious website, don’t download files unless you’re 100% sure you recognize where they’re coming from. The vast majority of malware is delivered with seemingly legitimate free software or it’s attached to deceptive emails — if you don’t put malware on your computer, it’s very hard to get infected.

Your antivirus can help with this by scanning emails and tagging suspicious files, plus scanning all downloads before they can make changes on your computer. However, it’s still best to exercise common sense and avoid files from unknown sources.

• Secure Your Wireless Network

Make sure your wireless network is secure before you go online. You can do this by using a firewall, but you should also ensure your home Wi-Fi connection is password-protected, too.

You can see if a connection is password-protected by looking in your network list — the ones that aren’t password-protected have a warning sign next to them.

Unsecured networks are far more vulnerable since anyone can connect to them, but hackers can infiltrate a secured network, too.

Most people don’t think to set their Wi-Fi router’s password, and the default router password ends up being something like “password”. This is a very easy password to guess, and hackers guess these weak passwords and break into “password-protected” networks all the time.

To set a password for your home router, you will need to log into your router’s settings on a web browser and follow the instructions provided. When you purchased your router, you should have received instructions explaining how to do this. If not, try typing the router’s model number into Google.

Quick Tip: A safe password should be at least 15 characters long and use a random mix of letters, numbers, and special characters. You can use a password manager such as Dashlane to store all of your passwords, so you won’t have to worry about remembering your router’s password.

• Download a Secure Antivirus Program

There are a ton of antivirus packages on the market. However, there are only a few that are truly excellent, providing all of the security protections that you need to stay safe online. You can check out 2021’s best antivirus packages here.

I really like Norton 360 — it’s a premium antivirus suite with one of the best anti-malware engines in the world, along with a ton of useful security protections. Norton’s antivirus scanner uses artificial intelligence, advanced heuristics, and a massive malware database to keep malware off of your device.

Norton also includes:

• Anti-phishing protection — Flags suspicious websites and protects you from online scammers.
• Firewall — Blocks hackers from entering your network.
• Virtual private network (VPN) — Keeps your internet usage anonymous, preventing network attacks, web surveillance, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
• Parental controls — Protects children by using content filters, app and screen time schedules, YouTube monitoring, and even location tracking.
• System cleanup — Gets rid of junk files and increases system performance.
• Password manager — Stores, generates, and auto-fills passwords, so hackers can’t steal them.
• Identity theft protection (US only) — Monitors credit reports, the dark web, and breach databases for compromised accounts, and includes a $1 million insurance policy.

Frequently Asked Questions about the WebHelper Virus

🤔 What does WebHelper do?

WebHelper infects PCs through deceptive downloads, often in the form of scam emails or fake uTorrent clients.

Once WebHelper is embedded in your system files, it can:

• Monitor keystroke and mouse clicks.
• Take control of other programs.
• Display ads or play sounds on your computer.
• Steal bank details.
• Steal passwords.

If your PC is infected with WebHelper, follow the above removal steps and change your passwords when finished.

🤔 How do I uninstall WebHelper?

If you close WebHelper or try to remove it manually, it will boot back up again when you restart your PC.

To uninstall WebHelper safely, you need to use virus removal software such as Norton 360. I’ve written out a few easy steps about how to download and run Norton.

🤔 Why is the WebHelper virus dangerous?

The WebHelper virus is dangerous because it can open a backdoor into your PC, allowing hackers to:

• Steal valuable data.
• Modify data.
• Copy data through the use of keylogging.

Hackers often disguise trojans under names you’d deem to be safe, such as WebHelper. That’s why you can never be sure if you’re infected or not. If in doubt, or to remain protected, make sure to always have a high-quality antivirus such as Norton 360 running on your system.

Source: https://www.safetydetectives.com/blog/how-to-remove-webhelper-virus-easy-steps/