‘You Shall Not Pass’ Virus
Posted: May 20, 2013
Threat Metric
The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:
Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.
Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.
Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.
Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.
% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.
| Ranking: | 12,265 |
|---|---|
| Threat Level: | 1/10 |
| Infected PCs: | 1,445 |
| First Seen: | May 20, 2013 |
|---|---|
| Last Seen: | February 21, 2025 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus is a browser hijacker that, similar to the notorious DNS Changer, makes changes to your operating system's Hosts file for the purpose of blocking your ability to browse the web, after which the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus may redirect you to malicious websites. The 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus acquires its name from the website that the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus currently redirects its victims towards, which contains a simplified depiction of a famous Lord of the Rings scene wherein a major character insisted that 'You shall not pass!' Deleting the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus and then removing the changes to your Hosts file with appropriate software should easily re-enable your normal browser behavior, but SpywareRemove.com malware researchers warn that the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus often is installed with high-level PC threats, such as some variants of backdoor Trojans, that should be treated as far more dangerous than the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus's browser-hijacking cinematic references.
The 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus: More Black Wizard Than White
The majority of browser hijackers redirect PC users to sites that are intended to phish for information worth stealing, frighten them with fake legal warnings or, in the least dangerous of cases, just expose them to advertisements. The 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus is somewhat more whimsical and less obviously profitable, in that the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus just blocks your ability to use other sites entirely by redirecting your browser towards a site with no content other than a depiction of Tolkien's Gandalf the Grey character. With a pop culture reference cheekily informing any victims that they can't surf the Internet, the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus's work is done.
SpywareRemove.com malware researchers observed that the methods through which the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus achieves these attacks allow them to function in all types of browsers. They also will contain to occur regardless of any browser-specific settings changes, until the underlying DNS changes are resolved. Since improper changes to files attacked by the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus can cause additional web-browsing issues, it's usually discouraged for any non-expert in PC security to attempt to find and delete the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus's Hosts file changes.
Why the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus is Worse Than a Parlor Trick
Like any stage magician, the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus is heavy on flash and low on substance, and can't be considered a high-level PC threat that can endanger your computer significantly. Any competent anti-malware utility should be able to delete the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus (which does not, unlike a real virus, distribute itself through file infections) and remove the DNS changes that hijack your browse.
This good news also comes with a significant 'but' to it: the fact that the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus often is installed with other Trojans. SpywareRemove.com malware experts were particularly alarmed to find at least one case of the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus being distributed along with Win32/Fynloski.AA, a backdoor Trojan that enables criminals to take over your PC through a set of newly-gouged network vulnerabilities.
Current infection vectors for the 'You Shall Not Pass' Virus are heavy on bundles with unauthorized and illegal programs, particularly those distributed on untrustworthy sites and through torrent networks.
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