HijackThis (also HiJackThis or HJT) is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a Software license, license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term ...

tool to detect malware and adware on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It was originally created by Merijn Bellekom, and later sold to

Trend Micro is an American-Japanese cyber security software company. The company has globally dispersed R&D in 16 locations across every continent excluding Antarctica. The company develops enterprise security software for servers, containers, and cloud ...

. The program is notable for quickly scanning a user's computer to display the most common locations of malware, rather than relying on a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

of known spyware. HijackThis is used primarily for diagnosis of malware, not to remove or detect spyware—as uninformed use of its removal facilities can cause significant software damage to a computer. Browser hijacking can cause malware to be installed on a computer. On February 16, 2012, Trend Micro released the HijackThis source code as open source and it is now available on the

SourceForge SourceForge is a web service founded by Geoffrey B. Jeffery, Tim Perdue, and Drew Streib in November 1999. SourceForge provides a centralized software discovery platform, including an online platform for managing and hosting open-source soft ...

site.

Use

HijackThis can generate a

plain-text In computing, plain text is a loose term for data (e.g. file contents) that represent only characters of readable material but not its graphical representation nor other objects (floating-point numbers, images, etc.). It may also include a limi ...

logfile detailing all entries it finds, and some entries can be fixed by HijackThis. Inexperienced users are advised to exercise caution or seek help when using the latter option. Except for a small whitelist of known safe entries, HijackThis does not discriminate between legitimate and unwanted items. HijackThis attempts to create backups of the files and registry entries that it fixes, which can be used to restore the system in the event of a mistake. A common use is to post the logfile to a

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

where more experienced users can help decipher which entries need to be removed. Automated tools also exist that analyze saved logs and attempt to provide recommendations to the user, or to clean entries automatically.
Use of such tools, however, is generally discouraged by those who specialize in manually dealing with HijackThis logs: they consider the tools dangerous for inexperienced users, and neither accurate nor reliable enough to substitute for consulting with a trained human analyst. Later versions of HijackThis include such additional tools as a

task manager In operating systems, a task manager is a system monitor program used to provide information about the processes and applications running on a computer, as well as the general status of the computer. Some implementations can also be used t ...

, a hosts-file editor, and an alternate-data-stream scanner. HijackThis reached end-of-life in 2013 and is no longer developed. However, the team has recommended an unofficial replacement called HijackThis+ (originally called HijackThis Fork) that is being developed by Stanislav Polshyn.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://sourceforge.net/projects/hjt/ Spyware removal Portable software Free security software Windows-only free software Formerly proprietary software Discontinued software