'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

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DavidDeb
Posts: 4
Joined: 17. Mar 2013, 11:56
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win10, Win7, Linux

'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

Post by DavidDeb »

Hallo all,
a similar query was raised on this forum in 2016 (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76960&p=358109&hili ... th#p358109) but my query is not about fooling programmers / software, rather more, superficial visual checks by 'Tech Support Scammers'.

I simply wish to indulge in a little 'Scam Baiting' and have seen YouTube contributions by a Jim Browning (worth a look-in imho). He has shown methods to 'stealthify' his VM-Ware guests, and while I have managed to hide referenced peripherals as displayed in 'devmgmt.msc' (VBOX CD-ROMs, Disks, Monitors etcetera, etcetera) I have had no luck in hiding the User Interface - a major 'Spoiler'.

While this is really only a time wasting 'hobby', I would appreciate any helpful 'hacks' to achieve this goal ... I do not really want to make the effort to install VM-Ware as well - that is going a bit too far ;-)

Brgds,

David D.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: 'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

Post by socratis »

Your attempt is a noble one...
If that is your attempt. Please send me a PM...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: 'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

Post by socratis »

David,

First of all thank you for your PM. I appreciate it...

There are some characteristics when running in a VM that cannot be masked. Unfortunately for what you're trying to attempt. There's even an entry in the VirtualBox's logs that makes a note of whether you're in a VM or not.

Long story short; can't do.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
jefazo92
Posts: 19
Joined: 3. Mar 2022, 16:00

Re: 'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

Post by jefazo92 »

DavidDeb wrote:Hallo all,
a similar query was raised on this forum in 2016 (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76960&p=358109&hili ... th#p358109) but my query is not about fooling programmers / software, rather more, superficial visual checks by 'Tech Support Scammers'.

I simply wish to indulge in a little 'Scam Baiting' and have seen YouTube contributions by a Jim Browning (worth a look-in imho). He has shown methods to 'stealthify' his VM-Ware guests, and while I have managed to hide referenced peripherals as displayed in 'devmgmt.msc' (VBOX CD-ROMs, Disks, Monitors etcetera, etcetera) I have had no luck in hiding the User Interface - a major 'Spoiler'.

While this is really only a time wasting 'hobby', I would appreciate any helpful 'hacks' to achieve this goal ... I do not really want to make the effort to install VM-Ware as well - that is going a bit too far ;-)

Brgds,

David D.
Hi David I just came across your post since I'm trying to build a stealthy Windows 7 VM. When you say that the User Interface can't be hidden, what do you mean exactly? Where can I find it?
scottgus1
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Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
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Re: 'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

Post by scottgus1 »

tbh, I'm not sure what David means by User Interface that needs to be hidden by a scam-baiter inside a VM, either. The only visible-on-the-desktop indication of being a Virtualbox Windows guest is the Guest Additions icon in the system tray. If one runs without installing Guest Additions, then one has no indication of being in a Virtualbox VM that I can remember. And with the 'USB Tablet' mouse that is offered to many VM types by default, Mouse Integration is no longer dependent on Guest Additions, so the convenience reason for installing Guest Additions is not required.

In fact, if Guest additions is not installed, the Virtualbox-specific driver names aren't installed either, so there may be less to mask in Device Management.

The only limitation that I can see for running without Guest Additions is the 4:3 low-power video that the VM would have. This might be a clue to the scammer, since many victims would be likely to have 16:9 screens. But the scam-baiting videos show the scammer pretty much getting right to it, so maybe they don't do as much to figure out if the victim's computer is a VM.
mpack
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Re: 'Stealth'Mode for VB Guests

Post by mpack »

scottgus1 wrote:And with the 'USB Tablet' mouse that is offered to many VM types by default, Mouse Integration is no longer dependent on Guest Additions, so the convenience reason for installing Guest Additions is not required.
Just a note that "USB tablet" mode doesn't seem to work correctly with scaled desktops (View|Virtual screen 1|Scale by 200%). Tested with a Win98SE VM.
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