If you have a computer configured perfectly and want to back it up to Google Drive:
If you don’t need disk imaging, delete ghost32.exe from Google Drive. For IT professionals:
files (spanned files). If you are downloading these from Google Drive, ensure all parts are in the same local directory before starting a restoration, or the process will fail. Syncing Issues ghost32.exe google drive
Since disk images can be massive (often tens of gigabytes), has become a popular repository for storing and sharing these files.
is a legitimate executable file from Symantec Ghost, a long-standing disk cloning and backup solution. However, when associated with Google Drive , a popular cloud storage and synchronization service, the dynamic changes entirely. This article will explore what ghost32.exe is, why it might appear in Google Drive, the risks of sharing or running this executable from the cloud, and best practices for handling such files. If you have a computer configured perfectly and
Alternatively, the attacker installs Google Drive’s desktop sync client and moves the .gho file into the synced folder, letting Google’s own software handle the exfiltration.
| Feature | Why It Bypasses Security | | :--- | :--- | | | ghost32.exe is signed by Symantec. Many EDRs trust it by default. | | Legitimate Network Traffic | Traffic to *.googleusercontent.com or *.googleapis.com blends in with normal corporate Google Workspace activity. | | Volume of Data | Disk images are huge (hundreds of GB). Traditional data loss prevention (DLP) often ignores large, sequential file writes because they appear like backups. | | Forensic Blind Spot | Since ghost32.exe reads raw volumes ( \\.\PhysicalDrive0 ), it bypasses file-system monitoring tools that only watch user-mode file copies. | Syncing Issues Since disk images can be massive
Never run ghost32.exe directly from a Google Drive folder. Always verify digital signatures, scan with multiple engines, and prefer using dedicated backup software that officially supports Google Drive for storing encrypted disk images, not executables.
Below is a practical workflow for creating a disk image and storing it in the cloud, or retrieving it for deployment.