Dark Tequila Trojan is considered a dangerous virus, detailed information about its operations and removal instructions can be found in our article. It is being used against major services over the years in various attack campaigns. Its modular structures allows all sorts of customizations to take place.
Threat Summary
| Name | Dark Tequila Trojan |
| Type | Trojan |
| Short Description | Dark Tequila Trojan is an advanced and modular virus that has the ability to cause major damage to the infected host. |
| Symptoms | The victims may not experience any apparent symptoms of infection. |
| Distribution Method | Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages, Scripts and others. |
| Detection Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Dark Tequila Trojan Download Malware Removal Tool |
| User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Dark Tequila Trojan. |
Dark Tequila Trojan – Distribution Methods
The Dark Tequila Trojan can be distributed using various tactics, being used in both large-scale and smaller attack campaigns. A recent incident that bears samples of this threat was discovered in an attack on Mexico in August 2018. Despite this numerous versions of it have been known t obe active for at least five years.
Several distribution tactics can be used to cause infections using different methods. One of the primary ones is the coordination of SPAM email messages that make use of social engineering elements. The premises behind this strategy is to send out messages that are designed as typical notifications being sent by services and sites that the targets may use. The phishing messages can directly attach the virus files or link them in the body contents.
The Dark Tequila Trojan can alternatively be spread on file sharing networks such as BitTorrent. They are a preferred solution for spreading pirate and illegal files — virus-infected copies and the executable variants of it can be freely spread using them.
The criminals behind the Trojan may also create hacker-controlled sites — they are counterfeit copies of vendor sites and popular Internet portals. Various scripts can be used in order to redirect the targets to the virus files. Examples include ads, banners, pop-ups, in-line links and etc.
In certain cases the hackers can also make use of infected payload carriers. There are two main popular types:
- Application Installers — The Dark Tequila Trojan installation code can be embedded in software installers for many of the popular end-user software. The criminals often target productivity applications, system utilities and creativity suites by taking the legitimate setup files and modifying them with the malicious code. They are then distributed via email messages, fake vendor sites and the other aforementioned distribution tactics.
- Malware Documents — The criminals can embed infection scripts in documents of various types: presentations, databases, spreadsheets and text files. Whenever they are opened a notification prompt will appear asking the users to enable the built-in scripts. When this is done the infection will begin.
In some cases browser hijackers can be used to infect the target users. They are called this way because in essence they are browser plugins (made compatible with all modern browsers) that seek to redirect the targets to a specific hacker-operated site. The individual samples are uploaded to the relevant plugin repositories with fake user reviews and developer credentials. Following the redirect action the Trojan virus infection will take place.
Dark Tequila Trojan – Detailed Description
The Dark Tequila Trojan is a fully-functional virus that includes a modular engine. Throughout the years different groups have been found to use it as a main payload. Custom versions can also be created if necessary. Most of the acquired samples feature the following components that are run in the prescribed order:
- Keylogger — It is able to harvest and manipulate entered keystrokes. This allows the criminals to automatically acquire and control what the user inputs at login prompts, Internet services and ordinary operating system interaction. Upgraded versions of this module can also apprehend mouse movement.
- Stealth Protection — The Dark Tequila Trojan may scan the infected hosts for any running services or applications that can interfere with its correct execution. The usual method is to employ a signature-based scan to uncover anti-virus programs, sandbox environments or virtual machine hosts. When these instances are found their real-time engines can be bypassed or entirely removed. In some cases the Trojan engine will hook up to these processes and simulate real-world or user interaction to avoid detection by network and system administrators.
- Application Data Harvesting — The Dark Tequila Trojan can extract credentials, values and stored information from user-installed programs and the operating system as a whole. The Trojan may target FTP clients, web browsers and other commonly used Internet programs that usually store user accounts.
- Private User Data — The associated data harvesting plugin can also be programmed into looking our for strings that can expose the victim users identity. This is done by looking out for strings such as their name, address, phone number, interests, location and passwords. The collected data can be used to perform financial abuse and identity theft crimes.
- Server Connection — The Dark Tequila Trojan can set up a secure connection to a specific hacker-controlled server which can be used by the operators to spy on the users. Other malicious actions include the ability to hijack files, overtake control of the infected machines (at all times) and deployment of additional viruses.
Some of the interesting characteristics of the Dark Tequila Trojan is the fact that the acquired samples include a “self-monitoring service” which creates constant checks on the system and makes sure that all modules are running in the prescribed order.
Most of the threats that identify as samples belonging to this Trojan family include an aggressive infection algorithm. Whenever a removable storage device is inserted to the infected machine the virus will copy itself to it automatically. When the device is introduced to another computer the Trojan infection will commence. Upgraded versions of it can trigger a network distribution — the virus engine will probe the local area network and identify other available computers. By using penetration testing scripts it will attempt to find vulnerabilities which can be exploited in order to deliver the infection onto them.
Customized versions of the Trojan have been found to attack the following sectors: online banking portals, flight reservation systems, social media services, cloud storage facilities and domain registrars. The Trojan will take on the name of legitimate processes. They can also hook-up both to the system service and user-installed applications. This allows them not only to monitor the user interaction, but also insert custom-made commands. Other names under which the threat is known include the following:
Artemis!5B0378462058
TSPY_DARKTEQUILA.A
Trojan ( 0004a2ea1 )
Trojan.Agent.DarkTequila
Trojan.Kryptik!dctjePIUFEo
Trojan.Kryptik!x7t89GcJVs8
Trojan.Win32.Dwn.dyfxok
Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra
Trojan/Win32.HDC.C138160
a variant of Win32/Kryptik.EBTT
Remove Dark Tequila Trojan
If your computer system got infected with the Dark Tequila Trojan, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of this Trojan as quickly as possible before it can have the chance to spread further and infect other computers. You should remove the Trojan and follow the step-by-step instructions guide provided below.
To remove Dark Tequila Trojan follow these steps:
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7.
2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
Before starting the Automatic Removal below, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Dark Tequila Trojan and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
Martin Beltov
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
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