The Revenge Trojan is a dangerous weapon used against computer users worldwide. It infects mainly via infected software installers. Our article gives an overview of its behavior according to the collected samples and available reports, also it may be helpful in attempting to remove the virus.
Threat Summary
| Name | Revenge Trojan |
| Type | Trojan |
| Short Description | The Revenge Trojan is a computer virus that is designed to silently infiltrate computer systems. |
| Symptoms | The victims may not experience any apparent symptoms of infection. |
| Distribution Method | Software Vulnerabilities, Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages, Scripts and others. |
| Detection Tool |
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Malware Removal Tool
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| User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Revenge Trojan. |
Revenge Trojan – Distribution Methods
The Revenge Trojan has been spotted in a recent attack campaign. An unknown hacker collective is behind the ongoing attacks, at the moment there is no information about their identity. The captured samples were identified as malware through one of the most common intrusion mechanisms — infected documents. The virus installation code is made part of macros that are embedded in the payload documents, they can be of any one of the popular types: text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases. Once they are opened by the victim users a prompt will appear asking the victims to enable the content. The window will usually state that this is required in order to view correctly the files.
What’s more dangerous is that other similar tactics can be employed as well. One of the common cases is when the hackers embed the virus installation instructions in software setup files. They target applications that are popularly downloaded by end users such as system utilities, creativity suites, productivity and office apps and etc.
Both the virus files themselves and these two payload types are usually spread through methods that can infect thousands of users at once. There are several methods such as the following:
- Email SPAM Messages — The hackers can craft phishing emails that appear notifications as being sent by legitimate services. This is done by using their own design layout and text body contents. The fake email phishing messages will link the files in text links or interactive contents. Alternatively they can be directly attached to the messages.
- Malicious Web Sites — A related strategy is to create web pages that imitate legitimate services, download portals, landing pages and etc. They are hosted on similar sounding domain names and in some cases utilizing stolen or hacker-generated security certificates.
- File-Sharing Sites — Both the standalone files and infected payloads are widely available on networks like BitTorrent where both legitimate and pirate content is freely shared across Internet users.
- Browser Hijackers — Dangerous web browser plugins can be be made by the criminals that are made compatible with the most popular web browsers and uploaded to the relevant repositories. They are accompanied by fake user reviews and stolen or hacker-made developer credentials in order to confuse the victims into thinking that the extension is safe. Their descriptions will promise the addition of new features or performance optimizations.
Other tactics can additionally be used in forthcoming attacks and upcoming versions of the Revenge Trojan.
Revenge Trojan – Detailed Description
The Revenge Trojan appears to be an original creation which doesn’t use any code snippets from previous threats. At the time of writing this article there is information about the identity of the group behind the ongoing attacks. We presume that the threat is modular in nature and that various modules can be added to it.
The captured Revenge Trojan instance appears to launch a main engine which connects to a hacker-controlled server and allows the criminal operators to spy on the victims. Through this secure connection they have the ability to take over control of the affected machines, steal their data and carry out all sorts of malicious actions.
A PowerShell-based script is launched which allows all sorts of components to be added. Trojans such as this one usually all include a certain set of common behavior patterns. A list of them is the following:
- Information Retrieval — The engine can be programmed to extract sensitive information that can be used to generate an unique ID that is specfiic to each individual computer. This is done by an algorithm that takes its input parameters from data sets such as the parts list of the installed hardware components, user settings, regional preferences and other related metrics. The other dangerous mechanic used by Trojans is the exposure of personal information which is done by programming the strings to look for strings that contain directly reveal the victims. Common ones include their name, address, phone number, interests and any stored account credentials. If the Trojan interacts with the Windows Volume Manager it can also search the removable storage devices and available network shares. The obtained data sets can be used for various crimes including identity theft, blackmail and financial abuse.
- Boot Options Modification — A popular mechanism that is made part of most Trojans, possibly including future Revenge Trojan variants, is the ability to modify the boot options and configuration files that will set it to automatically start once the computer is powered on. This can also disable most manual user recovery guides as they depend on access to recovery boot menus.
- Windows Registry Changes — The Trojan module is capable of accessing the Registry records not only to create strings for itself but also to modify existing ones. If values that are used by the operating system are affected then the victim users will be unable to access certain services and may experience serious performance issues. Changes to strings used by third-party applications can lead to unexpected errors.
- Removal of Sensitive Data — The engine can be programmed to locate and delete sensitive files that can seriously disrupt the usual recovery procedure. This is done by targeting System Restore Points, Backups, Shadow Volume Copies and etc. In this case the victims will need to se a combination of a professional-grade anti-spyware utility and data recovery program.
- Additional Payloads Delivery — The Revenge Trojan can be instructed to insert other malicious threats on the compromised machines.
Future Revenge Trojan campaigns can be instructed to carry out other actions as configured by the hackers.
Remove Revenge Trojan
If your computer system got infected with the Revenge 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.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by Revenge Trojan and other threats.
Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of Revenge Trojan.
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
To remove Revenge Trojan follow these steps:
Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode
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.For Windows XP, Vista and 7 systems:
1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:
– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.
– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.
3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.
4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account
While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.
Step 1: Open up the Start Menu.
Step 2: Click on the Power button (for Windows 8 it is the little arrow next to the “Shut Down” button) and whilst holding down “Shift” click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, a blue menu with options will appear. From them you should choose Troubleshoot.
Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu choose Advanced Options.
Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.
Step 6: From the Startup Settings menu, click on Restart.
Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You can choose any of the three Safe Mode options by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.
Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.
Find files created by Revenge Trojan
1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.For Newer Windows Operating Systems
Step 1:
On your keyboard press + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.
Step 2:
Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.
Step 3:
Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:
N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.
For Older Windows Operating Systems
In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:
Step 1:
Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.
Step 2:
After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.
Step 3:
After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.
Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
Scan your PC and Remove Revenge Trojan with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Revenge Trojan and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Revenge Trojan.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.
Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.
Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.
Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.
Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future
IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup .
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.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove Revenge Trojan from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of Revenge Trojan on Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove Revenge Trojan in Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase Revenge Trojan from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall Revenge Trojan from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove Revenge Trojan from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate Revenge Trojan from Internet Explorer.
- Guide 8: Disable Revenge Trojan Push Notifications in Your Browsers.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
How to Remove Revenge Trojan from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Revenge Trojan
Step 2: Uninstall Revenge Trojan and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Revenge Trojan on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Revenge Trojan there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", 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.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Get rid of Revenge Trojan from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Revenge Trojan and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove Revenge Trojan via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove Revenge Trojan files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Revenge Trojan, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Remove Revenge Trojan from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Erase Revenge Trojan from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Uninstall Revenge Trojan from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Remove Revenge Trojan from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the Revenge Trojan will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Eliminate Revenge Trojan from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
Remove Push Notifications caused by Revenge Trojan from Your Browsers.
Turn Off Push Notifications from Google Chrome
To disable any Push Notices from Google Chrome browser, please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to Settings in Chrome.
Step 2: In Settings, select “Advanced Settings”:
Step 3: Click “Content Settings”:
Step 4: Open “Notifications”:
Step 5: Click the three dots and choose Block, Edit or Remove options:
Remove Push Notifications on Firefox
Step 1: Go to Firefox Options.
Step 2: Go to “Settings”, type “notifications” in the search bar and click "Settings":
Step 3: Click “Remove” on any site you wish notifications gone and click “Save Changes”
Stop Push Notifications on Opera
Step 1: In Opera, press ALT+P to go to Settings
Step 2: In Setting search, type “Content” to go to Content Settings.
Step 3: Open Notifications:
Step 4: Do the same as you did with Google Chrome (explained below):
Eliminate Push Notifications on Safari
Step 1: Open Safari Preferences.
Step 2: Choose the domain from where you like push pop-ups gone and change to "Deny" from "Allow".
