The tRat Trojan is a dangerous weapon used against both end users and companies mainly via email phishing messages. It is believed that the criminals behind it are highly experienced. 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 | tRat Trojan |
Type | Trojan |
Short Description | The tRat 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 | Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages, Scripts and others. |
Detection Tool |
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss tRat Trojan. |
tRat Trojan – Distribution Methods
The tRat Trojan is believed to be created by the same criminal group known as TA505. It is well-known to security researchers as these hackers were responsible for a lot of targeted campaigns carrying Dridex and Locky samples in 2014, 2016 and 2017. The main method of distribution by them is the use of email SPAM campaigns utilizing several of the popular phishing tactics. It appears that after the Dridex and Locky attacks the group has shifted their tactics into using other malware, including Trojans.
The tRat samples captured in the current and ongoing attacks appear to be newly-created threats, possibly by the the collective itself.
The first wave of detected malware was detected in the end of September 2018 where the an unknown group (possibly not TA505) distributed infected office documents. Several phishing scam tactics are used to fool the recipients into thinking that they have a received a legitimate notification from a well-known source, usually a company or service that they recognize. Some of the tactics are the following:
- Norton Document — Upon opening this email message the users will be shown the “Norton by Symantec” logo and the following text: This document has been secured by Norton Security Premium. To view this Protected Document, click “Enable Content” button.
- Trip Advisor Video Message — This type of phishing scams relies on the sending of rich text documents that appear to be sent by the popular Trip Advisor portal. Upon opening them a loading screen that fools the users into thinking that an embedded video was unable to be opened. A text in a green color underneath it reads the following: To load video click Enable Editing and Enable Content button.
- Invoices — A separate phishing campaign in October, this time operated by the TA505 hackers, was detected. It uses both Microsoft Word rich text documents and Microsoft Publisher to create false invoices. The targets are primarily businesses or large corporations. To further make the messages look believable enough they are personalized as being sent by real people.
We anticipate that future releases and campaigns of the tRat Trojan can use other strategies as well. Popular methods include the deployment of malicious application installers which are hacker-modified versions of legitimate and popular software: productivity apps, system utilities and creativity suites. The installers are taken from the official vendor download sites and modified with the the necessary code.
Advanced distribution campaigns may be coordinated through browser hijackers which are hacker-created extensions made for the most browsers. They are uploaded to the relevant repositories, often utilizing fake user reviews and developer credentials. Whenever they are installed in most cases modifications to the settings will be done — home page, new tabs page and search engine in order to redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled page. Following this the malicious payload will be inserted.
tRat Trojan – Detailed Description
One of the first actions done by the tRat Trojan is to install itself as a persistent threat. The mechanism used by the captured samples is to copy the main engine file to a folder of a widely used software or the operating system itself. By doing so the the Trojan files will be masked as belonging to the relevant app or service. An additional measure is the creation of a a startup value which executes the Trojan every time the computer starts.
An additional measure is the encryption of the virus code which makes it harder to detect using ordinary application scans.
The main goal of the tRat Trojan is to create a stable a secure and persistent connection to a hacker-controlled server. This allows the hacker operators to spy on the victims, steal their data and deploy other payloads.
One of the actions done by the criminals is to acquire data from the systems. There are two groups of information that are outlined:
- Private Data — The engine will search for strings that can directly expose the identity of the victims. This is done by looking for strings such as their name, location, interests and any stored account credentials (username, email and password combinations). It can search for strings found both on the hard drive, operating system and the contents of third-party applications.
- Campaign Metrics — It can generates a report of the installed hardware components. regional and user settings and operating system environment values.
It appears that the hacker criminals make use of tRat’s modular framework. It allows them to interactively include other threats to the system. Examples include other the installation of other threats: ransomware, miners and etc.
Remove tRat Trojan Trojan
If your computer system got infected with the tRat Trojan 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 tRat 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 tRat 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 tRat Trojan follow these steps:
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
- Guide 1: How to Remove tRat Trojan from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of tRat Trojan on Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove tRat Trojan in Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase tRat Trojan from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall tRat Trojan from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove tRat Trojan from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate tRat Trojan from Internet Explorer.
- Guide 8: Disable tRat 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 tRat Trojan from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove tRat Trojan





Step 2: Uninstall tRat 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:



Step 3: Clean any registries, created by tRat 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 tRat Trojan there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:



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 tRat Trojan from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall tRat 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 tRat 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 tRat Trojan files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as tRat 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 tRat 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 tRat 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 tRat 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 tRat 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 tRat Trojan will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Eliminate tRat 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 tRat 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".