How to remove Terdot virus

Terdot trojan steals social media credentials

Terdot is a banking trojan that emerged in the middle of 2016. The virus is a variant of Zeus trojan which source code was published online in 2011. However, in November 2017, researchers reported about an updated version of the trojan spreading via phishing emails.^[1] Since then this malicious program steals social media and email credentials instead of banking data.

Terdot virus is designed as customized man-in-the-middle (MITM) proxy^[2] that is capable of stealing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus data. Malware might post links to trojan download site on behalf of compromised accounts. Additionally, malware might attack few email services, such as Yahoo, Gmail, and Microsoft live.com login page.

However, the interesting fact is that Terdot trojan does not attack Russia’s biggest social media platform – VKontakte. Thus, it raises assumptions that developers might be from this country or Eastern Europe.

This complex cyber threat includes automatic update feature that gives attackers a change to execute new commands or download malicious files. Thus, it might be updated anytime. For this reason, it is recommended to remove Terdot as soon as you learn about the attack. Security experts warn that it might hard to delete the infection, but reputable security software, such as FortectIntego, should help to get rid of it.

Terdot virus is created to read browser traffic

To steal information from social networks, the trojan has to modify browser’s settings and inject specific code. Terdot malware redirects all traffic and connections to its proxy server. It means that it monitors user’s activities online by standing in the middle.

This activity might help trojan to modify data provided on the websites that user access and track sensitive information. All the collected data is uploaded to the Command and Control server. Moreover, it is reported that malware mostly affects Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers.

The biggest threat of the malware is that it can generate its certificates for each visited websites. It means that it can easily bypass TLS restrictions and create its own Certificate Authority. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if your bank HTTPS protocol, Terdot can still see your login details and password.

The trojan might make numerous changes to the system and install harmful components. Thus, it’s better to avoid this cyber threat. However, in case you suffered from the attack, you should remove Terdot, inform your bank about this situation to block suspicious activities on your account and change your social networks or email passwords.

Phishing emails with obfuscated PDF file spread data-stealing malware

Malware spreads via malicious emails. Researchers detected that Sundown Exploit Kit has been used for distributing emails with PDF file or icon. This component contains JavaScript code that activates trojan’s download process.

If a user clicks on a fake PDF file, he or she initiates a downloading process of the malicious payload. Due to virus complexity execution and installation of malicious components process is protected.

Email campaigns target customers of financial organizations and banks in Canada, the US, Australia, the UK,^[3] and Germany. Among targeted institutions are PCFinancial, BMO, Desjardins, Royal Bank, Banque Nationale, Scotiabank, the Toronto Dominion Bank, CIBC and Tangerine Bank.

Targeted banks’ customers are advised to stay vigilant and do not rush opening emails that seem to be sent from the institution. Always double-check the information about the sender, look up for mistakes or missing credentials that would identify phishing email.

Terdot elimination instructions

The data-stealing trojan might be hard to get rid of. As you already know it might inject malicious codes into system processes that makes Terdot removal complicated. For this reason, we want to discourage you from manual elimination option.

It’s nearly impossible to delete trojan-related components manually. Thus, you should obtain a reputable malware-removal program (e.g. FortectIntego, SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes)  and run a full system scan several times. If you cannot remove Terdot using security software because malware prevents from installing, updating or running it, please check the guide below.