How to remove the DanaBot trojan malware from your operating system

What is DanaBot?

DanaBot is a high-risk trojan-type virus designed to infiltrate the system and gather various sensitive information. Research shows that developers proliferate DanaBot using spam email campaigns.

Users receive random emails with deceptive messages that encourage them to open attached MS Office documents. Once opened, these attachments stealthily download and install DanaBot.

DanaBot malware overview

DanaBot has several noteworthy features, however, its main purpose is to gather logins of known accounts. This trojan hijacks browsers and modifies banks' websites so that entered logins/passwords are sent to a remote server. In addition, DanaBot takes a screenshot of the victim's desktop, gathers a full list of existing files, and detailed system information.

Collected data is encrypted using AES cryptography and sent to a remote server. In fact, all communication with the remote servers (received commands, data sending, etc.) is encrypted. Be aware that cyber criminals aim to generate as much revenue as possible.

Therefore, they can exploit received data (through online purchases, money transferring, etc.) The presence of DanaBot trojan can thus lead to serious privacy issues and significant financial loss.

If you have recently opened any suspicious email attachments and believe that your system might be infected, we strongly advise you to scan it with a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite and eliminate all detected threats.

Similar malware examples

There are many trojan-type viruses that share similarities with DanaBot. For example, FormBook, Pony, TrickBot, Occamy, Emotet, LokiBot, etc. 

Most trojans are distributed using spam email campaigns. In addition, their behavior is also often identical - they record sensitive data to help developers generate revenue. In some cases, however, trojans also proliferate other malware (typically, ransomware). Therefore, these viruses pose a threat to your privacy and browsing safety.

How did DanaBot infiltrate my computer?

As mentioned above, cyber criminals proliferate DanaBot using spam email campaigns. They send thousands of deceptive emails that encourage users to open attached MS Office documents. After opening these attachments, users are immediately asked to enable macro commands. Once macros are enabled, attachments execute commands that stealthily infiltrate malware.

Be aware, however, that this distribution method has a significant flaw. The attachments are unable to run commands if the user is not using the MS Office suite. For example, if the .doc file is opened using an application other than MS Word, the malware will not be downloaded/installed.

Furthermore, DanaBot targets the Microsoft Windows Operating System only. Therefore, users of other platforms are safe.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Lack of knowledge and careless behavior are the main reasons for computer infections. The key to safety is caution. Therefore, pay close attention when browsing the Internet. Think twice before opening email attachments. Irrelevant files and those received from suspicious email addresses should never be opened.

In addition, more recent versions (2010 and above) of MS Office are developed to open newly-downloaded documents in "Protected View" mode, which prevents malicious attachments from downloading and installing malware. Therefore, have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and running.

If you believe that your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the email message proliferating DanaBot trojan:

Dear Client
Please find attached your E-Toll account statement.
Alternatively, you can visit our site to view your statement and access a wide range of services including:
View and update you account details
View your tag usage
Order additional tags and brackets
Report a tag as lost or stolen
Thank you for choosing E-Toll
Regards
The E-Toll Team
Roads and Maritime Services

Malicious attachment that downloads and installs DanaBot trojan:

Update December 11, 2018 - DanaBot's developers have recently updated this trojan and added some new features. The updated version is now capable of harvesting victim's email addresses and contacts. It is also designed to send spam as replies to all letters in the inbox.

The malware does so by injecting JavaScript code into web-based email services. The list of targeted services includes those that are based on Open-Xchange, Horde and Roundcube email clients.

Update August 20, 2019 - On its initial release, DanaBot trojan was targeting mostly Australian banks/users.

However, developers are continually updating this malware and expanding the number of targeted regions, which now includes Europe and North America. Moreover, the DanaBot's recent variants are now communicating with server by using sending/receiving data encrypted with RSA and/or AES cryptographies, rather than using AES only.

Screenshot of a Polish spam email that distributes a malicious MS Excel document designed to inject DanaBot trojan into the system:

Screenshot of the malicious attachment (MS Excel document -  faktura_30.xlsm):

Another example of a malicious MS Word document used to spread DanaBot trojan:

Screenshot of DanaBot's promotion site in the Tor network (source: Zscaler):

Update January 28, 2025 – new proliferation method has been discovered in use to spread the DanaBot trojan. The technique is called "ClickFix"; it tricks victims into executing malicious commands on their systems by presenting the action as a solution to a specific issue. DanaBot was proliferated via such a scam that claimed it was CAPTCHA verification. More on ClickFix can be read in our dedicated article.

Screenshot of a ClickFix scam spreading the DanaBot trojan:

How to remove malware manually?

Most trojan infections can be removed by running a full system scan with Combo Cleaner. The full manual procedure below is for cases where automatic removal failed, where you want to verify a scan caught everything, or where the threat has multiple persistence points.

Tools you'll need

Combo Cleaner Antivirus 7-days free trial

Recommended primary scanner. VB100 certified. The 7-day free trial is available.

Microsoft Defender Offline Free · built-in

Built into Windows. Boots to a clean environment to catch rootkits.

Process Explorer Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Better than Task Manager - shows full paths and signatures.

Autoruns Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Lists every place malware can persist on your system.

Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT) Free

Official Microsoft on-demand scanner. Always-current signatures - expires every 10 days.

Phase 1~ 5 min

Contain - limit the damage

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1

Disconnect from the network

30 secNo tool needed

Unplug your Ethernet cable and turn off Wi-Fi. If you're on a laptop, the airplane-mode key works fastest.

Why this matters

Many trojans exfiltrate data - saved browser passwords, banking sessions, screenshots - and accept remote commands. Cutting the network stops both immediately. Keep it disconnected until Phase 4.

2

Boot into Safe Mode with Networking

3 min

Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and stops most malware from auto-running. "With Networking" lets you download tools - re-enable Wi-Fi only after you've booted in.

Windows 11

Open Settings → System → Recovery. Click Restart now next to Advanced startup.

Your computer will restart into the "Choose an option" menu. Click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. After the second reboot, press 5 or F5.

Windows 10

Click the Windows logo, hold Shift, click the Power icon and choose Restart. In the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. Press F5.

Windows 8

Go to the Start Screen, type Advanced, select Settings → Advanced startup options → Restart now → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup settings → Restart → F5.

Note: Windows 8 reached end-of-life in January 2023 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Windows 7

Click Start → Shut Down → Restart → OK. As the system boots, press F8 repeatedly until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, then choose Safe Mode with Networking.

Note: Windows 7 reached end-of-life in January 2020 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Phase 2~ 15 min

Identify - find what's hiding

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3

Inspect running processes with Process Explorer

Tool: Process Explorer5 min

Download Process Explorer from Microsoft Sysinternals. Run it as Administrator. Click Options → Verify Image Signatures and View → Lower Pane View → DLLs.

Sort by "Verified Signer." Anything unsigned running from %AppData%, %LocalAppData%, %Temp%, or %ProgramData% is suspicious. Right-click → Properties to see the full image path. Right-click → "Search Online" to look up unfamiliar process names.

Why not just Task Manager

Task Manager hides full file paths, doesn't show digital signatures, and groups processes in ways that make malware easy to miss. Process Explorer is the same tool Microsoft engineers use.

4

Map every persistence point with Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns 14.x10 min

Download Autoruns. Right-click Autoruns.exe and choose Run as administrator - without elevation, Autoruns can't inspect protected registry hives.

In the menu, open Options → Hide Microsoft Entries and Options → Hide Empty Locations, then click Refresh.

Modern trojans don't just live in startup. Walk through these tabs and look for unsigned or unfamiliar entries:

• Logon - classic Run/RunOnce keys
• Scheduled Tasks - frequent hiding spot, especially tasks with PowerShell, MSHTA, or rundll32 actions
• Services - unsigned services in non-Microsoft folders
• WMI - Event Subscriptions are a stealthy persistence mechanism (MITRE T1546.003)
• Image Hijacks - Image File Execution Options "Debugger" abuse
• AppInit - DLLs loaded into every GUI process
• Browser plug-ins - unsigned add-ons across all installed browsers

Pro tip

Right-click any suspicious entry → "Jump to Image" to see the actual file. Right-click → "Search Online" opens VirusTotal for the file hash. Don't delete yet - just write down the file paths and entry names. We'll remove them after the scans.

5

Check the hosts file and DNS settings

3 minBuilt into Windows

Trojans often redirect bank, antivirus, and update domains to attacker-controlled servers by editing the hosts file or DNS settings.

Hosts file: Open Notepad as Administrator and open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Legitimate entries are commented with #. Any uncommented IP-to-domain mapping is suspicious - especially redirects for microsoft.com, windowsupdate, or your bank.

DNS settings: Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run ipconfig /all. Confirm your DNS servers point to your ISP, your router, or a known public resolver (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Google 8.8.8.8). Then open Settings → Network & internet → [your adapter] → DNS server assignment and verify both DNS and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) settings haven't been hijacked.

Why this matters

A clean PC with hijacked DNS is still a compromised PC. You'll think you're at chase.com and you'll be at the attacker's clone.

Phase 3~ 60-90 min

Remove - three scans, one cleanup

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No single antivirus catches everything. The order below is intentional: offline scan first (catches rootkits before Windows fully loads), then on-demand scanners on the running system, then manual cleanup of anything they missed.

6

Run Microsoft Defender Offline

Tool: Built into Windows15 min

Reboot to normal Windows. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options. Select Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) and click Scan now. Your computer will restart into a stripped-down environment and scan before the full operating system loads.

Why this comes first

Rootkits and bootkits hide from any scanner running on the same Windows session that's already infected. A pre-boot offline scan sees the disk before the malware can hide itself.

Recommended antivirus

Combo Cleaner

VB100 certified. Includes anti-trojan, registry/persistence scanning, anti-spyware in one pass. The 7-day free trial is available.

Download Combo Cleaner

7

Run Combo Cleaner full system scan

Tool: Combo Cleaner20-40 min

Install Combo Cleaner and run a full system scan (not the quick scan). Let it complete fully, review the detected threats, and apply the recommended actions. Combo Cleaner will quarantine known trojans and registry persistence.

8

Run Microsoft Safety Scanner as a second-opinion scan

Tool: Microsoft Safety Scanner15 min

Download Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT.exe), Microsoft's free on-demand tool. The binary expires every 10 days, which means every download has the latest signatures. Run a full scan after Combo Cleaner to catch anything one engine alone might miss.

Why a second scan

Different scanning engines catch different threats. Running an additional Microsoft scan after Combo Cleaner is the single most underused verification step in malware removal.

9

Manually remove anything still listed in Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns10 min

Reopen Autoruns. Anything you flagged in Step 4 that's still present hasn't been caught by the automated scans. For each remaining suspicious entry: right-click → Delete in Autoruns (this removes the persistence registration), then navigate to the file path and delete the actual file. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Important

Some malware files reappear after deletion because something else on the system recreates them. If you delete a file and it returns within minutes, you have a remaining persistence point that Autoruns didn't show - usually a service or scheduled task running under SYSTEM. Re-run the scans from Steps 6-8 or proceed to a clean install (see end of guide).

Phase 4~ 15 min

Recover - restore browsers and security

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10

Reset browsers and clear notification permissions

5 min

Trojans and adware frequently hijack browsers - change the default search engine, install rogue extensions, or grant themselves notification permissions to keep displaying scam pop-ups even after the malware is gone.

• Chrome: visit chrome://settings/reset and click "Restore settings to their original defaults." Then visit chrome://settings/content/notifications and remove any unfamiliar sites.
• Edge: visit edge://settings/reset. Then check edge://settings/content/notifications.
• Firefox: open about:support and click Refresh Firefox (Firefox uses "Refresh," not "Reset"). Then check Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions → Notifications.

Review installed extensions in each browser and remove anything you don't recognize, especially extensions you didn't install yourself.

11

Re-enable Defender, Tamper Protection, and update everything

10 min

Many trojans disable security software. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings and confirm Real-time protection, Cloud-delivered protection, and Tamper Protection are all turned on. Tamper Protection prevents malware from disabling Defender silently.

Then run Windows Update (Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates) and update your browsers and applications. The infection vector that let the trojan in originally usually involves outdated software.

Phase 5~ 15 min + 7 days

Verify & secure

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12

Change passwords from a clean device

20 min⚠ Critical

If the trojan was an info-stealer (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar, and similar are extremely common), assume every password saved in your browser is compromised. Change them from a different, known-clean device - your phone is fine if it's not infected.

Recommended order:

1. Primary email first - it's the recovery hub for everything else
2. Banking and financial accounts
3. Password manager master password (if you use one)
4. Social media, shopping, and remaining accounts

Where available, enable phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (passkeys / FIDO2 hardware keys / authenticator apps) - SMS-based MFA is bypassable by sophisticated attackers.

13

Verify the clean and monitor for 7 days

5 min + 1 week monitoring

Reconnect to the network and run one final full scan with Combo Cleaner. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and switch to the Startup apps tab - confirm nothing suspicious has reappeared.

Over the next 7 days, watch for symptom recurrence: unexpected high CPU usage, unknown processes returning, browser redirects, or pop-ups. If anything returns, you missed a persistence point and the procedure needs to be repeated - or you may have a deeper compromise that requires a clean install.

When to clean install Windows instead

Manual removal isn't always the right answer. Reinstalling Windows from scratch is the only way to be 100% certain when:

• The malware reappears after every removal attempt
• A bootkit or UEFI rootkit was detected (this class of threat sits below the operating system and survives a normal Windows reinstall)
• A confirmed credential-theft trojan ran with administrator privileges (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar) - the system likely has multiple unknown payloads
• The PC is used for online banking, business email, or anything where partial doubt isn't acceptable

A clean install is a 30-60 minute process: Windows 11 reinstall via Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything → Cloud download. Back up documents to external storage first, scan the backup with Combo Cleaner before restoring it, and reinstall applications fresh - never restore them from a backup of the infected system.

Important: Manual removal requires advanced computer skills. If you're not confident identifying system files from malicious files, run an automated scan with Combo Cleaner and Windows Defender and stop there - that path catches the vast majority of consumer trojans without the risk of breaking Windows by deleting the wrong file.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

My computer is infected with DanaBot malware, should I format my storage device to get rid of it?

No, most malicious programs can be removed without resorting to formatting.

What are the biggest issues that DanaBot malware can cause?

The threats posed by a malicious program depend on its capabilities and cyber criminals' aims. DanaBot is an information-stealing malware. These types of infections can lead to severe privacy issues, significant financial losses, and identity theft.

What is the purpose of DanaBot malware?

In most cases, malware is used to generate revenue. However, cyber criminals can employ this software to amuse themselves, carry out personal vendettas, disrupt processes (e.g., websites, services, companies, etc.), and even launch politically/geopolitically motivated attacks.

How did DanaBot malware infiltrate my computer?

Malware is primarily proliferated via drive-by downloads, spam emails and messages, dubious download sources (e.g., unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, etc.), online scams, malvertising, illegal program activation ("cracking") tools, and fake updates. Furthermore, some malicious programs can self-spread through local networks and removable storage devices (e.g., external hard drives, USB flash drives, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from malware?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and eliminate threats. It is capable of removing nearly all known malware infections. However, it must be stressed that sophisticated malicious programs typically hide deep within systems – therefore, performing a full system scan is essential.