Trojanized Teramind Software

What is the Trojanized Teramind software?

This article describes how cybercriminals abuse a legitimate remote administration tool called Teramind for malicious purposes. Remote access tools allow users to control or access a device from another location over the internet. When used by cybercriminals, they can secretly access a victim's device, monitor activity, steal sensitive information, deploy additional malware, and more.

Trojanized Teramind software malware

More about the Trojanized Teramind software

The developer of Teramind has stated that it is not associated with the cybercriminals who misuse its remote administration software. The attackers distribute the malicious version of Teramind using a fake website posing as a Zoom meeting page. The infection occurs after using the downloaded malicious installer.

The malicious software is configured to run in the background on an infected device. With the stealth mode option, it can operate without showing any signs - there is no icon, no system tray notification, and no record in the list of installed programs. The tool can monitor or collect data without the victim knowing it is running.

The infected version of Teramind installs using hidden names and folders. During setup, it collects basic system information, such as the computer name, user account, and language settings. Once installed, it connects to a remote server.

The malicious version can also hide its activity and avoid detection. It can check if it is running in a testing or sandbox environment and use certain techniques to avoid analysis. Moreover, it deletes temporary files, leaving no traces, and continues running silently in the background.

Capabilities

The malicious version of Teramind can record keystrokes. This feature allows cybercriminals to capture passwords, messages, and other typed information. It can also take screenshots, track visited websites, and see opened apps. Furthermore, it can steal clipboard content, which may include copied passwords or sensitive data.

Additionally, the trojanized version can monitor email and file activity, enabling attackers to access communications, documents, and other data. Cybercriminals can use these features to steal various sensitive information and misuse it for malicious purposes. This can lead to consequences such as identity theft, financial loss, account hijacking, and other outcomes.

Threat Summary:
Name	Malicious Teramind software version
Threat Type	Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
Symptoms	The malicious version is designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Fake Zoom meeting websites, fake updates, malicious installers
Damage	Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, financial loss, account hijacking, and other issues.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by RCS LT, the parent company of PCRisk.com.

Conclusion

The malicious version of Teramind is distributed by attackers through fake websites and installs silently on victims' devices. Its capabilities allow cybercriminals to steal sensitive information, which can lead to identity theft, financial loss, account hijacking, and other serious consequences. If a device is infected, the rogue version should be removed immediately.

Additional examples of legitimate remote administration tools being exploited for malicious purposes are "Anydesk virus", "LogMeIn virus", "ScreenConnect (ConnectWise) Client scam", and "TeamViewer tech support scam".

How did the Trojanized Teramind software infiltrate my computer?

Cybercriminals use a fraudulent Zoom meeting page to distribute the malicious Teramind version. When opened, the site presents a fake meeting room with fabricated participants and audio to appear legitimate. The page is designed to function only when a real user interacts with it. This allows it to avoid detection by security scanners.

The fake meeting also notifies users about supposed connection issues and poor audio. After some time, a message appears claiming that an update is available and should be used to fix the "issue". A countdown is also displayed, and when it ends, a file is downloaded. Then the page displays a screen that looks like a legitimate installation process.

The downloaded file is a Windows installer that connects to a server controlled by the attackers. It installs quietly via the Windows Installer, without displaying a typical setup window, leaving the victim unaware that surveillance software has just been installed.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not interact with links, intrusive ads, or pop-ups on suspicious websites, and never agree to get notifications from untrusted pages. Get software from official sources (websites) or reputable app stores, and avoid using pirated programs, cracks, or illegal activation tools.

Be wary of unexpected or irrelevant emails, particularly those that include attachments or links. Regularly update your operating system and applications, and use dependable security software to perform routine system scans.

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.

A fake installer used to distribute the Trojanized Teramind software version:

Trojanized Teramind Software installer

Fake Zoom meeting used to deliver the malicious version (source: malwarebytes.com):

Trojanized Teramind Software fake Zoom website source malwarebytes.com

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

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.

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.

Run Windows 11 in Safe Mode with Networking

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

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.

Process Explorer showing a suspicious unsigned process running from %AppData%

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.

Autoruns 14.x with Hide Microsoft Entries enabled showing the Logon and Scheduled Tasks tabs

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

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.

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

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.

Combo Cleaner full scan results showing detected threats

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.

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

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.

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

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:

Primary email first - it's the recovery hub for everything else
Banking and financial accounts
Password manager master password (if you use one)
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.

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.

Verifying malware removal in the Windows 11 Task Manager Startup apps tab

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 the Trojanized Teramind version, should I format my storage device to get rid of it?

Completely formatting your device can get rid of the Trojanized Teramind version, but this is a drastic step and should only be considered if other methods fail. It is advisable to perform a full system scan using a trusted tool like Combo Cleaner to try to remove the malware first.

What are the biggest issues that malware can cause?

Malware can be used to remotely manage a device, harvest private information, deploy more harmful programs, erase or modify files, and for other malicious purposes.

What is the purpose of the Trojanized Teramind software?

The malicious software version is designed to secretly monitor a victim's device. It can capture keystrokes, screenshots, browsing activity, emails, files, and other sensitive information.

How did the fake version infiltrate my device?

The fake version infiltrated the device through a malicious installer downloaded from a website pretending to be a Zoom meeting page.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from malware?

Combo Cleaner can identify and remove most known malware. Since advanced threats may be deeply embedded in the system, running a full system scan is advised to ensure all malware is detected and removed.

How to remove the Trojanized Teramind version