How To Remove Duqu virus (Trojan) from Windows

Effective Guide To Delete Duqu virus from PC

Duqu virus is a malicious Trojan infection that was first detected in 2011. It can be also found as Duqu 2.0, w32.Duqu.B. It is a remote access Trojan (RAT) which is similar to other malware. It is called Stuxnet or Stuxnet Worm. This virus hails from the file name prefix “~DQ”  that created by this threat onto target System after its installation. It was discovered and distributed  by the team of cyber hacker with the sole purpose to  gathering private and sensitive data and sharing it with its owners through command and control (C&C) servers. It silently gets on the infected System and hides deep into the System and keep doing its illegal activities. It get control over the compromised System and makes several modifications. It can cause corrupt files, data stealing, remote accessibility of the infected system that could leads serious damage.

It has the ability to modify the registry key on your System to auto startup. It is capable to disable the System security and privacy by inactivate firewall, task manager, control panel and real antivirus program to make itself secure for long time. It also  bring more harmful threats like as malware, spyware, adware and other harmful threats which  may cause more issues in future. It also record key strokes by using key logger techniques.

It will collect your personal and sensitive information  without your permission. It can also steal your online banking details, credit card details, users names, password, IP address and many more. It can share your details to hacker for using in illegal activities such as identity theft, fake purchasing, fraudulent, etc. It connects your System with remote server to remotely access your System. It can take huge resources of the system memory to slowdown overall performance and makes your PC completely useless. Thus it is highly recommended to remove Duqu virus without any delay from infected System.

 How did Duqu virusDuqu virus gets installed into your PC?

Duqu virus mostly gets installed in your System through  bundled of freeware program, spam emails, fake updating tools etc. people mostly download freeware programs from third party webpage without checking for additional malicious packages bundled with them. The also skip custom or advance option to select. Spam email contains malicious attachments or embedded links. Opening malicious attachments cause the execution of malicious script that leads infection. Updating System Software from unofficial activation tool.

Visiting commercial site, clicking on malicious ads, peer to peer sharing files. Browsing  to porn site, downloading torrent files, or cracked software are other common ways through which your system could  get infected by Duqu virus.

How To Protect your System from Duqu virus:

Do not download or install System Software from unofficial and untrustworthy downloader site. Software must be download or installed from official and trustworthy download channels. It is important to read their terms and license agreements as well as select custom or advance options. Do not open email which seems suspicious , sent from unknown sender, and contain malicious attachments. It is important to check the email body content including grammatical error and spelling mistakes.  Update the System Software from relevant sources. Do not try to visit on commercial, porn or other suspicious site. Scan  your PC with reputable antimalware tool.

 Threat Summary:

Name: Duqu virus

Type: Trojan

Descriptions:  It was discovered and distributed  by the team of cyber hacker with the sole purpose to  gathering private and sensitive data and sharing it with its owners through command and control (C&C) servers.

Symptoms: slowdown the system performance, shows fake pop-ups, browser redirection.

Distribution: Bundled of freeware, spam email attachments,  updating System software

Removal: To eliminate this infection we are highly advice scan your PC with reputable antimalware tool.

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows Click Here For Mac

Important Note: This malware asks you to enable the web browser notifications. So, before you go the manual removal process, execute these steps.

Google Chrome (PC)

• Go to right upper corner of the screen and click on three dots to open the Menu button
• Select “Settings”. Scroll the mouse downward to choose “Advanced” option
• Go to “Privacy and Security” section by scrolling downward and then select “Content settings” and then “Notification” option
• Find each suspicious URLs and click on three dots on the right side and choose “Block” or “Remove” option

Google Chrome (Android)

• Go to right upper corner of the screen and click on three dots to open the menu button and then click on “Settings”
• Scroll down further to click on “site settings” and then press on “notifications” option
• In the newly opened window, choose each suspicious URLs one by one
• In the permission section, select “notification” and “Off” the toggle button

Mozilla Firefox

• On the right corner of the screen, you will notice three dots which is the “Menu” button
• Select “Options” and choose “Privacy and Security” in the toolbar present in the left side of the screen
• Slowly scroll down and go to “Permission” section then choose “Settings” option next to “Notifications”
• In the newly opened window, select all the suspicious URLs. Click on the drop-down menu and select “Block”

Internet Explorer

• In the Internet Explorer window, select the Gear button present on the right corner
• Choose “Internet Options”
• Select “Privacy” tab and then “Settings” under the “Pop-up Blocker” section
• Select all the suspicious URLs one by one and click on the “Remove” option

Microsoft Edge

• Open the Microsoft Edge and click on the three dots on the right corner of the screen to open the menu
• Scroll down and select “Settings”
• Scroll down further to choose “view advanced settings”
• In the “Website Permission” option, click on “Manage” option
• Click on switch under every suspicious URL

Safari (Mac):

• On the upper right side corner, click on “Safari” and then select “Preferences”
• Go to “website” tab and then choose “Notification” section on the left pane
• Search for the suspicious URLs and choose “Deny” option for each one of them

Manual Steps to Remove Duqu virus:

Remove the related items of Duqu virus using Control-Panel

Windows 7 Users

Click “Start” (the windows logo at the bottom left corner of the desktop screen), select “Control Panel”. Locate the “Programs” and then followed by clicking on “Uninstall Program”

Windows XP Users

Click “Start” and then choose “Settings” and then click “Control Panel”. Search and click on “Add or Remove Program’ option

Windows 10 and 8 Users:

Go to the lower left corner of the screen and right-click. In the “Quick Access” menu, choose “Control Panel”. In the newly opened window, choose “Program and Features”

Mac OSX Users

Click on “Finder” option. Choose “Application” in the newly opened screen. In the “Application” folder, drag the app to “Trash”. Right click on the Trash icon and then click on “Empty Trash”.

In the uninstall programs window, search for the PUAs. Choose all the unwanted and suspicious entries and click on “Uninstall” or “Remove”.

After you uninstall all the potentially unwanted program causing Duqu virus issues, scan your computer with an anti-malware tool for any remaining PUPs and PUAs or possible malware infection. To scan the PC, use the recommended the anti-malware tool.

How to Remove Adware (Duqu virus) from Internet Browsers

Delete malicious add-ons and extensions from IE

Click on the gear icon at the top right corner of Internet Explorer. Select “Manage Add-ons”. Search for any recently installed plug-ins or add-ons and click on “Remove”.

Additional Option

If you still face issues related to Duqu virus removal, you can reset the Internet Explorer to its default setting.

Windows XP users: Press on “Start” and click “Run”. In the newly opened window, type “inetcpl.cpl” and click on the “Advanced” tab and then press on “Reset”.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Users: Press the Windows logo, type inetcpl.cpl in the start search box and press enter.  In the newly opened window, click on the “Advanced Tab” followed by “Reset” button.

For Windows 8 Users: Open IE and click on the “gear” icon. Choose “Internet Options”

Select the “Advanced” tab in the newly opened window

Press on “Reset” option

You have to press on the “Reset” button again to confirm that you really want to reset the IE

Remove Doubtful and Harmful Extension from Google Chrome

Go to menu of Google Chrome by pressing on three vertical dots and select on “More tools” and then “Extensions”. You can search for all the recently installed add-ons and remove all of them.

Optional Method

If the problems related to Duqu virus still persists or you face any issue in removing, then it is advised that your reset the Google Chrome browse settings. Go to three dotted points at the top right corner and choose “Settings”. Scroll down bottom and click on “Advanced”.

At the bottom, notice the “Reset” option and click on it.

In the next opened window, confirm that you want to reset the Google Chrome settings by click on the “Reset” button.

Remove Duqu virus plugins (including all other doubtful plug-ins) from Firefox Mozilla

Open the Firefox menu and select “Add-ons”. Click “Extensions”.  Select all the recently installed browser plug-ins.

Optional Method

If you face problems in Duqu virus removal then you have the option to rese the settings of Mozilla Firefox.

Open the browser (Mozilla Firefox) and click on the “menu” and then click on “Help”.

Choose “Troubleshooting Information”

In the newly opened pop-up window, click “Refresh Firefox” button

The next step is to confirm that really want to reset the Mozilla Firefox settings to its default by clicking on “Refresh Firefox” button.

Remove Malicious Extension from Safari

Open the Safari and go to its “Menu” and select “Preferences”.

Click on the “Extension” and select all the recently installed “Extensions” and then click on “Uninstall”.

Optional Method

Open the “Safari” and go menu. In the drop-down menu, choose “Clear History and Website Data”.

In the newly opened window, select “All History” and then press on “Clear History” option.

Delete Duqu virus (malicious add-ons) from Microsoft Edge

Open Microsoft Edge and go to three horizontal dot icons at the top right corner of the browser. Select all the recently installed extensions and right click on the mouse to “uninstall”

Optional Method

Open the browser (Microsoft Edge) and select “Settings”

Next steps is to click on “Choose what to clear” button

Click on “show more” and then select everything and then press on “Clear” button.

Conclusion

In most cases, the PUPs and adware gets inside the marked PC through unsafe freeware downloads. It is advised that you should only choose developers website only while downloading any kind of free applications.  Choose custom or advanced installation process so that you can trace the additional PUPs listed for installation along with the main program.

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