Zeus Panda Malware Removal

This article can help you to remove Zeus Panda Virus. The step by step removal works for every version of Microsoft Windows.

If the Zeus Panda Malware is present on your computer, the news is bad. Very bad! This parasite is a dangerous Trojan horse. Have you heard about Trojan horses? These viruses are the most feared type of cyber infection. And there is a good reason for that. Zeus Panda is not an exception. This particular Trojan is a spying parasite. It is trying to steal personal information and online banking details. The Trojan enters your computer in complete silence. It infects essential for your OS files and processes. It also adds its own entry in your System Registry. Once established on your OS, the Trojan loads together with your system. This virus is a master at camouflage. You are, in fact, lucky to know that you are infected. Thus, you can take advantage of this knowledge and act against the infection. Zeus Panda can spend weeks, even months on one’s computer without being detected. This parasite runs in the background. The longer it remains active, the worse your predicaments become. Zeus Panda targets your wallet. This banking Trojan is after your money. One way or another. Currently, it is trying to record your online banking log-in details. If it steals this information, the Trojan will perform transactions. This pest will drain your bank account in seconds. But, that’s far not the only thing it can do. This parasite can also record all sorts personal information: of usernames, passwords, email addresses, IP and MAC addresses. If such data becomes a possession of hackers, the outcome will be devastating. Delete the Zeus Panda Trojan immediately.

How did I get infected with?

To reach its victims, Zeus Panda uses a lot of trickery. We are talking about the good old spam emails. Pay more attention to your security. When you receive a message from a stranger, verify the sender. You can simply enter the questionable email address into some search engine. If it was used for shady business, someone might have complained online. The crooks tend to write on behalf of well-known organizations, companies, banks, etc. If you receive such a letter, go to the organizations’ official website. Compare the email addresses listed there with the one you have received a message from. If they don’t match, delete the pretender. Also, when you open a letter, opt for red flags. A reliable company would use your real name to address you. Thus, if a message starts with “Dear Customer” or “Dear Friend,” proceed with caution. One more thing to mention here. It is not just the email attachments you should be careful with. If a message contains a hyperlink, don’t follow it. The link itself can be corrupted, or it may lead you to infected websites. Choose caution over carelessness. Zeus Panda is also distributed via corrupted websites. There is nothing you can do about this. Only a trustworthy anti-virus program can prevent such infections. Update your anti-virus program regularly.

Why is this dangerous?

Zeus Panda Trojan is too hazardous to be kept on board. This parasite has admin privileges. It can modify your system settings. It loads together with your OS and is extremely hard to be detected. The Trojan is a breach of your security. The hackers can use it to further infect your machine. They currently spy on you. But what may happen depends entirely on them. They will definitely try to drain your bank account. However, if they fail to do it, they may blackmail you. As we explained, Zeus Panda is a spying Trojan. It monitors your activities. It may find sensitive data. The more time it spends on your computer, the bigger the risk. Do not waste your time. Remove the infection before it causes serious damage. Unfortunately, this virus is quite hard to be removed manually. Even an experienced technician may fail. We recommend you to use a powerful anti-malware program.

Manual Zeus Panda Removal Instructions

The Zeus Panda infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Zeus Panda infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Zeus Panda related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Zeus Panda startup location

STEP 3: Delete Zeus Panda traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Zeus Panda related processes in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Zeus Panda startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Zeus Panda virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

Step 4: Undo the possible damage done by Zeus Panda

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Zeus Panda, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

 

• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Zeus Panda Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible virus leftovers or temporary files.