PBot

You have to stay on top of your operating system’s protection. If you are not, threats like PBot could slither in without any of your notice. This devious threat is downloaded when a malicious exploit kit manages to find a vulnerability and use it to drop a malware downloader. This vulnerability could exist within your operating system or any program that is installed on it, including a web browser. Vulnerabilities are exposed when users fail to download updates in time, and, unfortunately, that happens more than it should. One of the worst things about this infection is that it slithers in silently, and so if the victim does not detect it right away, it could start causing serious security-related problems. So, if you have failed to protect yourself and your operating system, and now you need to delete PBot, you must act fast. The longer you wait to remove this infection, the more trouble you might get yourself into.

Whether you use Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, or any other popular web browser, you will not escape PBot if it manages to find its way in. Once in place, this malicious, ad-supported program can start performing MITB (man-in-the-browser) attacks to inject malicious script into harmless websites. Our malware researchers assume that this adware was created to place advertisements and trick careless users into interacting with them. This could be extremely risky because attractive-looking ads could be used to redirect you to malicious websites and malware downloaders. Furthermore, they could expose you to scams that might push you into disclosing personal information. What if you were tricked into revealing your full name, email address, telephone number, credit card information, and other sensitive data? In that case, you could experience virtual identity theft, and no one wants that. On the other hand, PBot could serve a much more malicious purpose: It could also be used to manipulate content to make victims reveal login credentials. This could cause even bigger problems.

As our research shows, PBot has various websites white-listed, and they are Russian. That means that if you visit a website that is on this list, it will not be manipulated, and no malicious content will be shown. What does that mean? Most likely, the cyber crooks behind this adware belong to the criminal world in Russia, and they know better than to mess with anyone in the same room, so to speak. Unfortunately, at this point, it is impossible to know who the creator of the infection is, and it is unlikely that they will seize their activity any time soon. Even if they were not able to use the same exploit kit to spread PBot, they would find a different way to plant this malware onto Windows operating systems. And there are plenty of other threats that could infect these systems instead, or replace the adware altogether. This is why it is so important for everyone to take adequate security measures, which include employing reliable anti-malware software, installing updates in time, and being cautious about ads, links, and online content in general.

Hopefully, you perform system scans frequently, and the devious PBot is found right away. Even if that is not the case, you should use a legitimate malware scanner whenever you start seeing more ads than usual, or you notice anything out of the ordinary. It is possible that the tool will find adware along with other threats, and that is why using an anti-malware program to have infections eliminated automatically is beneficial and convenient. Of course, if manual removal is your MO, you can use the guide that we have created below. It shows how to remove PBot files and registry entries. If you choose to eliminate this threat – as well all others – manually, you have to make sure that you clean your operating system completely. If one malicious element is left behind, your virtual security will remain in jeopardy. To make sure that your system is clean, scan your system one last time to check things out. If you find yourself unable to delete malware or protect your system, do not hesitate to communicate with us via the comments section.

PBot Removal

1. Launch Windows Explorer by tapping keys Win+E.
2. Enter %APPDATA% into the Explorer’s bar at the top.
3. Delete folders MinerBlocker and MinerBlockerupd, and the file named webrun.exe.
4. Launch RUN by tapping keys Win+R.
5. Enter regedit.exe into the open box and click OK to launch Registry Editor.
6. In the pane on the left navigate to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
7. Delete the values named MinerBlocker and MinerBlocker_upd.
8. Once you eliminate these components, scan your system to check for leftovers.