A warning to you all-XP/Vista Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware 2008/9

mr_x

Just thought I'd give a heads up on a malicious program that is spreading like a wildfire around the internet right now. 3 in every 4 PCs and laptops booked in the workshop here has this virus on it.

Basicly this is a pure scam and a lot of people are falling for it. The program looks legit, it fits in with the Windows Theme so people think it's Microsoft. It isn't.

It installs itself on your system if you accidently click a pop-up or open a dodgy email attachment, indeed just using Internet Explorer has been known to get this 'malware' on computers.

After it is on your system it then does a 'scan' and tells you that you have infected files and to remove them you need to pay for it... Whatever you do, do not do this.

If you have anything suspicious on your PC/laptop called one of the following things be suspicious:
XP Anti Virus 2008
XP Anti Virus 2009
Vista Anti Virus 2008
Vista Anti Virus 2009
XP Anti-Spyware 2009
or anything named similar.

If you do get infected by this virus then download and install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from here - the free version works fine:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Run a full system scan on it and after the scan is complete make sure all the boxes in the list are ticked and press the 'remove selected' button. Once this is done then restart the computer.

If Anti Virus 2008/09 still pops up then it's infected the system even deeper and the best way to do it is to take it to a local computer shop (DO NOT use PC World, they are useless). Remember to make a back-up of all your files first.

To prevent getting it; if you get a pop-up that gives you a 'yes' or 'no' answer don't press either of them, press the red cross in the top right corner of the pop-up. Pressing 'No' will still download it onto your computer. If there's no cross to press to close it then it gets a bit more complicated and means shutting down Internet Explorer manually, but I'll simplify it:
Press ctrl+alt+del to bring up the task manager
Click on the Processes tab
Right click on the iexplore.exe or IEXPLORE.EXE process and press 'End Process'

The most simple way to stop getting this virus/malware is to download and install Mozilla Firefox (www.mozilla.com/firefox) and avoid using Internet Explorer altogether, also be vigilant with email attachments. I can't say any bad things about Firefox, but can make a huge list of bad things about Internet Explorer.

wildflower

yeah i had that a few months ago, i managed to get rid of it though thank god, although i still have my system restore turned off, cause it seems to be still in there, and everytime i turn it back on again Avast picks it up, gets rid, then its back again when my computer restarts! i hate people who write virus's (or is it virii hehe?) with a passion! thanks for the warning though chris, must have taken you ages to type too

mr_x

I didn't have much else to do at work this morning.

hystericali

eeek, I've just ordered a load of stuff on grindstore.com, and Kaspersky went mental doing a scan, and I got a pop up, can't remember what it said, but it wasn't from Kaspersky, so I just panicked and shut my computer straight down, re started it and it looks ok now.

I've had the confirmation email from Grindstore, but this pop up has freaked me to the point I may just call my bank up to be on the safe side.

This is literally in the last 15 minutes.

mr_x

Was it an internet explorer pop-up Ali? If so then you did the right thing (instead just closing internet explorer).

Usually all Internet Explorer pop-ups are bad, which is why I never recommend anybody to use it. Internet Explorer in general is just full of holes which Microsoft patch up every now and then. If any holes are found in Firefox they're fixed by way of a patch within a few hours.

hystericali

I can't remember, it was a little box with loads of options to click, I touched none, and just switched my laptop off on the menu on the bottom toolbar and back on. All I remember was it was yellowish cream coloured and I couldn't tell if it was to do with Kaspersky. I know its doing something now, but my OH says its one of these that updates automatically, and I've had no warning message from it. He uses AVG, but he bought me Kaspersky for this laptop as he knew the facebook virus destroyed my old laptop.

I have Windows Vista Basic pre-installed on here.

I'm just so nervous about this kind of stuff after the problems I got off facebook, I daren't tell my OH I've knacked another laptop up as he was generous enough to buy my this one.

mr_x

Luckily for you Ali we're a Kaspersky dealer at work so I know my way around it.

did the popup look similar this:

hystericali

^^

that fits the yellowish cream coloured box description, but the one I had had 4 or 5 options on it to click.

Wish I'd paid more attention, my panic mode is too strong, I saw the 'riskware' bit at the top and though 'oh crap'

mr_x

If you pressed something where a popup window comes up in IE then it'll pop up asking you if you did that and if you want it, if you didn't press deny.

For example if you press the email button on Live Messenger Kaspersky pops up asking if you wanted to open the browser.

If it's come because there's something there hit the delete or deny button.

SuperGinge

Thanks for the heads up chris, i'll keep an eye out for that

Helen

thanks Chris, my son managed to get that on our pc yesterday. Will download that thing see if I cant get rid of it.