Recently my computer has been afflicted with a really annoying piece of spyware. It is in the form of ‘Microsoft Anti spyware’ or a variation therof. Basically it keeps popping up a message saying I have spyware on my computer and please activate Microsoft anti spyware. The program itself does nothing but direct me to buy the actual program, but the incredibly annoying things it does include:
-Redirecting any web searches dedicated to removing the program :mad:
-Barring current anti-virus/spyware programs from operating
-Preventing itself from being uninstalled
So basically any logical thing I do to try to get rid of this malware causes it to somehow stop me. I got a similar piece of malware a few days ago, and actually went out and bought MacAffe security center (the version that came with my computer apparently had an expired license). Initially my computer seemingly got cleaned up of the offending program, but yesterday a more insidious version appeared on my computer, and now when I click the ‘fix’ button in MacAffe’s control panel, it says there is an error.
Given that my anti-spyware isn’t working, I can’t browse for information because somehow it knows I’m trying to get rid of it, and added to the fact that at random times it interrupts my web page, I’m obviously frustrated. I’m currently running Windows XP on a Dell Dimension E510, browsing with Explorer (yeah go ahead an groan).
Has anybody dealt with a problem of this magnitude? is there anyway of resolving it short of completely reformatting my hard drive?
It’s pretty nefarious. I’ve been dealing with it at work. It’s possible to clean it, but it may take a few passes to get it all.
You want the help of experts. Go to a forum like bleepingcomputer.com and post your issue. The volunteers there will instruct you to download and run hijackthis, then post the log it generates. That software will let them diagnose the exact problem and tell you the steps needed to cure it.
It’s yet another rogue antispyware program - one that pretends to be detecting spyware, but is at best doing nothing and at worst, damaging your computer, acting as a trojan for other bad stuff, or is stealing your personal details and sending them home.
Pretty bold of them to claim it’s a Microsoft product.
It’s extremely likely that what you’re infected with is Antivirus XP 2008 (or 2009). Nastiest thing out there. (Note it doesn’t claim it’s from Microsoft, or else they’d be up for a trademark infringement suit)
If you can get to malwarebytes.org, download that software. It’s the best cleaner right now, especially since Antivirus XP doesn’t seem to recognize it as a cleaning site (though that might change). I’ve used and recommended it, and so far, it’s worked just fine.
If you can’t get to the site, get a memory stick and download it to that.
And in case you’re wondering why they do this, a recent NY Times article estimated that the spyware could earn it’s makers up to $5 million a year (someone had hacked into their financial data, which is where the numbers come from
If you can’t get to the site using IE, try using Opera or Firefox or Safari or another browser. (Of course, if it won’t let you get FF or Opera using IE…)
If you can’t get to any of the tools linked here, send me a PM. This recent round of viruses has hit a lot of people and I’ve put the tools on my server so they can be downloaded from there instead of the “known locations” because the viruses in question block those locations. I think they’re blocked from every browser, too.
A friend’s husband was suckered by it. If you buy its first round of “anti-spyware”, it will keep triggering more and more dire warnings and offer paid solutions for each, ranging from 29.99 ro 49.99. Once he hit about 150 bucks, he started to catch on.
Yes, I told him to cancel his credit card. Yes, when I reinstalled windows, I locked down his user account. Yes, he’s an idiot.
We had a student who got it and paid for the “cleaning.” When we told her she had to remove it from her computer, she refused. “No,” she said. “I paid for it. I’m keeping it.” :rolleyes:
Not really. Windows Genuine Advantage is just breathing over your shoulder, like an anxious shopkeeper suspicious of everyone. Some of these rogue antivirus programs harvest email addresses for spam lists, or act as back doors for trojans that steal credit card info and other stuff like that.
Fashionable though it is to despise Microsoft, I don’t think they’ve done anything quite as bad as that.
Why isn’t this crap illegal? If a store proprietor carjacked me and said I could only get the car back if I paid him $500, and prevented me from driving to a police station to report him, it would be assault, grand theft auto, extortion and several decades in jail for the proprietor. Why doesn’t this crap, which actually refuses you the use of your property, equal a jail sentence for the idiot companies who use it?
Too hard to track down the person who runs the software. In the case of Antivirus XP 2008/09, the supposed distributor is Bakasoftware, based in Russia (the software even computers to see if Russian is the default language, and doesn’t install if it is – making sure that no Russians can complain to the authorities to shut them down). I’m sure the actual programmer is deeply hidden away.
What worries me quite a bit is that when I was searching for information on the OP’s specific problem, lots of the sites, even quite reputable ones like cnet, had banner ads promoting rogue antispyware programs.