Got Googled
September 16, 2009DSA Destroy Entire Hotel! Dark Hole Sessions Vol. 2 DVD
September 22, 2009This annoying pop-up message has become more and more common these days and there are a few different things you should know about this.
First of all, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS PART:
WinAntivirus Vista/XP makes it’s way onto computer systems via installations that automatically start after visiting infected websites. When this parasite enters the system, it performs quick system scan and reports bogus results about security problems, privacy issues and other errors. All those infections are made fake, designed to frighten people into thinking they need to buy this corrupt software to fix their PC infections. The reality is WinAntivirs Vista/XP is the real infection.
My Personal Experience with this Bastard
On Friday, a co-worker called me over to show me a similar message to this. Upon inspection of her computer, she had already installed a few different Trojans into her machine. She already had protection from AVG so my first instinct was to run a full hard drive scan. Unfortunately, AVG didn’t pick up on any virus infections but after inspecting her current running services and start up programs in MSCONFIG, I saw the virus instances with my own eyes. Why AVG couldn’t pick up on it, I do not know, but it seems that this has become way too common of a problem because not an hour passes and my sister called me up to tell me her boss got the same message on her computer.
I ran around my office making sure that all the computers were protected. Most of them were, but in my mind, I’m not sure that even mattered since this one co-workers machine got infected anyway. Over the weekend, my girlfriend called me over to her computer and tells me that a warning popped up and asked her to install an anti-virus and malware removal tool in order to get rid of the infection. Not knowing any better, she went ahead and installed it. What many people don’t realize is that when you install these pop-up “Malware removal tools” you are currently installing viruses on your machine. This is how these bastards get you, they trick you into believing they found a virus on your computer, then ask you to install a tool to get rid of it.
I made sure to inform everyone in my office, as well as my sister and girlfriend, that if you are downloading a file that has the extension of *.exe, be sure not to click on it and delete it immediately. The only reason why you wouldn’t do this, is if you are intentionally downloading software of some sort to install on your machine. For example, I saw that my GF had downloaded the new Britney Spears record, and inside the folder with all of the MP3’s there was a bonus track with the extension .exe. She must have ran the file believing that it was indeed an audio track, but songs will never really end in “.exe”. That’s what she gets for downloading a Britney Spears record. I guess I get the shitty end of that stick though, because I’m the one who ends up having to fix it. The next morning, I hear that her mom also got a pop-up, and her computer is infected as well. There must be a crazy viral outbreak this month and it’s really beginning to annoy me.
False Positives
Another thing you should know about this subject is the meaning of a false positive. Sometimes you will download a file that you know is legit and your anti-virus program will notify you that it’s a virus. There are instances where you will run into a false positive where the file is not actually infected but the software picks something up in there which tricks it into thinking it’s an infection.
In my opinion, the best way around this is for you to be highly aware of what you are doing when you are browsing the web and downloading files. If you ever encounter this tricky pop-up, be sure to read it thoroughly because there are times where it’ll specifically state: “To install the software, click cancel – If you would like to Cancel, Click OK”. Most of the people I know who have infected their machines didn’t take the time to read what was on the pop-up and instinctively clicked on the cancel button to get rid of this window.
I believe that there should definitely be a law against these types of programs and viruses and people who create them should be held accountable for the damage they cause to the victims computers. Many people have lost important files and valuable time having to reformat their machines only to be sure they have rid their machines of whatever bullshit is still lurking around. If there already is such a law, be sure to let me in on what can be done, because I’m sick of having to spend my time reversing the damage they have done.
Solutions
(Edit: Sept 22, 2009)
After making this post, so many people contacted me to let me know they have come accross the same viral infections recently. I can’t believe how many people have been fooled by this crap. It seems the company who created this malware is called Innovagest 2000 & Innogavest 2000 S.L.. I don’t know how they are allowed to operate and take people’s money but after doing a bit of research on them it seems they are the rogue spyware developers. They claim to provide you with ‘the ultimate PC protection software’ which is obviously far from the truth. It seems many people who have had these infections were able to remove them with a Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Some other programs that detect rootkits(?) are SUPERAntiSpyware, IObit Security 360, and even AVG will but you must have the Paid Version (Pro or Internet Security) to activate the Anti-Rootkit protection.
17 Comments
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There is nothing that can be as stressful as the Trojan virus today to a computer end user. There are many tried and tested tools on how to remove a Trojan virus in the market today. With these tools how to remove a Trojan virus from your computer’ operating system is a do it yourself thing that calls for no particular expertise. Trojans are such a pain in the ass and they can be very annoying.
Your blog is so informative ¡ keep up the good work!!!!
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you
I recently had the pleasure of dealing with this and similar fake anti-virus programs on not only my computer but also my mom’s and sister’s computers. We all had been using Windows Live One Care but it was the trial version and the trial ran out.
I did a system restore to an earlier time and used Windows Live online scanner to scan the computers. Once it was done and had gotten rid of the virus I downloaded Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender. I don’t know if they are as good as the programs you mentioned but they’ve kept our computers (especially my sister’s) safe so far.
Yeah. i got some thing on my computer saying it was adding updates stage 3 of 3 and to not turn it off. it was about 2 hours and i got annoyed and turned it off. i used to do it occasionally. now my computer is always saying stage 3 of 3. it wont even load. i cant even log on to my account, and use my phone for internet. i dont know what to do because gateway really isn’t helping.
If it told you it was doing update stage 3 of 3 while trying to shut off your PC, it was a legit Microsoft Update. By Turning off your computer you didn’t allow the update to complete and probably corrupted some of your system files in doing so. Unfortunately, you may need to do a system restore to revert back to before the update, if it allows you. If not, you may need to reformat the machine. This wasn’t a virus issue, but your computer may have gotten locked up during an update. Gateway will not assist you with this issue, they will just suggest you reformat the machine. There are ways of saving all of your programs and data though, so don’t let anyone tell you you’re going to lose everything because in reality, you don’t have to.
yeah i wiped out my windows partition and now i can run ubuntu without the disc
i got this at work and am probably damn-near fired and i didnt even click anything. went to a site and it auto-installed and auto-restarted the cpu so the virus could lock in… but as far as my boss is concerned, I messed up her computer.
Just do what I mentioned in my solutions and it should be ok. worst case scenario, tell her she can hire me and I’ll log in remotely and fix it for her.
Sara downloaded the new Britney Spears CD? Oh no, Sara. Oh no -__-
hey you. i had problems with this type of malware too. i have been trying 3 different programs that seem to be keeping my computer virus-free now.(AVG doesn’t find these files because it’s not setup to search for rootkits I think?)
*Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware *SUPERAntiSpyware *IObit Security 360*
good luck!
yes, AVG will only scan for Rootkits if you purchase the pro version as far as I know. Also, those programs you listed are what I’ve been suggesting to people who have contacted me about having the same issue. I can’t believe how many people messaged me after I made this post.
Yeah i know how you feel i just fixed mine from the same problem and it was my fault i was stupid enough to click on it. But now i’m running on Linux so there won’t be that kind of problem anymore. Btw can’t wait for the new album!
Are you running Ubuntu?