Here is an example of one of these roguee programs. It is called Antivirus 2008 and there is another called Antivirus 2009 that looks identical to it but with the different year. If you have never seen anything like this… Then good for you! You are doing a great job at security (or you are using a Mac or Nix’ box!)

I’ve found a great free app that helps remove fake antivirus applications. It’s aptly called Remove Fake Antivirus. Check out the list of applications that it detects and removes. Each of these links will take you to the author’s blogspot which will tell you more about the threat.

1. Cyber Security
2. Alpha Antivirus
3. Braviax
4. Windows Police Pro
5. Antivirus Pro 2010
6. PC Antispyware 2010
7. FraudTool.MalwareProtector.d
8. Winshield2009.com
9. Green AV
10. Windows Protection Suite
11. Total Security 2009
12. Windows System Suite
13. Antivirus BEST
14. System Security
15. Personal Antivirus
16. System Security 2009
17. Malware Doctor
18. Antivirus System Pro
19. WinPC Defender
20. Anti-Virus-1
21. Spyware Guard 2008
22. System Guard 2009
23. Antivirus 2009
24. Antivirus 2010
25. Antivirus Pro 2009
26. Antivirus 360 and
27. MS Antispyware 2009

OK so I am assuming that you have one of these infections and you want to use Remove Fake Antivirus to fix your machine up. Let’s see how we can do that. First we start by downloading the application from here. That is a direct link because the download page is polluted with Google ads and confuses users as to what to download. The author’s site can be found here.

Run the application and you will first see its welcome screen listing the nastiness it can deal with and then you will see this screen:

Go ahead and hit ‘Yes’ and it will start scanning  your local machine for the fake applications listed above.

You can go ahead and click Show details to get a closer look as to what is going on:

As it goes through each possible infection you will see it listed on the console. Don’t be alarmed, this does not mean that your PC has the infections.

Up until now my only solution was Malware Bytes demo version. But now it looks like Remove Fake Antivirus 1.35 is going to be my go-to program. It took 6 minutes to run the full scan. I had originally located this application while battling Antivirus 2009 yesterday. And it worked like a charm!

Once the application has completed you will see this screen:

Click Yes and all the files that Remove Fake Antivirus could not remove because the files were in use will then be kicked to the curb. The author’s site also serves up suggestions for how to deal with and prevent these types of infections. Among them is to set the UAC prompts to the highest levels – I guess I should not have mine disabled, eh?

Remove Fake Antivirus – Download

For more information about fake antivirus software, read Ryan’s post “Detect Fake Antivirus software & Spyware Removal programs“. How do you deal with rouge or fake antivirus or spyware applications? Do you have policies that keep this type of stuff out of your corporate environments? What do you do or use? Please share with us in the comments so we can learn from each other!

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So let’s talk about the essentials. An incredibly small installer, clocking in at 5-7 MB depending on the platform, it gives you anti-virus and anti-malware functions, free updates, scan scheduling, all wrapped into an incredibly simple, elegant user interface, that even a 5 year old could manage to use.

The interface is separated into 4 tabs:

1. Home assesses the current safety level by monitoring the real-time protection and updates. On the right, the Scan Now button lets you sweep the computer with a manual scan – either Quick, which only looks at a small number of critical system files and known malware locations, Full which scans every file and Custom which let’s you chose the location.
   
2. Update displays information about the signature database: date of creation and version number. The button on the right labeled ‘Update’ will start the automatic update process. No further input is required from the user.
3. History presents potentially dangerous applications that were either detected, quarantined or manually allowed by the user.
4. Settings will allow you to change various parameters of the application such as default actions, excluded file types and real time scanner options.

Detection rates are on par with OneCare, the now discontinued for-pay security application also developed by Microsoft.

In a Windows 7 virtual machine, MSE detected 17 out of the 23 malware/viruses, preventing their installation. Rootkits and keyloggers scored the poorest marks with 2/5 and 1/4 recognized.

Performance is comparable to other modern security suites, with 40MB of memory used when idle. An additional 3MB is taken when opening the user interface. The full system scan appears to take longer than other products, finishing a 120GB hard drive in 1 hour 32 minutes for a SATA 1.1 hard drive spinning at 5200RPM.

Overall, I noticed a visible increase in the system’s speed when compared to Kaspersky’s Anti-Virus.

Microsoft Security Essentials is currently in beta. The downloads were limited to 75 000 copies – but it is mirrored on many websites and does not require a license key or registration. It does however check to see if the copy of Windows is legitimate.

There’s nothing wrong with the application itself, the concept behind it screams ‘paradox’. It’s created by the same people that made Windows. Releasing a security product is essentially admitting that the operating system you market as ‘the safest’ – is flawed to start with. Otherwise how can you justify its creation? Like O.J. Simpson giving a signed confession.

Secondly, it’s going to kill revenues for all the other security companies like Symantec and Kaspersky from the home and small business users segment. If the European Commission was worried about Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer, how do you think it will react to this, especially if retailers or even Microsoft bundles it with new computers? I can already imagine the headlines: “Microsoft fined $100 million for making Windows secure”. Coupled with a responsible behavior and Windows Defender, Microsoft Security Essentials is the way to go, especially for people on a tighter budget.

What do you think about Microsoft Security Essentials? Do you think it’s a threat for other security companies? Are you ready to ditch your for-pay Antivirus?

Talking about security, you might want to read 10+ Best Firefox Security and Privacy Addons, 10 Free Online Malware and Virus Scanners or articles related to Microsoft or security.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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How Does Fake Antivirus Software Work?

The irony of these fake removal software packages are that while they advertise and promote themselves as product that will help you remove malicious software from your computer, the moment you download and install it, you’ve just been infected by one of the worst trojans you could have on your computer. The moment it’s installed, you start getting pop-up windows that say you’re horribly infected and to click on a particular link so you can download the full version of the antivirus software to thoroughly clean your computer. Another version presents itself as a legitimate antivirus software and fakes a “full system scan,” which results in a long list of horrible viruses and other assorted nasty-looking infections. However, when you click on “remove,” you’re informed that you only have the trial version and that you need to buy the full version to remove the viruses. Few people realize that the scan results themselves are fake.

The Top Antivirus and Spyware Removals to Avoid Like the Plague

At the end of 2008, ComputerWorld reported on how the latest version of Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) discovered and removed “Antivirus 2009,” from a reported 394,000 PCs in just the initial nine days after it was released. What this reveals is that the scammers who write this fake software are successfully taking advantage of the fear computer users have regarding computer infections, and also their lack of computer knowledge. Thousands of people click on the link to download fake antivirus software and essentially voluntarily infect their computer with a trojan.

1. The Infamous Antivirus 2009

These days, Antivirus 2009 (and Antivirus 10 or Antivirus 360) is so well-known as malware that you most likely will not find the scammers using legitimate websites to promote the product using its actual name, instead scammers are resorting to setting up sites to help people remove Antivirus 2009. If the user clicks on the link, and downloads and installs the software, they’ll find themselves infected with the malicious software.

“Removing” the viruses from your computer entails signing up (and paying for) a full version of the software. If you fall for this particular trap, all you end up with is a charge on your credit card and bogus software. Fortunately, there are now a plethora of websites throughout the net that tell people how to remove this particular trojan. Unfortunately, there are also a variety of websites that the scammers are producing, that portray themselves as an “Antivirus 2009 removal tool,” while they simply install and run the same sort of bogus software. How do you tell the difference between a legit site and a bogus one?  Check out listing number 7 on Aibek’s list of essential security downloads. The Web of Trust is a great tool to identify dangerous fake antivirus sites.

2. Conficker Worm Installs Spyware Protect 2009

Do you remember the recent Conficker worm fiasco that had IT folks around the country scrambling to patch PCs before they could get infected? Well, an April 10th, 2009 article on CNET reports that investigators finally have a clue behind the motives of the Conficker worm creators. Apparently the motive is to make money using fake antivirus software and they attempted to do so by having the Conficker worm install antivirus software called Spyware Protect 2009 on target computers.

The technique used is essentially the same as the other fake antivirus applications. The software provides users with a list of nasty infections that their computer allegedly has, and the only way to remove them is by visiting the website and submitting your credit card information in order to buy the full version. Apparently the whole point of the Conficker worm was yet another fake antivirus scam. Obviously, if your computer ever displays the window above, you’re likely infected with the Conficker worm.

3. PC AntiSpy Returns Fake Spyware Results

Another application that returns bogus results, listing some of the worst known spyware applications as infecting your computer is PC AntiSpy, a bogus spyware-fighting application that is nothing of the sort. Instead of helping you keep your computer clean, this application uses scare tactics to get users to click on a link to pay for a version of PC AntiSpy that can remove the nasty Spyware that supposedly exists on the computer.

As you can see, some of these software packages appear pretty authoritative and legit. Unfortunately the only real functionality they have is acting as a trojan. Like many other fake applications like this one, a multitude of helpful websites and forums post instructions on how to remove it. Scammers are becoming sneakier — they too start their own “how to” web page in order to target people who are already infected and looking for help.

4. WinDefender – The Copycat Class of Fake Antivirus and Spyware Removals

Another significant group of antivirus applications are those that attempt to copy the names of legitimate, well known applications. For example, SpyWareBot and TheSpyBot both attempt to copy SpyBot Search and Destroy. These applications depend upon computer users who aren’t technically savvy and aren’t sure exactly what the legitimate software is called. Another example of this is WinDefender, which attempts to copy Windows Defender.

The success of these applications comes from the fact that so many people are, in fact, fooled by the similarity of the application names to legitimate antivirus software. The most important rule of thumb to follow when you’re looking for good antivirus or anti-spyware software is to only shop at websites that you know are reputable. Whenever an antivirus ad automatically pops up unexpectedly on your computer screen, under no circumstances should you ever click the link to “run a scan.”

Final Words – Use Caution and Common Sense

Nothing says that you need to use only Norton or Symantec for your antivirus needs, but if you’re going to branch out and try other software companies, it’s important that you understand the legitimacy and integrity of that company.  The examples above are only four of the hundreds of fake antivirus and anti-spyware applications out there – and their names change just as fast as people can figure out that they’re fake. If you need some advice for legitimate antivirus software, check out Aibek’s 2008 poll where MUO users chose the best antivirus software available.

Have you ever been infected by any fake antivirus trojans? Which one was it, and how hard was it to clean it off your computer? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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And these days, we rarely see “viruses”. They typically fall into the spyware category. Pop-Ups, porn and fake AV products seem to be the most popular of malicious material presently. While your AV sits in the system tray hanging out and doing absolutely nothing to protect you.

The majority of the time you end up relying on on another product to get the annoyingware off of your machine. So now you’ve got a $60 bloated product eating up resources on your machine and doing absolutely nothing to protect you.

In order to be preventative, it would be nice to maybe give some of these products, which usually have a trial version, a run for their money before making the plunge and purchasing the full product. I’ve found a few tools to give each of these a test run, and see how well they actually are protecting you.

Testing your Anti-Virus

An IT security group based in Europe called Eicar has come with a few different tools to test the effectiveness of your preferred AntiVirus application. There a few individual files to download and run, along with a ZIPPED file that will test your AV software and their ability to scan for viruses deeply embedded into other files. I should point out that Eicar does have a disclaimer:

Important note: EICAR cannot be held responsible when these files or your AV scanner in combination with these files cause any damage to your computer. YOU DOWNLOAD THESE FILES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Download these files only if you are sufficiently secure in the usage of your AV scanner. EICAR cannot and will not provide any help to remove these files from your computer. Please contact the manufacturer/vendor of your AV scanner to seek such help.

So, in other words, unless you have complete trust your in prevention, I would use either a virtual machine or another test machine besides your main system to do this test.

Testing your Anti-Malware

Malware is a whole different ballgame, and is much more common and prevalent in today’s “internet” world. A common, everyday search can easily ring in loads of pop-ups, adware, and deeply buried malware, spying on keystrokes, monitoring cookies and just being down right annoying. The problem is that it’s always evolving, and many protective products can’t always prevent malicious activity. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attempt to block it.

Spycar attempts to hijack your system, similar to typical malware activity and gives your protection a test. Spycar does not include any “exploits”, so you do have to click OK during the process for the test to take affect. If your preventative software is successful during the process, a built-in TowTruck application responds with a rating on your prevention and then returns your system to it’s original state.

There are several different tests to run through. All attempting to try and take advantage of all the various activity that normal malware would. These tools are fantastic. Especially for a brand new system you may be setting up in a business or enterprise environment.

Although not mandatory on all PCs, having some type of protection on your computer today is almost always a must. The problem that most tech savvy users have with them, is that most, just don’t work and most eat up way to many resources. Having a way to actually test some of the options out there, is a fantastic way to make your final decision. So you try it out…Download the latest AVG, Symantec or NOD32 trial and see which comes out on top with each of these tools.

Have any good sites to audit your pc for free? What sites are guaranteed to attempt to hijack your machine? What anti-malware apps do you use?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Below, I would like to share my favorite essential security downloads that have helped me keep my system secure over the last 2-3 years. Check them out and tell us what you think in comments.

1. AVG Anti-Virus (Windows)

AVG is a free anti-virus program, also a really good one. In the past I have tried Norton, Kaspersky, NOD 32 and several others but finally settled on AVG. It’s been my preferred anti-virus program for the last couple of years. MakeUseOf readers seem to agree as well.

We have already reviewed the AVG on MakeUseOf before so if you want to know all the details check out Mark’s AVG review here.

To get an idea here are some of the things you get with AVG:

* real time virus checking
* automatic daily updates
* scans incoming/outgoing emails for viruses
* removes malicious tracking cookies from the browser
* scans search results (ex. Google) and warns about non safe links.
* option control the speed of virus scanning process

2. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (Windows)

Malwarebytes is an easy-to-use and effective anti-malware application. With over 8 million downloads MalwareBytes is ranked as the 6th most popular software download on Download.com and second in spyware removal category. The users ratings and reviews are pretty good as well.

Malwarebytes’ claims to detect and remove malware that many of the other well known spyware removal programs fail to detect. I can’t really confirm that but after using it for about 2 months it has become my primary spyware removal/scanner app. I must admit I haven’t been using this one long enough yet but so far it has done a pretty good job.

While MalwareBytes doesn’t offer as many features as other tools in that category, it has a comprehensive library of threats to protect against. It’s also very light on your system resources.

The program does have a few more options open to you. For instance, it adds a contextual right-click option to scan individual files. This second option is handy for times when you have to download a file that you think is suspect or need to open someone’s flash drive.

There are some other handy addons as well. You can read more about MalwareBytes in a previous MakeUseoOf article Stop & Delete Spyware With Malwarebytes.

The Basic version which consists of a spyware scanner and removal tool is free. The Pro version costs $24.95 and comes with an additional Protection Module that can detect malware before it can do any significant damage.

3. Spyware Terminator (Windows)

I use Spyware Terminator as my secondary spyware removal tool.

I first heard about it from Bill Mullins, a security expert and MakeUseOf author who recommended the app for real-time spyware protection. In his own words:

As you can see, Spyware Terminator is my current application of choice in the spyware protection/removal category. Having tested virtually all of the major anti-spyware apps over the last year or more, I’ve settled, for now, on Spyware Terminator.

The program is easy to setup and customize, for both less experienced and expert users alike. One noteworthy feature of Spyware Terminator is its ‘Real-Time Shield’ that silently runs in the background and offers strong active protection against both known and unknown threats.

Moreover, there is a simple option to schedule automatic updates and fast spyware scans on a daily basis to ensure your computer is clean.

4. Comodo Firewall Pro (Windows)

Firewall has an essential role in safeguarding your PC. It can block unauthorized remote attempts to access your computer as well as attempts to transfer data by locally installed programs. Unfortunately not many people know about that.

Windows XP and Vista users already have the default Windows Firewall but based on my past experience I don’t find it effective and prefer Comodo Firewall instead (and so do many others).

Just like the above mentioned AVG, Comodo Firewall also came out as the best Firewall in our poll. It’s also probably the lightest one when it comes to your precious system resources. For me it takes only about 3.2 MB on average.

Comodo automatically monitors your connection and alerts you whenever some remote computer or locally installed program tries to initiate an unauthorized connection.

In many cases it also gives you advice on how to react to the alert.

Moreover, Comodo Firewall also comes with something called Defense + Host Intrusion Prevention System. This security addon helps to further secure your computer against malicious craplets before they can do any harm to your system.

Note: Like with any extensive security software if you haven’t used a Firewall before you might find Comodo alerts a little overwhelming. So, keep in mind that it takes some time to get used to.

5. NoScript – Firefox

With over 42 million downloads NoScript is the most popular Firefox addon out there. So if you haven’t tried it before it’s time to do so now.

To put it simply, NoScript makes web browsing safer by blocking everything that can potentially be used to harm your computer. The includes JavaScript, Java, Flash and other executable content.

Now there is one thing to keep in mind here, while you do get a safety net with this addon, as a novice user at the beginning you might find it annoying to constantly add sites to your “trusted sites” list. For instance, when you visit Youtube for the first time after installing it the videos won’t load unless you add Youtube to your trusted list.

But the good news, adding sites to the trusted list can be accomplished with a click of a button and you need to do it only once.

Also for the websites that present information from several sources you might have to “allow” several sites before you are able to view them in full. In such cases you can simply select “Allow all this page” option.

To sum up, NoScript does take some time to get used to but is definitely worth it. Just like like the Comodo Firewall. If you have any questions check out their FAQ page here.

6. Lastpass (Firefox / Internet Explorer)

LastPass is that one password manager you have been waiting for. Unlike Internet Explorer and Firefox’s built in password managers, data in your LastPass Vault is encrypted. The encrypted login details are stored on LastPass server which are then accessible from your browser or any web-enabled computer that you have Lastpass installed on.

It takes about a minute to install and setup.

Once you have set it up, you can start adding your accounts by simply going to sites and login as usual. When Lastpass asks if you want it to remember the login details for the site, click ‘OK’ and done. Next time you visit the site lastpass will fill the login details automatically.

You will only need to know one password, that is the the password to your Lastpass account. You will have to enter it everytime the browser is restarted.

Once logged in you’ll be able to access your web accounts with a single click. Other lastpass features include:

- auto online form filling
- ability to access your account details from multiple computers
- password generator
- and more …

7. WOT (Web Of Trust) – Firefox

Another extremely popular Firefox addon. I have been using WOT for about 4-5 months and so far it has been great. The purpose of WOT is to warn users about unsafe websites before they actually enter them. These unsafe site can mean a site known to scam visitors, deliver malware, send spam etc.

WOT uses color-coded icons show ratings for over 21 million websites – green for safe, yellow for caution and red for stop. Screenshot below shows WOT safety icons on Google search results.

As you can see from the screenshot above WOT warns about the first two entries. So I would skip them.

Do you use any of the the above tools? Any others you would want to add to the list? Please share them with us in comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Another great attribute of SpywareBlaster is its lightweight nature. The program take very little time to install and updating it is also very quick most of the time. SpywareBlaster doesn’t leave any running processes open, since it merely patches areas in hazard, so it won’t even cut into your RAM!

When you bring up the first screen, you’ll initially see this menu. It displays all of the programs or areas that you have the option to restrict, as well as the total number of updates you have loaded (and on one date). You’ll notice that IE and Firefox are not the only browsers available. If it detects them, it will also stop software and protect Flock, Seamonkey, Netscape, and any browser that uses the IE engine (like AOL). This is a fairly broad net that will cover most browsers. Hopefully they are developing support for webkit (Safari and Google Chrome) someday too!

On the left-hand side of the main window, there is a toolbar. That toolbar contains 4 sections: Protection Status, System Snapshot, Tools, and Updates.

The Protection Status section is the primary view and can be broken down by sites and browsers. In each subsection, you can manually control every single item in the program’s library. For IE, there are extra options for preventing the spyware that directly takes advantage of that browser.

The System Snapshot tool is essentially the same as the system restore for an operating system.  This tool is limited to browser settings and other web-related settings.

The Tools menu has a fairly wide variety of options. Most of the tools are specific fixes for things that can happen to IE. If the homepage has been locked, the program name changed, or something similar to that, SpywareBlaster should be able to help. There is also a “safe” to protect backups of the hosts file (which is often targeted by spyware) as well as a Flash blocker.

Lastly, the Updates menu allows you to rapidly update the SpywareBlaster library.  Also on this menu, there is the option to purchase automatic updating.  SpywareBlaster is completely free, but if you don’t want the hassle of updating every week (which I’ve just built into my personal schedule), you can buy a license and the program will update automagically.

Personally, I’m amazed we at MakeUseOf didn’t catch this little program before now.  Maybe it is such an obviously great program that we figured it had already been done before!  At any rate, definitely grab your copy of SpywareBlaster. It’s a wonderful accessory to any other software to delete spyware you’re already using and won’t intefere with it.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a good example of the latter. It may not be as feature-laden as Spybot Search and Destroy, which has a ridiculous number of tools, but it is a very lightweight alternative with good spyware coverage.

Until recently, my only two programs to delete spyware were Spybot S&D, as I mentioned before, and Spyware Blaster, which is a preventative blacklist. Now I’m considering adding Malwarebytes to my list. The install is very quick because there really aren’t a lot of bells and whistles on the program. While some might see this as a downside, when installing spyware protection on a new machine or on the machine of a less-techy person, Malwarebytes is quick and non-confusing.

After install, check to see that the updates are as recent as possible.  This is done on the “Update” tab.  It should automatically update upon install, which is another nicety for a quick start, but I’d double-check. Once you’re all updated, try scanning. A short scan will target common hot-spots and a full scan will cover everything but take a long time. Here’s a scan I ran recently:

The scanner will show what area is being scanned, how many objects have been scanned, and how many have come up as problems.  The time on this scan is relatively short, but you may want to use it during a period of inactivity, as your system will slow dramatically during the scan.  Here are the results of that scan:

After being scanned by Spybot S&D, Malwarebytes found a number of nasty little files lurking.  Most of these were in the registry or in infected program files. This shows the value of having mulitple spyware libraries from which to run scans. Also, if you already have Spybot S&D or something similar, there is no reason to have duplicate tools.

The program does have a few more options open to you. You can restrict what is scanned and you can also add a contextual right-click option to scan individual files.

This second option is handy for anytime you have to download a file that you think is suspect. Most virus-scanners also have this capability, but this will check for malware as well.

Malwarebytes has two extra tools on board.  The first is a set of bug-reporters and false positive flaggers that will help make the network more efficient in hunting out spyware.

Also, there is a program for deleting locked files.  This can be handy when you need to delete a file that is either in use (which is generally unadvisable) or simply corrupted and difficult to delete by normal means.

Good luck managing your spyware and remember that having multiple programs installed is the best way to eliminate the need for frustrating repairs and reformattings.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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The basic premise behind Hitman Pro is that a single anti-spyware tool is often insufficient to detect the sheer variety of malicious code in the form of spyware and /or trojans. It is not an anti-spyware by itself but it downloads some of the popular anti-spyware scanning engines to scan your computer.

Therefore Hitman Pro is more of an umbrella for the rest of the scanning engines to work under. The scanning engines include names like – Prevx CSI Free, Trend Micro, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE, Spybot Search&Destroy, Webroot SpySweeper, Ewido AntiSpyware, PC Tools Spyware Doctor and Sunbelt Counterspy. It also bundles in two trial anti-virus scanning engines (not real time protection) Trend Micro Sysclean and McAfee VirusScan.

The anti-spyware programs include trial versions of paid software like the Webroot SpySweeper and PC Tools Spyware Doctor. When the trial period is over, you will have to disable them or alternatively if you have the paid component then Hitman Pro recognizes and accepts them.

The interface gives the user control over which spyware engines to install and once the setup commences, the process is pretty much automatic. It’s as if the program switches on its auto-pilot. Each program is downloaded and installed in sequence along with the updates. The interface is vanilla simple and this obviously is a double-sided feature. The simple interface offers ease of understanding and use but it also takes away control over individual engines. The only option that’s available is to select the scanning engines.

Along with automatic scanning, Hitman Pro offers some extra features like a behavioral scan, browser protection and an expert mode.

The “behavioral scan” looks at suspicious registry entries and collates all orphaned links with related information. The users can then go over the results and remove the displayed files.

The “browser security” features (called ‘SurfRight’) allow for a safe surfing environment protected from trojan attacks.

The “expert mode” gives some control to the user to deal with the threats detected. The expert mode also retains a record of the earlier detections so that the user does not have to do a full scan again. At the end of it all, the program generates a single report file for your perusal.

After using the software for some time, I’ve discovered both its good and bad sides. Here’s a small rundown…

The good…

• An integrated all in one solution to take care of your ‘defense’ shield.
• It’s a great free solution for those who don’t like to be saddled with the individual complexities of an anti-spyware program.
• Simple basic control with a single click operation.
• Updates and patches are downloaded automatically.
• Uses the better known free anti-spyware software. Also has support for the paid ones.

The bad…

• Lack of individual control over the scanning engines.
• Multiple engines take up time and slows down the system. It’s best to run the engines when the system is idle. (An auto shutdown checkmark is a thoughtful help)
• As the individual engines bloat with repeated versions, downloads over slow connections could become a problem.

Hitman Pro’s appeal lies in its one-icon solution for multiple anti-spywares. Hitman Pro and its quiver of engines could just help us circle our wagons against the attack of the trojans.

Hitman Pro 2 (2.7.6.0) runs on Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

Note: As of date, Hitman Pro 3 is in beta phase and available for public download. However it offers a different flavored solution to its earlier version. It does not use third party software but relies on its own new sophisticated heuristic technique.

Why don’t you download it, give it a go and then let us know what you think of it? Did it manage to find extra spyware that was hiding in your computer?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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• Spyware Terminator – Free Real-time Spyware Protection (19)
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Currently my home system is running the following freeware: Zone Alarm (3′rd most popular firewall among MakeUseOf readers), WinPatrol (system monitor), Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus, ThreatFire 3 (blocks zero-day attacks heuristically), SnoopFree Privacy Shield (anti-keylogger) and Spyware Terminator (spyware protection/removal). This is my minimum safety configuration; depending on circumstances, in addition, I will also use Sandboxie (a free sand box application).

As you can see, Spyware Terminator is my current application of choice in the spyware protection/removal category. Having tested virtually all of the major anti-spyware apps over the last year or more, I’ve settled, for now, on Spyware Terminator.

A simple to use interface makes this program easy to setup, customize and run, for both less experienced and expert users alike.

Spyware Terminator provides strong active protection against known and unknown threats. If anything, I find it perhaps a little overly aggressive. On the other hand, better this than the alternative.

The program rates very highly in offering protection against spyware, adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats. The scan behavior can be customized based on your level of experience; ranging from automatic interception for the less experienced user, to manual potential threat control for the more experienced user.

A definite plus is the program’s ability to schedule spyware scans on a daily or a weekly basis to ensure your computer’s continuing integrity. When set to download updates automatically, Spyware Terminator will check for, download and install new updates, keeping all files current with minimal user input. Optionally, you can choose to update manually.

Included with Spyware Terminator is Open Source ClamWin anti-virus, a reasonably effective anti-virus solution. My personal choice however has been to disengage this side of the package and to run Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus instead.

Quick Facts about Spyware Terminator

Real-time protection
Spyware removal
Automatic updates
Scheduled scans
On demand fast scan
On demand full scan
On demand customized scan
On Boot file remover
Context menu scan option
AntiVirus integration
Free support
Multilanguage support

System Requirements:

Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista

As we all know however, there is no one anti-malware tool that is likely to identify and remove all of the millions of rogue malware that infest the cyber world. So to ensure maximum safety, if that’s even possible, it’s important to have layered defenses in the ongoing fight against malware.

An excellent choice, as a secondary line of defense, is Spyware Doctor Starter Edition from PC Tools. This free version of the award winning program, with its easy to use interface, is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers; it’s reported there are a million+ additional downloads every week.

File protection is the only real time protection that operates in the free version and unfortunately, this level of real-time protection is inadequate in the current internet environment.

I would not recommend then, that you use this free version of Spyware Doctor as a stand alone security application because it simply will not offer you adequate protection. Instead, use it only as an on-demand scanner.

(By) Bill Mullins is a Blogger who writes on Internet Security, System Tools, Free Software, and provides downloads links. Check out his Blog at Tech Thoughts

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Boot into safe mode and it got stuck again. We couldn’t just get there. Luckily I had HijackThis in my USB drive and it helped analyse the problem and eventually we cleaned it to the point that he could deliver his presentation.

The moral: No matter what security software you have, you will have to get your hands wet one day so you’d better be prepared!

So what is HijackThis? An anti-virus? Malware removal tool? Anti-spyware? Well nothing fancy, actually its a tool that gives you a log (or dump) of your system’s present state. You can then analyze it yourself or post it at a vast majority of forums that will help you with your problem. In fact a HijackThis log is the first thing they ask for when you discuss your problem on forums. Lets see how you can Make Use Of it!

HijackThis Download and Install

First off you must have HijackThis on your system. Download here and run the executable, then fire up HijackThis. You will be greeted with not much of a fancy but nevertheless a pretty powerful tool.

What can you do?

• You can scan your system and save a log file.
• Simply scan your system.
• Undo the changes you made earlier.
• View the running processes and perform some actions on them.
• View the system Host file.
• Set it up to delete locked files on next system reboot.
• Delete services, open AdSpy and open a powerful uninstall manager.

Let us begin with a system scan and then I will tell you how to interpret the log (it’s not for the faint hearted!). Click on “Scan and save a log file” or simple “Scan”. You will see a plethora of information in a window like the following, this can seem frightening as none of this makes sense at first but lets take a closer look.

First thing to take note of is that towards the left (region 1, marked with red) you will see some codes like R1, R2, R3, O8,O9 etc. All these codes have special meanings (refer table). Towards the right (region 2, marked with green) you will see the details of the file in question.

Now let’s say you notice something fishy with IE or Firefox then you will see the lines marked R0, R1, R2, R3 and N1, N2, N3 and N4 and see if they contain something you don’t think is correct (like free pills!) or don’t remember installing. After confirming that, you can place a check mark on that particular entre and click “fix selected”.

You can also highlight the entry and click on “Info on selected item” to get some more information about the entry, and then you can decide if it’s indeed causing trouble. If you find yourself stuck click “analyse this” and you will be taken to a help page or alternatively you can post your log on forums and get help.

Some quick tips

All of this information may please a geek but not all of us is one! So I present some personal quick tips from my experience with Windows and the problems it has thrown at my face:

1. First and foremost check out the automatically starting applications (the entries marked O4) , If anything looks suspicious just Google for the file name and you will know if it’s legitimate or not. Remove it if it’s not legitimate. You can also check at Process Library or visit here and download the list for use in offline enviornments if you can’t get to the Internet.
2. Use the Process manager from HijackThis or the Windows Task manager to view the processes currently running. Again Google the suspicious filename and end it and remove it from automatically starting by combining this and the previous point.
3. Make sure you remove the actual file from the computer once you have verified that its harmful. (You might have to show contents of system folders and hidden files to achieve this, or better use the command line).
4. Check out the entries with the code O23, you will have to Google most of them if you don’t know what they mean but the entries here could be potentially harmful to your system. Remove the non legitimate ones.
5. Check out R0 – R3 and N0 – N3 if you find your browser misbehaving and redirecting somewhere else where you didn’t want to go.
6. Boot into safe mode, turn off system restore and do a scan with your antivirus and clean the system. You can also try the latest version of Stinger to find and remove infections from an infected system.
7. Be careful the next time. I don’t find many users doing this but please if you are using Windows XP then please create a separate limited account and do your routine work from within it. Occasionally log into the administrator account to do maintainance and software installs etc. This is very important because even if you get infected while logged in a non administrator account, the malicious files don’t have enough rights to do as much damage as they can when you are logged in as administrator.
8. If you can’t make sense of something then visit forums and take help. After doing so once or twice you will gain confidence and will be able to make use of this wonderful tool.

HijackThis is very powerful if you just master how to read and use it. It has a built in uninstall manager to remove misbehaving application. A process manager, backup utility to backup the changes you are going to make, ability blacklist or whitelist items. I planned on giving more information on each and every type but think it will get advanced and long (it already is!) so I am having to limit this.

Do let us know if you will like some more information, or would like to know more about Hijackthis in detail? Or perhaps you know of another tool that does a better job?

(By) Varun Kashyap – A tech enthusiast, programmer and a blogger, who personally loves tools like Hijackthis. Know about such tools and more at his TechCrazy blog.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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So what are hardworking cyber crooks to do then, since it has become more difficult for them to overcome your more reliable Internet security defenses? How are they going to continue to rake in their dirty money? Well, how about using social engineering to convince you to download and install a malware package voluntarily?

Fear, a great social engineering motivator is the latest weapon being used against unsuspecting/inexperienced Internet users to convince them to download “rogue security software”. Without a doubt there is an epidemic of rogue security software on the Internet at the moment; and much of it is using social engineering to convince users’ to download an unsafe product.

So there you are surfing the net when suddenly you find this popup on your screen: “System Alert! System has detected a number of active spyware applications that may impact the performance of your computer. Click the icon to get rid of unwanted spyware by downloading an up-to-date anti-spyware solution”.

Using fear as the motivator, this type of popup announcement becomes a very powerful motivator.

Would you click on the icon?

Briefly, rogue security software is software that uses malware or malicious tools to advertise or install itself. Often, after installation on a system, an attempt is made to force users to pay for removal of nonexistent spyware through the purchase of the “full” version of the bogus software, based on the false malware positives generated by the application. Of course, since it is rogue software, it cannot detect or remove malware.

Worst, in many cases rogue software has the potential to gather private and personal information from an infected machine. This could include passwords, credit card details, and other sensitive information.

Generally, reputable anti-spyware software is capable of detecting rogue software if it attempts to install, or on a malware scan. But this is not always the case. Anti-malware programs that rely on a definition database can be behind the curve in recognizing the newest threats.

A good partial solution to this problem is to ensure you have installed, and are running, an anti-malware application such as ThreatFire 3, free from PC Tools. This type of program operates using heuristics, or behavioral analysis to identify newer threats.

Also, Malwarebytes, a reliable anti-malware company has created a free application to help keep you safe and secure.

An absolute must is making sure that the security application you are considering installing is recognized as legitimate by industry experts. An excellent web site that will keep you in the loop, and advise you what products work and have a deserved reputation for quality performance is Spyware Warrior.

A further resource worth noting is the Bleeping Computer web site, where help is available for many computer related problems, including the removal of rogue software.

Listed below are some of the most aggressive rogue security applications currently flooding the Internet. These are the ones to look out for:

IE AntiVirus

A clone of MalwareBell, FilesSecure and IEDefender was specifically developed to mislead unaware computer users’ into downloading and paying for the “full” version of this bogus software, based on the false malware positives generated by the application.

Even if you are tricked into paying for the “full” version, nothing, not even the false warnings will be cleaned from your computer.

XP Antivirus 2008

Once installed, it continues to run as a background process, incessantly reporting those fake or false malware detection warnings discussed earlier, if the full program fee is not paid.

To really try your patience, this rogue security software cannot be uninstalled using the Windows Add/Remove Programs tool.

Advanced XP Fixer

(a clone of WinIFixer), is rogue anti-spyware software from Bakasoftware (Bakasoftware.com), which also operates under the name Pandora Software, that tricks users into installing the program and attempts to convince the user that the computer has been infected.

Reportedly, Advanced XP Fixer can also be installed through Internet browser exploits, or by means of the Zlob or Vundo.Trojans.

When the program runs, a warning message appears indicating that the computer has been infected by malware. Subsequently, a screensaver launches which shows cockroaches eating the desktop.

PCAntiSpyware

is capable of hijacking the desktop, after it infects a computer, by way of web browser security holes. It can also be inserted onto a machine by a number of Trojan downloaders.

AntiSpywareMaster attempts to convince victims to spend $30 – $50 to remove false positives that this program is designed to install on your machine.

What you can do to reduce the chances of infecting your system with rogue security software:

1. Be careful in downloading freeware or shareware programs. Spyware is occasionally concealed in these programs. Download this type of program only through reputable web sites such as Download.com, or sites that you know to be safe.
2. Consider carefully the inherent risks attached to peer-to-peer (P2P), or file sharing applications.
3. Install an Internet Browser add-on that provides protection against questionable or unsafe websites. My personal favorite is Web of Trust, an Internet Explorer/FireFox add-on that offers substantial protection against questionable or unsafe websites.
4. Do not click on unsolicited invitations to download software of any kind.

Additional precautions you can take to protect your computer system:

1. When you are surfing the web: Stop. Think. Click
2. Don’t open unknown email attachments
3. Don’t run programs of unknown origin
4. Disable hidden filename extensions
5. Keep all applications (including your operating system) patched
6. Turn off your computer or disconnect from the network when not in use
7. Disable Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX if possible
8. Disable scripting features in email programs
9. Make regular backups of critical data
10. Make a boot disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised
11. Turn off file and printer sharing on the computer.
12. Install a personal firewall on the computer.
13. Install anti-virus/anti-spyware software and ensure it is configured to automatically update when you are connected to the Internet
14. Ensure the anti-virus software scans all e-mail attachments

(By) Bill Mullins is a Blogger who writes on Internet Security, System Tools, Free Software, and provides downloads links. Check out his Blog at Tech Thoughts

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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According to Panda Labs, Panda Security’s laboratory for detecting and analyzing malware, every single day in 2007, it received and analyzed more than 3,000 new strains of malware, an increase of 800% over 2006 . Malware epidemic anyone?

Of particular concern is the installation of malware based on social engineering, which seems poised for a major increase in activity; an opportunity created with the boost in user participation on MySpace, FaceBook, and other social networking sites.

More and more, cyber crooks are using malware to infect computers with the objective of turning the infected machines into zombies, which working together with other infected machines, operate as a powerful networked computer system.

Many computer security analysts are now convinced malware, phishing attacks and other cyber crimes from these powerful botnets can be expected to increase in frequency.

Statistics on the number of botnets are difficult to come by, but according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, there are at least 1 million botnetted computers in the U.S. Worst, some security companies estimate that currently there are as many as 10 million botnetted machines worldwide. Indeed, some researchers believe that this may just be the part of the iceberg that we can see above the waterline.

For your own benefit it’s obviously important to keep your computer from becoming infected and becoming a part of this problem. Perhaps it’s less obvious that we all share a responsibility to help protect other computer users on the Internet from becoming infected. The way to do that is to ensure that you are part of the solution; not part of the problem created by running an insecure machine, or by engaging in unsafe surfing practices.

In effect then, it’s up to individuals to keep up as best they can; which means installing as many levels of functional protection as possible.

Trend Micro, a leader in Internet content security, has released a beta of RUBotted, a small program that watches for incoming bot-related traffic which is worth considering adding to your security toolbox.

The following program description has been obtained from TrendSecure.

Trend Micro RUBotted (Beta) is a small program that runs on your computer, watching for bot-related activities. RUBotted intelligently monitors your computer’s system behavior for activities that are potentially harmful to both your computer and other people’s computers.

RUBotted monitors for remote command and control (C&C) commands sent from a bot-herder to control your computer. Additionally, RUBotted watches for an array of potentially malicious bot-related activities, including mass mailing – a common activity performed by a bot-infected computer.

RUBotted co-exists with your existing AV software, providing advanced bot specific behavior monitoring. RUBotted does not rely on frequent, network intensive updates to ensure your computer’s continued protection.

Operating Systems:

Windows 2000 Professional (Latest Service Pack Installed)
Windows XP Professional or Home Edition (Latest Service Pack Installed)
Windows 2003 Server (Latest Service Pack Installed)
Windows Vista (32 Bit with Latest Service Pack Installed)

(By) Bill Mullins is a Blogger who writes on Internet Security, System Tools, Free Software, and provides downloads links. Check out his Blog at Tech Thoughts

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• Get Geeky and Fix your PC with HijackThis (12)
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BufferZone adds another layer of protection to your browser by setting up a sandbox (an isolated “virtual directory” on your hard drive). As Trustware puts it, the program “transparently redirects modifications in your PC to a virtual, isolated environment, so that unauthorized modifications cannot be applied to your actual PC.” Malicious apps can’t write changes to your actual system files or registry – only BufferZone’s virtualized versions. Anything you download – temp files, images, executables, you name it – gets sandboxed. Why is that a big deal?

Well, it only takes a split second for a malicious app to burrow its way into the deep, dark crevices of your operating system.

How does BufferZone help?

The sandbox keeps these nasties from going resident on your system and gives your malware defenses time to obliterate them before they can cause any harm. If I click on a link to a key generator, the hosting website redirects me to another page that spawns a browser hijacker installer. If that happens, BufferZone neatly puts it in the virtualized directory, and my anti-virus software kicks in and nukes the threat within two seconds.

To top it all off, there’s no appreciable difference in the rendering speed of your browser and no real impact on resources. On my system, the hit was 0% on the CPU and about 9MB of memory.

Slick. Very slick.

The program comes in both free and paid versions (which offers customization and protection of multiple browsers), but I’ll only talk about the free one here.

Download the 9MB .msi file and install it, and BufferZone sets up a protected, virtualized directory in c:\virtual\untrusted\. All activity from your selected browser will now be redirected here and isolated from your “real” operating system.

Before I go any further with this, I’ve got to tell you to NOT knowingly visit any sites that are likely to infect your computer. You’re asking for trouble. I was, too, but I had to find out whether this app was the real deal or not. I also tested BufferZone Free on IE7 from a bare Windows XP SP2 install with no other patches applied.

To put BufferZone through the paces, I decided to go on a little jaunt around some of the most nefarious sites I’m familiar with. I headed over to a keygen site, did a few searches, and watched BufferZone spring into action as it popped up several alerts for items that were landing in the sandbox. The beauty of it: my anti-virus software caught every single one of them and removed them with ease. I surfed around carelessly for a while longer and exited Internet Explorer at which point some other evildoers tried to invade my system, but BufferZone and Avast! once again tag-teamed them into submission.

After a reboot, I ran a full scan with Ad-Aware and HijackThis and couldn’t find any traces of anything remotely malicious. Wow. I’m impressed!

Here’s the kicker. Even in the free version, the app will protect not only your browser, but any process spawned by the browser. Download an attachment from your Gmail account and launch it with Word, and Word automatically inherits the BufferZone protection. This is huge; even if your webmail provider automatically scans attachments, no scan is perfect.

The program worked beautifully in my testing and it’s footprint wasn’t even noticable. For a free application with such terrific security potential, BufferZone Free is definitely worth a download. If you’re still not convinced, try out Trustware’s proof of concept.

If you’ve tried BufferZone, what do you think of it? Got something better that you’d recommend? Let’s hear about it!

(by) Lee Mathews is a blogger who writes to share downloads, links, and tech advice with other slightly frustrated people at Unsightful.com.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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During these times I would normally use the trusty SpyBot – Search & Destroy application because it’s superior in many ways, but if I don’t have it with me or feel like just doing a quick online check without having to install a client application, the few choices below provide a good alternative.

BitDefender – Easy on-demand virus scanner using powerful BitDefender engines. It scans system memory, files and drive boot sectors. It also automagically cleans infected files. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

CA – Online virus scanner. Just agree to a little ActiveX component and you’re scanning with ease in just a brief moment. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

ESET – Online malware scanner. With just an acceptance of ESET’s TOS, you can scan your PC for known malware including viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing, and spyware.

ewido – Simple cleaner for malware. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

F-Secure – Simple virus scan from web. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

Jotti – Simple file checker. Jotti uses several scanners to look into the file you upload to determine if it’s infected.

McAfee FreeScan – McAfee FreeScan is a great virus scanner using the award-winning McAfee Scan Engine. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

NanoScan – Great, fast scanning application previously covered by the MUO Directory.

Panda ActiveScan – Get a free Panda scan that checks for viruses, spyware and other various internet threats. Current count over 185,000 viruses, worms, and trojans. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

TrendMicro – Scans for Viruses and Malware. It also scans for vulnerabilities and and fixes them to prevent re-infestation.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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TOP 5: Free Security Programs (Antivirus, Spyware Removal, etc.)

(1) AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition Memory-friendly free antivirus program that comes with lifetime free access to virus definition updates. Highlights include automatic update, real-time protection, free virus database updates, and some more. With nearly 1 mil. downloads (926,832) last week alone, this gotta be a good tool.

(2) Ad-Aware 2007 – Free utility to remove Spyware, Adware and whatever Crapware you may have. Scans your RAM, Windows Registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components. One of my personal favorites. Note: After installation, it will ask you for a registration code. Just hit Cancel and you’re good to go. (Nr. of downloads last week: 864,874)

(3) Spybot – Search & Destroy – Yet another spy/ad/craplet removal tool. Also lets you clean-up program and web-usage tracks, and even fix spyware-caused Registry inconsistencies. I have been using it for more then a year now and love it. (Nr. of downloads last week: 184,292)

(4) Advanced WindowsCare Personal – Comprehensive PC health maintenance utility that offers one-click clean-up and repair wizard. Features include: Spyware removal, security warnings, privacy protection, Registry fix, temporary files clean-up, Windows repair and more. (Nr. of downloads last week: 101,321)

(5) Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic – By far less popular than above AVG, also some users report rather slow scan process. Nonethless, with 85,154 downloads last week still remains listed as the second most popular free antivirus software.

TOP 5: Free PC Maintenance / Optimization Programs (Disk Defragmenter, Registry Cleaner, etc.)

(1) Advanced WindowsCare Personal – see above (Nr. of downloads last week: 101,321)

(2) Auslogics Disk Defrag – Faster, more efficient and dead-simple alternative to Windows Disk Defragmenter. Looking at it’s feature set the only drawback I can think of is lack of auto-run scheduler. Other than that, seems like an excellent program. [Note: Disk Fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow startup/shutdown and sometimes to system failures] (Nr. of downloads last week: 44,967)

(3) CCleaner – Extensive and rather fast registry fixer + browser junk clean-up tool. Includes registry backup feature. Make sure to back up your registry before running CCleaner cleanup. (Downloads last week: 36,940)

(4) XP SafeGuard – XP SafeGuard lets you alter and disable several Windows settings to boost system performance. Disable questionable services, remove windows messenger, performance tweaks, disable windows automatic update, and lots more. (Downloads last week: 21,777)

(5) WinDirStat – Handy piece of software that offers an informative visual display of your hard-drive usage. Lets you quickly figure out what occupies most of your disk space (movies, documents, pics, those hidden videos , etc.) Downloads last week: 11,566.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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I would also recommend many internet cafe users to run PC though TrendMicro scan before providing any sensitive data. Or better not to provide any sensitive data all, do it only when you’re connecting from your own computer. However, if you have no other choice and have to access sensitive accounts from public PC then check out these Public PC safety tips.

As it is a web based application, TrendMicro’s software runs directly from your browser.

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