Category: antivirus

  • Park Your Virus Impervious Smugness Mac (and Linux) Users

    Screenshot of ClamTk 3.08 running on Ubuntu 8....
    Image via Wikipedia

    I use linux. I prefer it over Windows for many reasons. It’s more resistant to viruses, less of a target, but that doesn’t mean that malware or other viruses are impossible. If someone were to trick me into running something and even worse, trick me into using my administrator password to install something system wide, it could be the same end result as a windows malware infection. To be fair Microsoft has improved their security over the years. They are still the most likely platform though to get a drive by virus just by visiting a site (with no user interaction.) That much said, Mac users and Linux users should avoid being smug. Why? They aren’t completely safe. No one is. Social engineering is the most common (and most effective) path to getting malware on a computer.

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  • McAfee Antivirus gives Windows XP Autoimmune disorder….

    Bad day for McAfee antivirus users….. It looks like the corporate users were bit the hardest. An update this morning basically detected svchost.exe as a virus and sent machines (Windows 7 not affected – but XP SP3 was…) into a perpetual reboot cycle. The fix requires manual intervention and some techs are reporting that the wait time for corporate users getting their machine back is several days.

    If you’re sick and tired of McAfee and switching to something else you may want to visit the antivirus removal page to find the mcafee removal tool. (Not that I recommend you ditching McAfee over this, but I know how some people are.)

    Here’s a link to the fix as McAfee has posted. Now of course…. many people use this as an opportunity to flame windows or McAfee and brag on their Mac or Linux box but what’s the real lesson that should be taken from this?

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  • Windows XP Stop 0x0000007B Error Booting into Safe Mode

    A recent malware removal session gave a very frustrating error in trying to boot into safe mode. I was unable to boot into safe mode, safe mode with networking or even safe mode with the command prompt. The Stop Error was a Stop 0x0000007B Error. The instructions on the screen talk about running chkdsk on the drive (which I did.) There were a few things found and corrected, but the problem was still there. On investigation I went into the registry editor (regedit) and found that the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot registry key had been emasculated. There were two subkeys for minimal and network profiles…. So… I found a way to rebuild them.

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  • How to Remove Live Enterprise Suite | Live Enterprise Suite Removal Guide

    Live Enterprise Suite is yet another rogue security application. This is a successor to the frustrating Internet Antivirus Pro and Ghost Antivirus rogues. Like many of these security rogues they are pushed through malware and aggressive advertising. This may be a website that when visited a screen pops up that appears to be doing a scan on your computer. However, everyone sees the same video when they visit the site, so you may see the same message whether you’re browsing with windows, apple mac or linux. Unfortunately, this trick is effective and many will click on the link they provide which installs the software on the local machine. Read on for how to remove live enterprise suite.

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  • How to Remove APCSafe | APCSafe Removal Guide

    APCSafe is another of the recent variations on the Wini family of rogue antivirus applications. Like all the others it is pushed by trojan activity… this is typically a video site that claims to have a sought after video, but alas…. the video cannot be viewed unless you install a flashplayer update that they have on the site, or a video codec. These of course, aren’t really what they are, they are the payload of this rogue antivirus. Once it is installed it will run at boot, scan files and complain of many viruses on your system as well as security problems with your computer. None of these can be fixed without paying for the software, so it claims. This is a scam, so please read on for how to remove apcsafe.

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  • How to Remove PCSecure | PCSecure Removal Guide

    PCSecure is a recent rogue antivirus from the notorious and prolific wini family of rogue security software. It is typically promoted via trojan downloaders. Usually these will be on a website with a video that may be highly sought after. In order to see the video though you are told that you need to download a codec update or flash player update. This is where you get the infection that starts the nightmare of popups complaining of viruses on your system and multiple security problems on your pc. The real kicker is that they claim that the problems cannot be fixed unless you purchase their software. This is a scam and should be avoided. Read on for how to remove PCSecure.

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  • How to Remove Desktop Security 2010 | Desktop Security 2010 Removal Guide

    Desktop Security 2010 is a rogue antivirus application. It is a successor to Total PC Defender and installs on your pc without permission through the use of malware. Once on your system it will create numerous files that it then finds during scheduled scans and it claims these files are virus infected. It will scan at windows startup and claim these files and some legitimate files are infected with viruses and the only way it can clean them is if you purchase the software. If the files listed are removed it can damage your system. Obviously, this is a scam just to get your money, read on for how to remove desktop security 2010.

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  • How to Remove APCSecure | APCSecure Removal Guide

    APCSecure is yet another rogue antivirus application from the prolific and annoying wini family of rogues. This particular variant also comes with a rootkit called TDL3. Trojans are used to promote this rogue antivirus and you will likely find that it will create multiple empty files on your computer that it will then find during scans and claim that they are all virus infected files. Like most all rogues it will also claim that your only hope to fix the security problems on your pc is to purchase their software. This is a scam, do not let them separate you from your hard earned money. Read on for how to remove apcsecure.

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  • How to Remove ProtectSoldier | ProtectSoldier Removal Guide

    ProtectSoldier followed right on the heels of ProtectDefender as another entry of rogue antivirus software in the notorious and prolific wini family of rogues. Like all of them it is installed via trojan horses and pushed via flash player updates and video codec downloads. Once installed on a system it will create numerous files to scan and then later claim are virus infected. Further it will run each startup and scan your computer claiming multiple security problems with your pc. It is at this point that it will tell you that in order to fix all the problems on your computer you must purchase this software. This is a scam…. read on for how to remove protectsoldier.

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  • How to Remove ProtectDefender | ProtectDefender Removal Guide

    ProtectDefender is yet another recent rogue antivirus application from the wini family. As with many of the other entrants from this family, it is installed through the use of bogus flash updates and purported video codec downloads. Typically a computer user will run across a site that claims to host a well sought after video and when they arrive at the page there is a claim that an extra video codec or flash player update in order to view the video. Once installed on the system it will create numerous files in c:\Windows and c:\windows\system32. These files are harmless, but it will later claim that these files are infected with viruses and other malware. It will also run at windows startup and claim that the only way to fix the problems on your system is to purchase the software. This is essentially a scam…. read on for how to remove protectdefender.

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