Today I had a visit with a brand new client whose computer was infected with spyware. The spyware was a rogue application that displays itself as an antivirus program called “Desktop Security 2010”. The spyware program displays warnings to the user that his / her computer is infected with hundreds of trojan horse viruses and other spyware, when the program itself is the only problem!
This type of trick is on the rise with spyware. A program, that may install itself based on a bad email / website you clicked on, that portrays itself as legitimate antivirus software. The particularly nasty ones will display a prompt for you to buy the software (as you are only running a trial of their nasty program) to clear up all your problems…“just give us your credit card number!”
Be on the lookout for these types of scams. If you do experience this type of issue, P3C Technologies can meet with you for an initial consultation. We determine at that point if the spyware is easy to remove or if we need to explore other options (such as backing up all your data and restoring the computer to factory condition).
For this particular spyware infection, it was easily removable within one hour’s time. To do this I:
- Was able to disable all items in the startup via msconfig
- Remove the program’s executable and supporting files from “C:documents and settings<profile name>application datadesktop security 2010”
- Remove all the registry settings related to the program
- Scan and repair with MalwareBytes
Removal is just one step in the service P3C Technologies provides. We also review the security and Internet browsing experience on your computer to give you a complete recommendation on how to improve your computer setup, making it harder for these types of infections to occur!