Avoid a Phishing Scam Online

 

The act of sending email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization. This is usually combined with a threat or request for information: for example, that an account will close, a balance is due, or information is missing from an account. The email will ask the recipient to supply confidential information, such as bank account details, PINs or passwords; these details are then used by the owners of the website to conduct fraud.

Phishing is when a scam artist sends a message to trick you into providing your personal information. The scam artists then use that information to steal your identity and your money.

There are ways to protect yourself against phishing scams online that are easy and should be done by everyone.

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How to Remove Doubleclick Adware

DoubleClick is a common tracking cookie placed onto your computer by various websites. Once it's there, the parent company can retrieve it and you may start receiving pop-up ads and emails based on the tracking information. To avoid this, you need to regularly remove DoubleClick tracking cookies. You can make the process a part of your regular spyware prevent routine with some easy steps.

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AUTORUN.INF VIRUS

Autorun.inf Virus

Removing AUTORUN.INF Virus

There are several viruses that uses the autorun.inf to spread itself such as the Bacalid (hides itself in ctfmon.exe) and the RavMon.EXE. These viruses set its file attributes to System+Hidden+Read-Only attributes so some anti-viruses will have a hard time detecting or finding them. These viruses save itself in the root directory of every available drives of the current infected computer and runs itself every time you Double-Click the drive. In USB Sticks and CDs that are infected by the virus runs automatically especially if drive autorun is enabled for the current drives (which is usually by default, autorun for drives are enabled).

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Protect Your Computer Against the Conficker Worm

From the House of Commons in the United Kingdom to servers of corporations in the United States to the average user across the globe, the Conficker Worm is attacking anything and everything in it's path, wreaking havoc and killing Internet connections, slowing corporate functions and infiltrating the most sensitive of data. 

Conficker has since spread rapidly into what is now believed to be the largest computer worm infection since the 2003 SQL Slammer, with more than seven million government, business and home computers in over 200 countries now under its control. The worm has been unusually difficult to counter because of its combined use of many advanced malware techniques.

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How to Remove Smart Internet Protection 2011

How to Remove Smart Internet Protection 2011

Smart Internet Protection 2011 is a harmful security application that was added in the lists of rogue software that currently spread over the Internet providing problems on computer users. Smart Internet Protection 2011 tries to force users into spending for its licensed program by producing annoyances on the compromised system and will only stop if the registered version is purchased. These annoyances will be in the form of excessive pop-up alerts and, browser redirection and blocking of installed application from executing.

A Trojan is the main culprit how Smart Internet Protection 2011 can get inside the system. Trojan will look for certain software and security vulnerabilities and took advantage of it to penetrate a system. Once inside, a modification will be performed on the registry that will make Smart Internet Protection 2011 more powerful that any installed security product. It will repeatedly run its own virus scan and convince user that computer is infected. At the right timing, it will advise to obtain the registered version of Smart Internet Protection 2011 and extract money from its victims by redirecting them to a fraudulent online payment processing web page.

Steps to Follow

1. Restart your computer in SafeMode

Ø      Press F8 on keyboard as soon as you turn on the computer

Ø      Select SafeMode to start the computer loading only minimal resources

2. Delete Windows registry entries the malware created on Windows Start Menu

Ø      Click Start > Run

Ø      Type in the field, regedit

Ø      Find registry entries mentioned below and delete them

 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3

 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MSSSys.DocHostUIHandler

 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Smart Internet Protection 2011”

Note: It is important to BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY FIRST.

3. Files related to Smart Internet Protection 2011 must be deleted:

 Ø      Browse and delete following malicious files

%Documents and Settings%\All Users\Application Data\[random]\

%Documents and Settings%\All Users\Application Data\[random]\[random].mof

%Documents and Settings%\All Users\Application Data\[random]\Smart Internet Protection 2011.exe

%Documents and Settings%\All Users\Application Data\[random]\[random].exe

%Documents and Settings%\All Users\Application Data\[random]\Quarantine Items

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Smart Internet Protection 2011.lnk

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\Application Data\Smart Internet Protection 2011\

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\Application Data\Smart Internet Protection 2011\Instructions.ini

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\Desktop\Smart Internet Protection 2011.lnk

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\ANTIGEN.dll

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\ANTIGEN.drv

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\cid.tmp

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\CLSV.exe

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\CLSV.sys

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\DBOLE.drv

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\delfile.sys

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\eb.sys

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\energy.exe

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\exec.exe

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\fan.drv

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\kernel32.dll

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\pal.exe

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\PE.dll

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\ppal.drv

%Documents and Settings%\Recent\tempdoc.tmp

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\StartMenu\Smart Internet Protection 2011.lnk

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\StartMenu\Programs\Smart Internet Protection 2011.lnk

Note: Some files cannot be deleted instantly. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to open Windows Task Manager, look for any virus-related files mentioned on this page and highlight it, click End Process. Try to delete the file once more.

4. Run Antivirus Program

 Ø      You must be connected to Internet to be able to update your anti-virus program. This is needed to have the latest database available and detect newer threats.

Ø      Thoroughly scan the computer and clean or delete all detected threats.

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Blank Computer Virus

Computer viruses are a reality and you are likely to encounter one on your own computer at some point. Some of these can be quite harmless, but others can cause chaos. Knowing what to do in such a situation will be beneficial for you in restoring your PC to proper operating order; however if you are unsure of how to correct a problem, it might be better to consult a computer technician.

 

Explanation

 

If you come across the About:blank screen when you use Internet Explorer, odds are that it may be a virus. The About:blank screen virus is a browser hijacker which is designed to take control of your web browser. The main purpose of this browser hijacker is to redirect you to more dangerous sites in an attempt to download viruses and spyware to your computer and to access your private information.

 

Cleaning

Removing the About:blank virus is possible, and you can find many step-by-step guides on the Internet to help you. You can also download spyware-removal software specifically for this problem, and these programs can be located by doing a simple search online. It is also recommended that you have an updated antivirus program that can detect and remove this virus before any avoidable harm comes to your operating system.

Viruses

Viruses and malware are specifically programmed to harm operating systems or to collect sensitive information from users. Although most of them will easily be picked up by good antivirus software, some of them might sneak in without the user's knowledge. These are the ones to be concerned about because you might not notice them until they have caused damage to your PC

Prevention

The best tool to use against computer attacks is a current antivirus program. Antivirus software companies work to find solutions to new viruses and attacks every day. Updating your antivirus definitions and performing regular scans will help prevent the About:blank virus from infecting your computer.

Technology

Technology is a critical tool in our daily lives and can unfortunately become one of our worst enemies as well. With cyber crime increasing by the day and new viruses being deployed, you are constantly vulnerable to these threats. Knowledge is power and by arming yourself with the right information, tools and software you can ensure that your data and system are safe from attackers.

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How to remove Mc AVG 2011

Mc AVG 2011 is a bogus computer security software that was known to mimic the graphical user interface of a popular Av application. McAVG and Mc AVG 2011 virus will produce an extensive display of pop-up alerts to convince computer users that computer is infected. Each time Windows is started, Mc AVG 2011 also run its own virus scan that also displays dozens of threats. This results were found to be misleading and are inaccurate. After all, it was diagnosed that McAVG does not contain real AV components to protect a computer neither remove any threats. It just uses a plain scare tactics to force users into obtaining the Mc AVG 2011 program.

Steps to Follow

1. Restart your computer in SafeMode

 After Power-On the computer, just before Windows start, press F8

  From the selections, Select SafeMode

2. Remove Registry entries that the threat added.

Click Start > Run
Type in the field, regedit

Delete the following entries

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon “Shell” = %UserProfile%\Application Data\.exe

Note: You must back up your registry.

3. Delete malicious files that the threat added:

Browse and delete the following files

%AppData%\[random].exe

 If no location is given, click Start>Search> and search for the files.
If cannot be deleted, press Ctrl+Alt+Del to access Task Manager, see if the file is running in the process. If it is, select the file and click End Process. Perform file delete again.

4. Scan computer with Antivirus Program
Update antivirus program
Scan computer and delete all detected threats.

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