Total Internet Security Software



Archive for December, 2005

How to Get Rid of Spyaxe Malware

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SpyAxe is an anti-spyware application that may be distributed and installed without a user’s knowledge or consent. The installed application functions up to the point when a user wants to remove a found infection, at which point the software requires purchase. The software may falsely alarm about infections, even prior to conducting a scan.

SpyAxe is an anti-spyware application sometimes installed without a user’s knowledge or consent. A trojan already installed on a user’s computer may show a fraudulent warning that the user may be infected. When the user clicks the message, the trojan will download and silently install SpyAxe. After installation, SpyAxe will detect the trojan that installed it, but without any details. The user will not be allowed to attempt cleaning of the trojan until paying for SpyAxe.

SpyAxe will falsely alarm the user of a registry key, which the software claims is a component of 2Search, and marks it as a high security risk. The registry key is actually belongs to a scripting component and is a part of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Spyaxe seems to be downloaded and installed by Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Zlob.

Delete Spyaxe Spyware Now:
How to remove Spyaxe by: noahdfear

Removal Instructions:

Print out these instructions as we will need to shutdown every window that is open later in the fix.

Download smitRem.exe and save the file to your desktop.

Double click on smitRem.exe and then click on Start. When it is done, click on the OK button. You should now have a folder called smitRem on your desktop.

Next, please reboot your computer in SafeMode by doing the following:

Restart your computer

After hearing your computer beep once during startup, but before the Windows icon appears, press F8.

Instead of Windows loading as normal, a menu should appear

Select the first option, to run Windows in Safe Mode.

When your computer has started in safe mode and you see the desktop, close all open Windows.

Open the smitRem folder on your desktop and double click the RunThis.bat file to start the tool.

Follow the prompts on screen and wait for the tool to complete and disk cleanup to finish.

When the tool is finished, it will will create a log named smitfiles.txt in the root of your drive, eg; Local Disk C: or the partition where your operating system is installed. Examining that log should show that the infection was cleaned.

Reboot your computer back to normal mode.

Your computer should now be free of the SpyAxe infection.

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What is Adware?

Adware Spyware Protection

The most notorious of all mal-ware is adware. Generally speaking, adware is any software application in which ads are delivered via banners, popups, toolbars, etc. The developers of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen. The most infamous adware products include WhenU, Gator (Claria) and eZula, but there are hundreds.

Adware is added to your computer generally without your knowledge when you download anything free over the Internet. This method of downloading is known as “stealth software” or “drive-by downloads”. Your computer could have been infected by mal-ware during online activities such as downloading music, pictures, shareware programs like screensavers and animated cursors, popup ads, email attachments or by even visiting some websites that use Active X coding to insert parasites onto your computer. Pay particular attention to the fine print when downloading anything over the Internet. Some programs include brief information in the Terms and Conditions related to serving you targeted ads based on your shopping habits.

Adware records what you are typing and what sites you are visiting. Ads are then served based on your activity. In a perfect world, adware would be a very popular application and serve you ads that are targeted to what you are interested in. However, unscrupulous publishers push way too many ads and products that are not targeted to your needs. We have had reports of consumers getting 15-20 popup ads at once!

Adware and Spyware Removal

Adware is legal at this time and the only way to prevent it from infecting your computer is to purchase an anti-adware product like Privacy Defender 3.0. A good anti-adware product has to offer regular updates and real-time monitoring as well as free technical support. PCSecurityShield continuously ads adware updates to its extensive database of over 13,300 mal-ware definitions.

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What are Computer Viruses?

Virus Protection Software

 TYPES OF INFECTION:  

  • Viruses
  • E-mail Viruses
  • Worms
  • Trojan Horses

 

WHAT IS A VIRUS?  

  • Viruses- A virus is a software program that is capable of replicating with little or no user intervention, and the replicated programs also replicate further. Viruses piggyback on real programs. For example, a virus may attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs as well, and it has the opportunity to reproduce by attaching to other programs. The purpose of a virus can be anything from erasing files, formatting your hard drive, to replacing text in your document. Viruses are often disguised as games or images with clever titles such as “Pictures of ME”.
  • E-mail Viruses- An email virus moves around in e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to the people in the victim’s e-mail address book.
  • Worms- A worm is a virus that spreads by creating duplicates of itself on other drives, systems, or networks. Worms may send copies of themselves to other computers across network connections, through e-mails, through infected web pages, or through instant messages.
  • Trojan Horses- This program may claim to do one thing (such as claiming to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it. Trojan horses are not technically viruses, since they do not replicate.

HOW DO VIRUSES SPREAD?  

When you execute program code that is infected by a virus, the virus code will also run and try to infect other programs, either on the same computer or on other computers connected to it over a network. And the newly infected programs will try to infect yet more programs. When you share a copy of an infected file with other computer users, running the file may also infect their computers; and files from those computers may spread the infection to yet more computers.

For example, if your computer is infected with a boot sector virus, the virus tries to write copies of itself to the system areas of floppy disks and hard disks. Then the infected floppy disks may infect other computers that boot from them, and the virus copy on the hard disk and will try to infect still more floppies.  

WHAT DO VIRUSES DO TO COMPUTERS?  

The actual effect of any particular virus depends on how it was programmed by the person who wrote the virus. Some viruses are deliberately designed to damage files or interfere with your computer’s operation, while others only spread themselves around and may cause damage to your computer in the process of spreading.

TIPS ON AVOIDING VIRUSES AND WORMS:

  1. Install antivirus software, update regularly, and use it regularly.
  2. Do regular backups. If you contract a virus it may be the only way to recover your data. Ideally, you should backup your entire system on a regular basis, however if this is not practical, at least backup files that you can’t afford to lose or that would be difficult to replace: documents, bookmark files, address books, important emails, etc.
  3. When possible, avoid e-mail attachments both when sending and receiving e-mail.
  4. Never open email attachments with the file extensions VBS, SHS, or PIF. These extensions are almost never used in normal attachments but they are frequently used by viruses and worms.
  5. Never open attachments with double file extensions such as NAME.BMP.EXE or NAME.TXT.VBS.
  6. Disconnect your network or modem cable when you’re not using your computer-or just power it down.
  7. If you feel that an e-mail you get from a friend is strange (if it is a foreign language or it just says odd things) double check with the friend before opening any attachments.
  8. When you receive e-mail advertisements or unsolicited e-mail, do not open attachments.
  9. Avoid attachments with sexual file names.
  10. Do not trust the icons of attachment file. Worms often use executable files which have an icon resembling icons of picture, text, or archive files to fool the user.
  11. Never accept attachments from strangers in online chat systems such as IRC, ICQ, or AOL Instant Messenger.
  12. Avoid using floppies to exchange information between computers.  

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