Removing Malware System Tools 2011 or Security Shield Clones

It is getting more and more difficult for virus and malware scanners to intercept malicious software in a timely manner. Even though people are diligently keeping their virus software up-to-date these insidious, destructive, time-wasting and costly viruses are proliferating at an exponential rate and software companies simply cannot keep up with the information needed to identify potential viruses.

Particularly infuriating are the viruses that are security software clones. These clones act like virus detection sofware. They display security alerts advising that your computer is infected and these clones then try to dupe you into downloading a program and/or spending money to get the virus removed. An example of one of these clones is System Tools 2011. Another is a Security Shield clone.

You will get these alerts right at the point of visiting one website or another and perhaps you’ve clicked on a particular link…thinking that you are downloading a music file. Sometimes all you have to do is visit a page and it immediately starts a download. Many websites are infected without the knowledge of the website owners.

To Prevent Damage to Your Computer Shut It Down Immediately!

If you get infected with one of these viruses shut down your computer immediately. Do not attempt to get rid of the virus. Do not attempt to run your virus scanner. It is already too late for that. Typically the viruses block your scanners and will block your attempts to use online scanners. Attempting these tasks will simply spread the virus further. Unless you know precisely what steps to take, the more you try to get rid of the virus the more damage it will do. Eventually it will become impossible to operate your computer.

Use a Bootable Thumb Drive

The very best approach is to reboot your computer using a clean USB thumb drive…one that is setup to boot Windows. When you reboot your computer you select to reboot from a USB device and not from your hard drive.

You should make and keep a bootable thumb drive in your arsenal of tools. Don’t wait until you have a problem. Make it now!

Booting Windows from a clean bootable disk puts you in a position to safely use Windows Explorer to hunt for and delete the virus. The thumb drive should contain the latest versions of various virus scanners including the Microsoft Malicious Tool remover. Sometimes you have to scan with half a dozen different tools to locate the virus. Sometimes, depending on how new the virus is, none of the scanners will find the virus and you just have to manually search for and delete the virus.

Boot Windows in Safe Mode with Command Prompt

If you can’t get your hands on a bootable thumb drive, the next best step is to use the F8 key to boot windows in safe mode with the command prompt. You can then use the command prompt to safely hunt for the virus. This is a very technical procedure. Yesterday I spent two hours talking through the procedure with a member of my family who is thousands of miles away from me. We found the offending exe file and we were able to delete it. We then rebooted to safe mode and installed various scanning tools including a trial version of Vipre. Vipre was the only virus tool that found the remaining components of the particular virus (a Security Shield clone) and eradicated it. Vipre also found additional lurking trojans and which various other virus scanning tools missed.

Another point to note: in researching the Security Shield clone, I found various instructions for removing it. The instructions usually include the names of files and certain entries in the registry to delete. But none of these tips proved accurate. The specified registry entries did not exist and the file name containing the virus was competely different from the one specified and there was more than one file to be deleted.

Cut Their Friggin Fingers Off!

Here’s what I think the penalty should be for any one caught authoring or distributing software viruses: cut their fingers off! That way they can’t use a keyboard to create any more malware.

Be Alert and Cautious

Here is a list of do’s and don’ts that might help keep you safe from malicious software.

• Keep your Windows software up-to-date.
• If you don’t have system recovery disks, make them now!
• Keep your virus software up-to-date.
• Use more than one virus scanner and scan often.
• Be vigilant about opening email from strangers. Don’t open email unless you know the sender. Even if you do be cautious because email accounts are being breached daily and used to spread spam and viruses.
• Don’t click on links in email even if you know the sender unless you are absolutely sure it is safe.
• Be suspicious of any email attachments or tiny urls
  (This is a sample of a tiny url : http://bit.ly/dM5gJU
• Be careful about downloading freeware. Malware authors often use freeware to spread their malice.
• Pay close attention to all alerts and error messages. Are these legitimate? Note down the detail; it might be useful later.
• And be very very cautious about clicking yes to any unsolicited downloads or attempts to install software.
• Last and not least do regular backups of your most important files especially any recent work files.

Need More Information?

If you need more information about the any thing in the do’s and don’t list or how to make a bootable USB drive or how to use the command prompt to find virus files post a comment below and I will reply. On the USB bootable drive, you will find plenty of instructions on the internet but most are written by geeks and are rather too cryptic for the inexperienced.

Tagged as: removing malware, Security Shield clones, System Tool 2011