How to remove the iSecurity (iSecurity.cpl) Trojan (Removal Instructions)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on May 21, 2008 @ 02:05 PM · Views: 11,838

 

What this infection does:

A new malware that has been picking up steam lately is the iSecurity Trojan. This Trojan is typically spread by users visiting porn and warez sites without all of the latest security updates or by downloading and running executables from these sites. Once the Trojan is installed, it will create a fake Windows Security Center window that defines the term Spyware and then provides a list of rogue anti-malware programs that it tells you to choose from and install in order to protect yourself. The current list of the programs that the iSecurity Trojan is pushing are Advanced XP Defender, Ultimate Defender, AdvancedXPFixer, Ultimate Cleaner, and WinIFixer. The reality is that all of the advertised programs do not perform as advertised and should be avoided.

 

Fake Windows Security Center Advertisement
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 2 images you can view.

 

iSecurity will also display other fake Windows Security popups stating that Windows has not found a particular program that it is advertising and asking if you would like to install it. Using fake Windows Security popups, the creator of iSecurity is hoping to trick you into thinking these alerts are legitimate Windows messages and should be followed. This is of course untrue.

In order to remove the iSecurity.cpl infection and other related malware, please follow the free removal steps described below.

 

Threat Classification:

• Trojan Horses

 

Advanced information:

View iSecurity files.
View iSecurity Registry Information.

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O2 - BHO: 566828 helper - {220A105A-16EE-44C1-A4C8-AD76C709FC1D} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\566828\566828.dll
O2 - BHO: iSecurity - {A8311E8F-E459-4D22-89B4-CB9DCF10A425} - iSecurity.cpl (file missing)
O2 - BHO: cj helper - {F10587E9-0E47-4CBE-84AE-7DD20B8684BB} - C:\Program Files\IE Extensions\cj.v4.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iSecurity applet] rundll32.exe iSecurity.cpl,SecurityMonitor
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: iSecurity.cpl
O21 - SSODL: iSecurity - {A8311E8F-E459-4D22-89B4-CB9DCF10A425} - iSecurity.cpl (file missing)
O21 - SSODL: PreBootCheck - {ae0ef70d-32c6-440e-a063-e2072fd67458} - C:\WINDOWS\Resources\MonRom.dll

 

Guide Updates:

05/21/08 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for iSecurity using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:

 

1. Print out these instructions as we will need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
   
   
2. Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop:
   
   Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link (Download page will open in a new window)
   
   


3. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
   
   
4. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
   
   
5. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button.
   
   
6. MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for iSecurity related files.
   
   
8. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the iSecurity.cpl removal process.
   
   
10. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
    
    
11. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
    
    
12. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
    
    
13. You can now exit the MBAM program.
    

Your computer should now be free of the iSecurity.cpl program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future.

If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:

Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help

 

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Associated iSecurity Files:

c:\term.bat
c:\WINDOWS\Resources\SetupDrive.dll
c:\WINDOWS\system32\iSecurity.cpl
c:\WINDOWS\system32\566828
c:\WINDOWS\system32\566828\566828.dll
c:\Program Files\IE Extensions
c:\Program Files\IE Extensions\cj.v4.dll
c:\Program Files\iSecurity
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\axpdefender.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\axpdefender.ico
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\axpdefenderi.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\axpfixer.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\axpfixer.ico
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\axpfixeri.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\iSecurity.dat
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\ucleaner.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\ucleaner.ico
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\ucleaneri.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\udefender.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\udefender.ico
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\udefenderi.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\winifixer.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\winifixer.ico
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\winifixeri.bmp
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\{32FF2108-1EF0-4ae8-8C23-17C92EAA5DEF}
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\{AE997BF5-8AF9-43c3-946B-2C29553E5141}
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\{A39F804A-4A63-4ff2-B201-23B0E2CC8474}
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\{A39F804A-4A63-4ff2-B201-23B0E2CC8474}\install.exe
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\v7
c:\Program Files\iSecurity\v7\iSecurity.cpl
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Advanced XP Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Advanced XP Fixer.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Ultimate Cleaner.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Ultimate Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\WinIFixer.lnk
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\tmp21924840.exe
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\tmp21925151.dll

File Location Notes:

%UserProfile% refers to the current user's profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\<Current User> for Windows 2000/XP, C:\Users\<Current User> for Windows Vista/7, and c:\winnt\profiles\<Current User> for Windows NT.

 

Associated iSecurity Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CJ.cjmgr
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{220A105A-16EE-44C1-A4C8-AD76C709FC1D}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{A8311E8F-E459-4D22-89B4-CB9DCF10A425}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F10587E9-0E47-4CBE-84AE-7DD20B8684BB}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\e405.e405mgr
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{F7D09218-46D7-4D3D-9B7F-315204CD0836}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iSecurity.mgr
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{E63648F7-3933-440E-B4F6-A8584DD7B7EB}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\iSecurity
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{220A105A-16EE-44C1-A4C8-AD76C709FC1D}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{A8311E8F-E459-4D22-89B4-CB9DCF10A425}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{F10587E9-0E47-4CBE-84AE-7DD20B8684BB}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "iSecurity applet"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad "iSecurity"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad "PreBootCheck"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Toolbar\4.0\Options "Hidden"="1"
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\zip.plugin "UserId"="{20FE3538}"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows "AppInit_DLLs"="iSecurity.cpl"