Have a problem and would like to ask us for help? To learn how to ask your question Click Here! Do you have popups or other malware infecting your computer? If so, Start Here! Are you having trouble using this site? Then you should visit the New User Orientation Center!
Security Master AV is a program that impersonates an anti-malware
program, but is in fact a computer infection that uses deceptive tactics to
make you think you are infected. This program is considered a rogue anti-spyware
program and is part of the Virus Doctor family. Security Master AV is typically
installed through Trojans that pretend to be legitimate programs, but instead
install this rogue onto your computer without your permission. The installer
will also create numerous harmless files that will be detected as malware when
Security Master AV scans your computer. When installed, the rogue will be configured
to start automatically when you login to Windows. Once started, it will scan
your computer and state that the files it created during installation are malware
files residing on your machine. In reality, these files are harmless and pose
no harm to your computer. They are only being shown to you in order to scare
you into thinking that you are infected in the hopes that you will then purchase
the program.
Security Master AV screen shot For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above. There are a total of 7 images you can view.
While Security Master AV is loaded it will also display fake security warnings
and alerts that contain alarming messages stating that malware is stealing confidential
information or that you are under attach from a remote hacker. Some of alerts
you may see include:
Warning! Identity theft attempt detected Hidden Connection IP: Security Risk: High Target: Microsoft Corporation Keys
System alert
Suspicious software which may be malicious has been detected on your PC. Click
here to remove this threat immediately using Security Master AV.
Just like the scan results, none of the above alerts are real and should be
ignored. This rogue will also hijack your Internet Explorer search engine so
that it will use findgala.com instead of the search engine that your browser
normally uses.
Without a doubt, Security Master AV was developed to scare you into thinking
that you have a computer problem so that you will then purchase the program.
It goes without saying that you should definitely not purchase this program,
and if you have, you should contact your credit card company and dispute the
charge. Finally, to remove this program and any related malware, please use
the removal guide below.
Automated Removal Instructions for Security Master AV using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is
open later in the fix.
It is possible that the infection you are trying to remove will not allow
you to download files on the infected computer. If this is the case, then
you will need to download the files requested in this guide on another computer
and then transfer them to the infected computer. You can transfer the files
via a CD/DVD, external drive, or USB flash drive.
Before we can do anything we must first end the processes that belong to
Security Master AV
so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, download
the following file to your desktop.
Once it is downloaded, double-click on the rkill.com in
order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
Security Master AV
and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various
malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will
automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a
message that rkill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just
a fake warning given by
Security Master AV
when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into
these infections warnings that close Rkill, a trick is to leave the warning
on the screen and then run Rkill again. By not closing the warning, this typically
will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that rkill
can terminate
Security Master AV
. So, please try running Rkill until the malware is no longer running. You
will then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide. If you continue
having problems running rkill.com, you can download iExplore.exe
or eXplorer.exe,
which are renamed copies of rkill.com, and try them instead.
Do not reboot your computer after running rkill as the malware programs will
start again.
Now you should download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following
location and save it to your desktop:
Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including
this one.
Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe.
This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
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. If MalwareBytes' prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
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.
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
Security Master AV
related files.
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.
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
Security Master AV
removal process.
You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should
click on the Show Results button.
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.
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.
You can now exit the MBAM program.
As this infection also changes your Windows HOSTS file, we want to replace
this file with the default version for your operating system. Please note
that if you or your company has added custom entries to your HOSTS file then
you will need to add them again after restoring the default HOSTS file. In
order to protect itself,
Security Master AV
changes the permissions of the HOSTS file so you can't edit or delete
it. To fix these permissions please download the following batch file and
save it to your desktop:
When the file has finished downloading, double-click on the hostsperm.bat
file that is now on your desktop. If Windows asks if you if you are sure you
want to run it, please allow it to run. Once it starts you will see a small
black window that opens and then quickly goes away. This is normal and is
nothing to be worried about. You should now be able to access your HOSTS file.
We now need to delete the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\HOSTS
file. Once it is deleted, download the following HOSTS file that corresponds
to your version of Windows and save it in the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc
folder. If the contents of the HOSTS file opens in your browser when you click
on a link below then right-click on the appropriate link and select Save
Target As..., if in Internet Explorer, or Save Link As..,
if in Firefox, to download the file.
Your Windows HOSTS file should now be back to the default one from when Windows
was first installed.
Now reboot your computer.
As many rogues and other malware are installed through vulnerabilities found
in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use
Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on
how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:
Your computer should now be free of the
Security Master AV
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:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\16.mof
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\mozcrt19.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\SM345d.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\SMAV.ico
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\sqlite3.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\Quarantine Items\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\SMAVSys\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\SMAVSys\vd952342.bd
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SMNPCTCAV\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SMNPCTCAV\SMMPIBBZGHAV.cfg
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Security Master AV.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Security Master AV\
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Security Master AV\cookies.sqlite
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Security Master AV.lnk
%UserProfile%\Recent\ANTIGEN.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\DBOLE.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\DBOLE.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\ddv.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\exec.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\FS.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\kernel32.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddl.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddl.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddlkey.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\sld.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\sld.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\sld.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\tempdoc.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\tjd.tmp
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Security Master AV.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Security Master AV.lnk
File Location Notes:
%UserProfile% refers to the current user's profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\ for Windows 2000/XP, C:\Users\ for Windows Vista/7, and c:\winnt\profiles\ for Windows NT.
Associated Security Master AV Windows Registry Information:
BleepingComputer.com can not be held responsible for problems that may occur by using this information. If you would like help with any of these fixes, you can ask for malware removal assistance in our Virus, Trojan, Spyware, and Malware Removal Logs forum.
Have a problem and would like to ask us for help? To learn how to ask your question Click Here!
Do you have popups or other malware infecting your computer? If so, Start Here!
Are you having trouble using this site? Then you should visit the New User Orientation Center!
RSS
