Remove Security Suite (Uninstall Guide)
Posted by Lawrence Abrams on August 11, 2010 @ 05:41 PM · Views: 203,341
What this infection does:
Security Suite is a fake anti-spyware program from the same
family of rogues as Antivir
Solution Pro. This rogue is distributed using multiple methods. The first
method is through sites that show online videos that when clicked on, state
that you need to download a flash update in order to properly view the movie.
Once the flash update Trojan is downloaded and run, it will instead install
Security Suite onto your computer. The second method is through malware that
installs Security Suite onto your computer without your permission. Finally,
the rogue's affiliates also use hacked sites that exploit vulnerabilities in
Adobe Reader, Java, Flash, and Shockwave to install Security Suite onto your
computer without your permission or knowledge. When this Trojan is run it may
also install the TDSS rootkit infection onto your computer. Instructions on
how to remove this infection will be given at the end of the guide.
When Security Suite is installed it will be configured to start automatically
when Windows starts. Once started it will scan your computer and state that
there are numerous infections on your computer, but will not allow you to remove
anything until you first purchase the program. The reality is that Security
Suite is not actually scanning your computer. Instead it is just pretending
to and then stating that you are infected regardless of whether or not your
computer is clean. Therefore, please ignore anything it states in its scan report.
Security Suite Screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 6 images you can view.
While Security Suite is running it will also terminate any programs that you
run on your computer. It does this so that you cannot run any applications that
may be able to remove the infection. When you attempt to run a program, Security
Suite will instead terminate the program and then display the following message:
Security Warning
Application cannot be executed. The file notepad.exe is infected. Do you want
to activate your antivirus software now.
While the program is running it will also display fake security alerts designed
to make you think that your computer has a security problem. These alerts are:
Windows Security Alert
Windows reports that computer is infected. Antivirus software helps to protect
your computer against viruses and other security threats. Click here for the
scan your computer. Your system might be at risk now.
Antivirus software alert
INFILTRATION ALERT
Your computer is being attacked by an internet virus. It could be a password-stealing
attack, trojan - dropper or similar.
Threat: BankerFox.A
Do you want to block this attack? Yes or No
Last, but not least, Security Suite will also configure Windows to use a a
proxy server of 127.0.0.1:6522. This proxy server is the Security Suite program
itself, and when running, will display a fake warning when browsing the web
using Internet Explorer. This warning is:
Internet Explorer warning - visiting
this site may harm your computer! Most likely causes:
- The website contains exploits that can launch a
malicious code on your computer
- Suspicious network activity detected
- There might be an active spyware running on your
computer
What you can try:
- Purchase for secure Internet surfing (Recommended)
- Check your computer for viruses and malware
All of these alerts, including the infected messages, are all false and only
being shown to scare you into purchasing the program.
Without a doubt, Security Suite was created to scare you into thinking that
you are infected so that you will then purchase the program. It goes without
saying that you should definitely not purchase this program. If you have already
purchased it, then please contact your credit card company and dispute the charge
stating the purchase was a scam and a computer virus. To remove Security Suite
and any related malware, please follow the steps in the removal guide below.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View Security Suite files.
View Security Suite Registry Information.
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [<random>] C:\Documents and Settings\Bleeping\Local Settings\Application Data\<random>\<random>shdw.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [<random>] C:\Documents and Settings\Bleeping\Local Settings\Application Data\<random>\<random>shdw.exe
Guide Updates:
08/11/10 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for Security Suite 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 you run into this problem
when following the steps in this guide 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.
- Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking using
the instructions for your version of Windows found in the following tutorial:
How
to start Windows in Safe Mode
When following the steps in the above tutorial, select Safe Mode with
Networking rather than just Safe Mode. When the computer reboots
into Safe Mode with Networking make sure you login with the username you normally
use. When you are at your Windows desktop, please continue with the rest of
the steps.
- This infection changes your Windows settings to use a proxy server that
will not allow you to browse any pages on the Internet with Internet Explorer
or update security software. Regardless of the web browser you use, for these
instructions we will first need need to fix this problem so that we can download
the utilities we need to remove this infection.
Please start Internet Explorer, and when the program is open, click on the
Tools menu and then select Internet Options
as shown in the image below.
- You should now be in the Internet Options screen as shown in the image below.
Now click on the Connections tab as designated by the blue
arrow above.
- You will now be at the Connections tab as shown by the image below.
Now click on the Lan Settings button as designated by the
blue arrow above.
- You will now be at the Local Area Network (LAN) settings screen as shown
by the image below.
Under the Proxy Server section, please uncheck the checkbox labeled Use
a proxy server for your LAN. Then press the OK button
to close this screen. Then press the OK button to close the
Internet Options screen. Now that you have disabled the proxy server you will
be able to browse the web again with Internet Explorer.
- Now we must end the processes that belong to
Security Suite
so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, please
download RKill to your desktop from the following link.
RKill
Download Link - (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)
When at the download page, click on the Download Now button
labeled iExplore.exe download link. When you are prompted
where to save it, please save it on your desktop.
If you are unable to connect to the site to download rkill, please go back
and do steps 3-6 again and make sure the infection has not reenabled the proxy
settings. You may have to do this quite a few times before you can get the
RKill file downloaded. If you still cannot download the RKill program on the
infected computer, you should download it to a clean computer and copy it
to the infected one via a USB flash drive or CDROM.
- Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe icon
in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
Security Suite
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 Suite
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 Suite
. 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. Do not reboot
your computer after running rkill as the malware programs will start again.
If you continue having problems running RKill, you can download the other
renamed versions of RKill from the RKill
download page. Both of these files are renamed copies of RKill, which
you can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new
browser window or tab.
- Now you should 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)
If you are unable to connect to the site to download Malwarebytes', please
go back and do steps 3-6 again and make sure the infection has not reenabled
the proxy settings.
- 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 Suite
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 Suite
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 is commonly bundled with the TDSS infection, you should
also run a program that can be used to scan for this infection. Please follow
the steps in the following guide:
How
to remove Google Redirects or the TDSS, TDL3, or Alureon rootkit using TDSSKiller
If after running TDSSKiller, you still feel like there is something not right
with the computer, feel free to post a virus removal request using the steps
in this topic:
Preparation
Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help
- 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:
How to
detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Your computer should now be free of the
Security Suite
program. You may want to consider purchasing
the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types
of threats in the future, as if you had the real-time protection component,
that comes with the paid for version, activated it would not have allowed this
infection to install.
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
Associated Security Suite Files:
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\<random>\
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\<random>\<random>shdw.exe
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 Security Suite Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\wnxmal
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Download "RunInvalidSignatures" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\PhishingFilter "Enabled" = "0"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "ProxyOverride" = ""
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "ProxyServer" = "http=127.0.0.1:6522"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Associations "LowRiskFileTypes" = ".exe"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments "SaveZoneInformation" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "<random>"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache "%UserProfile%\Desktop\flash_player_installer\flash_player_installer.exe"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "<random>"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Download "CheckExeSignatures" = "no"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "ProxyEnable" ="1"
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