Remove ShieldSafeness (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on October 25, 2009 @ 07:34 AM · Views: 2,613

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What this programs does:

ShieldSafeness is a rogue anti-spyware program from the Wini family of rogues. This rogue is installed through Trojans that impersonate video codecs or flash updates that are necessary to see online videos. In reality, though, these programs are Trojans and do not allow you to watch any videos, but instead download and install ShieldSafeness onto your computer and configure it to start automatically when Windows starts. The Trojan will also create files on your computer that are harmless, but are detected by ShieldSafeness as malware when it scans your computer. ShieldSafeness will state, though, that it will not allow you to remove any of the files it detects until you first purchase it. It is important to understand that the files that are created, and then detected, are harmless and not malware. They are only being shown to scare you into thinking that your computer is infected so that you will then purchase the program.

ShieldSafeness screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 3 images you can view.

When the Trojan is running, it will display security alerts and warnings on your computer. These alerts will state that your computer is infected or that a remote attack is occurring. The current text of one of the alerts is:

Spyware Alert!
Your computer is infected with spyware. It could damage your critical files or expose your private data on the Internet. Click here to register your copy of ShieldSafeness and remove spyware threats from your PC.

The Trojan will also display a fake Windows Security Center window that suggests you purchase ShieldSafeness to protect your computer. Just like the fake scan results, these warnings are all fake and should be ignored.

As you can see, if you are infected with ShieldSafeness you should not purchase the program. If you have already purchased it, then please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating the program is a scam. Last, but not least, to remove this infection and any related malware, please use the guide below.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View ShieldSafeness files.
View ShieldSafeness Registry Information.

Entries for this program found in the Add or Remove Programs control panel:

ShieldSafeness

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [unp4.tmp.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\unp4.tmp.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ShieldSafeness] C:\Program Files\ShieldSafeness Software\ShieldSafeness\ShieldSafeness.exe -min

Guide Updates:

10/25/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for ShieldSafeness 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
   
   


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 quick scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for ShieldSafeness 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 ShieldSafeness 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 ShieldSafeness 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 Posting A Hijackthis Log

Associated ShieldSafeness Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\ShieldSafeness.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ShieldSafeness
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ShieldSafeness\1 ShieldSafeness.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ShieldSafeness\2 Homepage.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ShieldSafeness\3 Uninstall.lnk
c:\Program Files\ShieldSafeness Software
c:\Program Files\ShieldSafeness Software\ShieldSafeness
c:\Program Files\ShieldSafeness Software\ShieldSafeness\ShieldSafeness.exe
c:\Program Files\ShieldSafeness Software\ShieldSafeness\uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\10359virzs509.cpl
c:\WINDOWS\10380ha95tozl126.bin
c:\WINDOWS\10623spy65z9.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\2ed19pyz5re2156.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\2f53vir193z.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\2z075t59j48c.exe
%Temp%\unp4.tmp.exe

Associated ShieldSafeness Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ShieldSafeness
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ShieldSafeness
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ShieldSafeness
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "ShieldSafeness"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "unp4.tmp.exe"