Smart Protection 2012 is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Security Sphere 2012. This program is categorized as a rogue anti-spyware program because it pretends to be a legitimate security program, but is actually a program that purposely display false scan results, fake security alerts, and hijacks your computer so that you are not able to run your normal applications. Smart Protection 2012 is installed onto a computer through other viruses, hacked websites that exploit vulnerable programs on your computer, or through fake online anti-malware scanners that prompt you to install the program. When Smart Protection is installed it will create a random named folder in c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\, in XP, or C:\ProgramData, in Windows Vista and Windows 7. It will then be configured to start automatically when you login to your computer.

 

Smart Protection 2012 Screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 2 images you can view.

 

Once this rogue is started it will automatically pretend to scan your computer for viruses. When it has finished it will state that there are numerous infections on your computer, but will not allow you to remove any of them until you first purchase the program. The scan results for this program will not include any actual file names of the supposed infections, but rather just descriptions of the threat. It is important to understand that Smart Protection 2012 was created for one reason; to scare you into thinking that your computer is severely infected so that you will then purchase the program. With that said, you should not be alarmed by any of the scan results that this program displays.

As protection mechanism, Smart Protection 2012 will terminate any executables that you attempt to run on your computer. It does this to prevent you from running legitimate security programs that may detect and remove this infection. When you attempt to start an executable you will instead be greeted with the following false message:

Warning!
Application cannot be executed. The file notepad.exe is infected.
Please activate your antivirus software.

While Smart Protection 2012 is running it will also display fake security alerts and warnings from your Windows taskbar. These alerts are designed to scare you into thinking that your computer is infected and that you should purchase the program to protect yourself. The text of these messages include:

Warning: Your computer is infected
Detected spyware infection!
Click this message to install the last update of security software...

Smart Protection 2012 Warning
Your computer is still infected with dangerous viruses. Activate antivirus protection to prevent data loss and avoid theft of your credit card details.
Click here to activate protection.

Smart Protection 2012 Warning
Intercepting programs that may compromise your privacy and harm your system have been detected on your PC.
Click here to remove them immediately with Smart Protection 2012

Just like the fake scan results, these security alerts are all false and should be ignored.

As you can see, this program was created for the sole purpose of scaring you into thinking your computer has a problem and that you should purchase Smart Protection 2012 in order to fix it. It goes without saying that you should definitely not buy Smart Protection 2012, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the program is a scam and a computer virus. To remove Smart Protection 2012 and other related malware, please use the free removal guide below.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Smart Protection 2012 files.
View Smart Protection 2012 Registry Information.

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [<random>] %CommonAppData%\<random>\<random>.exe

 

Guide Updates:

01/22/12 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for Smart Protection 2012 using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:

 

1. Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
   
   
2. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking. To do this, turn your computer off and then back on and immediately when you see anything on the screen, start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. Eventually you will be brought to a menu similar to the one below:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select Safe Mode with Networking and press Enter on your keyboard. If you are having trouble entering safe mode, then please use the following tutorial: How to start Windows in Safe Mode
   
   Windows will now boot into safe mode with networking and prompt you to login as a user. Please login as the same user you were previously logged in with in the normal Windows mode. Then proceed with the rest of the steps.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. This infection may change 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.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. 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.
   
   
6. 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.
   
   
7. 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.
   
   
8. As this infection is known to be bundled with the TDSS rootkit 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 are still unable to update Malwarebytes' Anti-malware or continue to have Google search result redirects, then you should post a virus removal request using the steps in the following topic rather than continuing with this guide:
   

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

   If TDSSKiller requires you to reboot, please allow it to do so. After you reboot, reboot back into Safe Mode with Networking again.
   
   
9. When in Safe More with Networking, we must first end the processes that belong to Smart Protection 2012 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.
   
   
10. Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with Smart Protection 2012 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 Smart Protection 2012 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 Smart Protection 2012 . 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.
    
    
11. 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)
    


12. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
    
    
13. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
    
    
14. 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.
    
    
15. 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.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
16. 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 Smart Protection 2012 related files.
    
    
17. 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.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
18. 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 Smart Protection 2012 removal process.
    
    
19. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
    
    
20. 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.
    
    
21. 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.
    
    
22. You can now exit the MBAM program.
    
    
23. 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, Smart Protection 2012 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:
    

    hosts-perm.bat Download Link

    When the file has finished downloading, double-click on the hosts-perm.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.
    
    
24. 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.
    

    Windows XP HOSTS File Download Link
    Windows Vista HOSTS File Download Link
    Windows 2003 Server HOSTS File Download Link
    Windows 2008 Server HOSTS File Download Link
    Windows 7 HOSTS File Download Link

    Your Windows HOSTS file should now be back to the default one from when Windows was first installed.
    
    
25. Now reboot your computer.
    
    
26. After rebooting if you are still unable to access the Internet, please confirm that your browser is not configured to use a proxy by following the instructions in steps 4-7. It is not required to perform these steps in Windows Safe Mode.
    
    
27. 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 Smart Protection 2012 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 Smart Protection 2012 Files:

%CommonAppData%\<random>\
%CommonAppData%\<random>\<random>
%CommonAppData%\<random>\<random>.exe
%StartMenu%\Programs\Smart Protection 2012.lnk

File Location Notes:

%CommonAppData% refers to the Application Data folder for the All Users Profile. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data for Windows 2000/XP and C:\ProgramData\ in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

%StartMenu% refers to the Windows Start Menu. For Windows 95/98/ME it refers to C:\windows\start menu\, for Windows XP, Vista, NT, 2000 and 2003 it refers to C:\Documents and Settings\<Current User>\Start Menu\, and for Windows Vista/7/8 it is C:\Users\<Current User>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.

%CommonAppData% refers to the Application Data folder in the All Users profile. For Windows XP, Vista, NT, 2000 and 2003 it refers to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\, and for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 it is C:\ProgramData.

 

Associated Smart Protection 2012 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "<random>"

 

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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.

If you have any questions about this self-help guide then please post those questions in our Am I infected? What do I do? and someone will help you.