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Smart Security, otherwise known as SmartSecurity, is a rogue
anti-spyware program from the same family as Security
Tool. This program is typically installed on your computer through the use
of Trojans or by manually downloading it from sites that pretend to be online
anti-malware scanners. Once installed, Smart Security will be configured to
start automatically when you log into Windows. Once started it will scan your
computer and then state that your computer is infected with a variety of infections.
In reality, though, none of these infections actually exist on your computer
and are only being shown to scare you into purchasing the program.
Smart Security screen shot For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above. There are a total of 1 images you can view.
While Smart Security is running, you will also see numerous security alerts
and warnings appear on your desktop. These warnings will state that you are
being hacked by a remote computer, sending personal information to a remote
location, or that a password stealing Trojan was detected on your computer.
The text of some of the alerts you may see are:
Smart Security Warning Spyware.IEMonster activity detected.
This is spyware that attempts to steal passwords from Internet Explorer, Mozilla
Firefox, Outlook and other programs.
Click here to remove it immediately with SecurityTool.
and
Smart Security Warning Some critical system files of your computer
were modified by malicious program. It may cause system instability and data
loss.
Click here to block unauthorised modification by removing threats (Recommended)
Just like the scan results, these security warnings are all fake and should
be ignored as they are just trying to scare you into thinking you have a security
problem on your computer. Smart Security will also attempt to terminate executables
that you launch on your computer. When you attempt to launch a program, Smart
Security will state that the program is infected and then close it. This is
just another scare tactic as there is nothing wrong with your programs.
As you can see, Smart Security was created to scare you into purchasing the
program. Therefore, please do not purchase the program for any reason. If you
have already purchased it, then we suggest you contact your credit card company
and dispute the charges. Last, but not least, if you are infected with Smart
Security please use the removal guide below to remove it for free.
Automated Removal Instructions for Smart Security 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 find this is the case
when following these instructions, then you will need to download the requested
files in this guide to 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
Smart Security
so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, download
the following file to your Desktop.
As this infection hides the Windows desktop, we need to open up a window
that allows us to see the icons.
If you are using Windows XP perform the following steps:
Click on the Start button and then click on the
Run menu item. When the Run box opens, type %UserProfile%\desktop
in the Open: field and then press Enter on your keyboard.
If you are in Windows Vista or Windows 7 perform the following steps.
Click on the Start button and type %UserProfile%\desktop
in the Search field at the bottom of the start menu. Then
press Enter on your keyboard.
You should now see a window that shows all of your desktop icons, including
the rkill.com program. Now double-click on the rkill.com
in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
Smart Security
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 Security
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 Security
. So, please try running Rkill until 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.
Now you should download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following
location and save it to your desktop:
When the file has finished downloading, look on your desktop for mbam-setup.exe
and right-click on it and select Rename. The title of the
program will now have a blinking cursor where you can edit the name. Please
change the name of the program to Explorer.exe.
After you rename the mbam-setup.exe to Explorer.exe, close all your programs
and Windows on your computer, including this one.
Double-click on the icon on your desktop named Explorer.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 and is at the last screen, make
sure you uncheck both of the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware check
boxes. Then click on the Finish button. If Malwarebytes'
prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
If you receive a code 2 error while installing Malwarebytes's, please press
the OK button to close these errors as we will resolve them
in future steps. The code 2 error will look similar to the image below.
As this infection deletes a core executable of Malwarebytes', or does not
allow it to run, we will need to download a new copy of it and put it in the
C:\program files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\ folder. To download
the file please click on the following link:
When your browser prompts you where to save it to, please save it to the C:\program
files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\ folder. When downloading the file,
it will have a random filename. Please leave the filename the way it is as
it is important that it is not changed. You may want to write down the name
of the file as you will need to know the name in the next step.
Once the file has been downloaded, open the C:\program files\Malwarebytes'
Anti-Malware\ folder and double-click on the file you downloaded
in step 14. MBAM will now start and you will be at the main program screen
as shown below.
Before you can perform a scan, you must first update the program. To do
this click on the Update tab, and that at the new screen
click on the Check for Updates button. Malwarebytes' will
now check for new updates and download and install them as necessary. When
the update is completed, you will be prompted with a message stating either
that you already have the latest updates or that they have been updated. Either
way, you should now click on the OK button to continue.
Now click on the Scanner tab and make sure the the Perform
full scan option is selected. Then click on the Scan
button to start scanning your computer for
Smart Security
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
Smart Security
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,
Smart Security
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.
You can also delete the Explorer.exe program from your
desktop.
Your computer should now be free of the
Smart Security
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:
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!
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