Remove SoftStronghold (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on October 23, 2009 @ 02:23 PM · Views: 4,853

 

What this infection does:

SoftStronghold is a rogue anti-spyware program from the Wini family of rogues. This rogue is typically installed through the use of Trojans that masquerade as video codecs or flash updates that are required to be installed in order to watch a particular online video. Instead of allowing the video to be shown, the Trojan will instead download and install SoftStronghold onto the infected computer and configure it to start automatically. The same Trojan will also create numerous files that are harmless and only created to impersonate malware infections on the computer. Then, when SoftStronghold scans the infected computer it will detect the harmless files that were made as infections, but not allow them to be removed until the program is purchased. This method of creating fake malware files and then detecting them is a tactic where the rogue is trying to make you think you are infected in the hopes that you will then purchase the program.

 

SoftStronghold screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.

 

While the Trojan is running it will also display fake security warnings and alerts on the infected computer. These alerts will state that an active infection has been found and that you should purchase SoftStronghold to protect your computer. The Trojan will also show a window that acts as a fake Windows Security Center that further promotes SoftStronghold. Just like the scan results, these warnings are just another attempt to scare you into thinking your computer has some sort of security problem.

As you can see, SoftStronghold was created to trick you into thinking that your computer has viruses so that you then purchase it. The reality is that SoftStronghold is the infection itself and you should not purchase it for any reason. If you have already purchased the program, then I suggest you contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. Last, but not least, to remove SoftStronghold and the related Trojans, please use the removal guide below.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View SoftStronghold files.
View SoftStronghold Registry Information.

 

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

SoftStronghold

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [akx4.tmp.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\akx4.tmp.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SoftStronghold] C:\Program Files\SoftStronghold Software\SoftStronghold\SoftStronghold.exe -min

 

Guide Updates:

10/23/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for SoftStronghold 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 (Download page will open in a new window)
   
   


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 full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for SoftStronghold 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 SoftStronghold 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 SoftStronghold 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 SoftStronghold Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\SoftStronghold.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftStronghold
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftStronghold\1 SoftStronghold.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftStronghold\2 Homepage.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftStronghold\3 Uninstall.lnk
c:\Program Files\SoftStronghold Software
c:\Program Files\SoftStronghold Software\SoftStronghold
c:\Program Files\SoftStronghold Software\SoftStronghold\SoftStronghold.exe
c:\Program Files\SoftStronghold Software\SoftStronghold\uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\10246h9zktool4d5.exe
c:\WINDOWS\1045ztroj92a.ocx
c:\WINDOWS\10520hac5too979z.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\20151worm9z4.ocx
c:\WINDOWS\system32\205z0sp95ad.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\2069sz5mbot179.dll
%Temp%\akx4.tmp.exe

File Location Notes:

%Temp% refers to the Windows Temp folder. By default, this is C:\Windows\Temp for Windows 95/98/ME, C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\<Current User>\LOCAL SETTINGS\Temp for Windows 2000/XP, and C:\Users\<Current User>\AppData\Local\Temp for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

 

Associated SoftStronghold Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SoftStronghold
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SoftStronghold
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SoftStronghold
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "akx4.tmp.exe"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SoftStronghold"