Remove Volcano Security Suite (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on October 27, 2009 @ 11:11 AM · Views: 4,985

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What this programs does:

Volcano Security Suite is a rogue anti-spyware program from the Smart Virus Eliminator family. This rogue is advertised through the use of fake online scanner pages that show an advertisement pretending to be an anti-malware scanner. When the advertisement finishes it will state that your computer is infected and that you should download Volcano Security Suite to protect your computer. Once downloaded and installed, Volcano Security Suite will be configured to automatically scan your computer when Windows starts and will also create numerous harmless files throughout your computer. These files are:

%UserProfile%\Recent\ANTIGEN.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\DBOLE.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\ddv.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\fan.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\FS.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\kernel32.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\ppal.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddlkey.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddlkey.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\tempdoc.sys

When the program scans your computer, it will detect the above files as infections, but will not attempt to remove them until you first purchase the program. The reality is that the above files are harmless and are only being shown to convince you that you are infected.

Volcano Security Suite screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 8 images you can view.

Volcano Security Suite will also attempt to protect itself by not allowing numerous anti-virus programs to run. It does this by adding Windows Registry entries that make it so that when you attempt to launch the anti-virus program, it instead launches another program. They do this so that you cannot run any programs that can potentially detect the Volcano Security Suite program and remove it.

While the program is running you will also find that your Internet Explorer is hijacked and you will see fake security warnings on your desktop. When searching in Internet Explorer, instead of searching with your normal search engine, your searches will go through a site called Search-Gala.com. Internet Explorer will also randomly display error messages stating that it had a problem due to a malicious add-on or a web site that you are visiting. The text of there messages are:

This tab has been recovered
A problem with this webpage caused Internet Explorer to close and reopen the tab.

Internet Explorer has closed this webpage to help protect your computer
A malfunctioning or malicious add-on has caused Internet Explorer to close this webpage.
Windows Data Execution protection detected an add-on trying to use system memory incorrectly. This can be caused by a malfunction or malicious add-on.

We are unable to return you to google.ca.
Internet Explorer has stopped trying to restore this website. It appears that the website continues to have a problem.
When a website causes a failure or crash, Internet Explorer attempts to restore the site. It stops after two tries to avoid an endless loop.

These errors are real, but are being caused by Volcano Security Suite in order to further make you think that there is a problem with your computer. Last, but not least, the program will also display fake security alerts stating that malware has been found or that an active Trojan is trying to connect to the Internet. It is important to remember that these alerts are only an attempt to scare you further into purchasing the program.

If your computer is showing symptoms similar to what is shown above, then there is a chance you may be infected with the Volcano Security Suite. If this is the case, please ignore any warnings it may show and do not purchase the program. If you have already purchased the program, then we suggest you contact your credit card company and dispute the charges as the program is a scam. To remove this infection, please use the removal guide below.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View Volcano Security Suite files.
View Volcano Security Suite Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Volcano Security Suite] "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\61a60\VS83b.exe" /s /d
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [avgsys] regedit /s "C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\64444.reg"

Guide Updates:

10/27/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Volcano Security Suite 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 full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Volcano Security Suite 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 Volcano Security Suite 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 Volcano Security Suite 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 Volcano Security Suite Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\61a60
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\61a60\VS83b.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VSSSys
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VSSSys\vss.cfg
c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\search.xml
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Volcano Security Suite.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Volcano Security Suite
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Volcano Security Suite\cookies.sqlite
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Volcano Security Suite.lnk
%UserProfile%\Recent\ANTIGEN.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\DBOLE.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\ddv.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\fan.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\FS.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\kernel32.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\ppal.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddlkey.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddlkey.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\tempdoc.sys
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Volcano Security Suite.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Volcano Security Suite.lnk
%Temp%\24.mof
%Temp%\asp2009.exe
%Temp%\mozcrt19.dll
%Temp%\sqlite3.dll
%Temp%\VSSSys
%Temp%\VSS.ico
%Temp%\VSSSys\vd952342.bd

Associated Volcano Security Suite Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\asp2009.DocHostUIHandler
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3F2BBC05-40DF-11D2-9455-00104BC936FF}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes "URL" = "http://search-gala.com/?&uid=8000&q={searchTerms}"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Download "RunInvalidSignatures" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "[xSP_2:61a6083b6194a2314e3dd54cf9615e36_8000]"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "7988094803"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "avgsys"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "MSMSGS"