Windows Virtual Security – Fake Antivirus Software

This is what I have experienced for the past 2 days. I am not quite good at computer so I will try to tell my story in details.

I was given my first laptop as birthday present a week ago. It was a Lenovo sending from my grandparents. I’ve always heard that it is pretty dangerous out there on the internet. Your computer and personal data can be damaged by any kind of virus from the network. In order to prevent this from happening, I searched online and have installed couple antivirus programs. They were performing well till I got a new one. It was called Windows Virtual Security. But I couldn’t remember I had downloaded this software into my laptop. It showed up as an antivirus tool so I didn’t pay enough attention to it until it started to interrupt me from using the computer. 

The more virus protection tools I have, the safer my laptop will be. That was what I thought to myself. This Windows Virtual Security first showed up on my computer as a legitimate program. But every time it ran a scan through my computer, it stated that there were many viruses and errors inside the laptop. I was curious one time as my other 2 virus tools did not catch any problems. Then all of a sudden, there were lots of security warnings popping up constantly. I couldn’t close them all at one time. And it was really annoying since they totally interrupted me while I was trying to surf the Internet for some solutions. After failing to do that, I decided to stop this constant popping and delete all the detected problems through the program itself. But then it asked me to sign up for its registered version first. I had to pay for it! That was when I felt suspected. I know sometimes we have to pay for some programs online to get their services. But I didn’t download this Windows Virtual Security thing. Or maybe I accidentally installed it while I was installing other programs which I could not know. So basically, I did not want this program in my laptop, neither did I want to pay for its registered version. 

Fortunately I have got another computer which is a home desktop. So I used it to do some online researches to make sure that I pay for the right thing if I want to. But to my surprise, this software turned out to be a total scam! Here’s the passage I’ve read. It was created by people who wanted money from us without permission! All the detected problems by it were just unreal. It just tried to deceive you that your computer had a lot of problems. And when you failed to delete all that after trying many methods, it would just show up and promise that it could help you get rid of all the potential viruses and provide your computer an overall protection from then on. But all you needed to do first is to sign up and pay. THE WORST EVER is that, according to my reading, even if you don’t pay for this scam program, it can still collect your personal information to make you loss properties if you cannot manage to uninstall it in time! 

So I went ahead searching online for more information on how to get rid of this program. I found another helpful page here. It turned out that I could not remove this program by any of my antivirus tools. Manual removal is the only way to completely delete it from my laptop. So I tried carefully to follow the steps given in the passage. It did give specific steps on the whole process. And even if I could not delete it by myself, I could get helps online from PC experts. 

What I have learned from this experience, as also told by IT guys, that there isn’t a perfect antivirus program for every kind of virus from the Internet. Besides, viruses can be created every single minute. And not every “legitimate” software is actually authorized. You should be careful when getting unknown programs in your computer because they may not be as friendly as you think they are.

Categories of Computer Problems

Nowadays, computer has become a part of our life. We use it for work, schools and entertainment. But there are also many problems that prevent you from using computer properly. By saying that, I specially refer to computer virus. Just like people getting viruses and becoming sick, computer can also be infected with lots of viruses. These viruses are from the Internet. In this passage, I am going to discuss three main categories of computer viruses.

Category No. 1 - Malware, Spyware and Ransomware

Viruses under this category usually show up on your computer as programs. They often sneak into your computer without permission and then show up as legitimate programs to make you believe what they say. The most common ones are fake antivirus software and fake blocking alerts. Antivirus program is what we have to protect us from all the possible threats from the Internet. Some of us may have installed more than one. Hackers take advantages of this phenomenon to create the malware, i.e. fake antivirus programs. Take Windows Ultimate Safeguard for example. This malware is known to be a member of the famous Windows serial fake antivirus family. It appears on your computer as a legit virus protection tool. But it's unusually aggressive. It can detect many problems inside your computer while others can't. And when you try to remove all the detected viruses and errors, you will be asked to pay for the registered version first. (More information about Windows Ultimate Safeguard virus) In this way, hackers can collect as much money as possible from innocent PC users. The other most common virus would be the fake locking alerts. This kind of ransomware normally locks your computer in the names of laws or countries. By boasting that your online activities have violated related laws, you have to pay certain amount of fines within the limited time in order to unlock your computer. This kind of virus is somehow much more authorized and threatened than fake antivirus software. So many computer users have been tricked by it and paid worthless money.

Category No. 2 - Browser Hijackers

A browser hijacker or browser redirect virus, usually targets at browsers. There are two types of browser hijackers. One is in the forms of websites and the other is add-on tool bars. When a browser hijacker pretends as a search engine, it tries to deceive you by its legitimate appearance that it can provide a lot of interesting contents. But if you use it for your online researches, you will be redirected to unwanted sites where contain numerous viruses. Instead of providing you the real results, a fake search engine gives you fake and hacked websites and links. Other than that, it also forcibly changes your homepage. Rechanging or reinstall browsers do not help to get rid of this unwanted page. (Click here for a browser hijacker especially fake search engine) Add-on tool bars can be seen on almost every browser. They are like shortcuts on your browsers. You can also find wanted contents from the Internet via them. But an add-on tool bar can also redirect you to more viruses and malware. Sometimes when you land on those places, malicious programs can be allowed to auto download and install in your computer to collect valuable information.

Category No. 3 - Trojan Horses

Unlike the above two viruses, a Trojan horse cannot be seen as a program or website. You can only notice its existing from a pop up message or scanning result by antivirus software. Even though it's invisible in form, it's highly dangerous as well! It is believed that a Trojan virus can help other viruses and spyware get into your computer. It normally is quite active in backdoor activities. If you cannot manage to get rid of it in time, it will continue to bring more problems to your computer. It's like the original spring of all kinds of problems. The above two types of viruses can also be brought inside your computer with the help of a Trojan. What's worse, as soon as a Trojan virus injects malicious codes inside your computer, remote hackers can take all over control of the infected computer. They may create a fake system for you to do all the daily activities. Then before you know it, your personal information will be viewed and stolen by them to make illegal benefits.

PC Automatically Restarts Itself Every Minute?

Computer, as the greatest invention in this century, has become a necessity in modern society. We use it for work, entertainment and communication with families and friends from all over the world. No matter where you are located, as long as you have got a computer and an Internet connection, you can meet people from different countries. It’s like a charm bringing people together and making this world smaller. Even if your computer has a problem, you can get help immediately from the Internet.

Why my computer restarts every minute automatically?

Together with millions of resources online, there are also numerous PC viruses from the Internet. They are believed to be created by computer hackers who “earn” their money from innocent computer users. If your computer suddenly restarts itself every once in a while, you may have been infected by one of the cyber viruses. They are the Trojan horses. Take the Trojan JS/Redirector.NIQ for example (click for more information about this nasty Trojan virus). This is one of the most popular Trojan infections that targets users’ computers and aims to collect as much money as possible. But there should be two factors to cause this situation. It’s believed to be MSE – Microsoft Security Essentials which is one of the antivirus programs. Once your computer has been in trouble, if luckily enough one of your antivirus tools detects this virus, the first thing most of us will do is to find another program from the Internet trying to get rid of this aggressive virus immediately. Then you may come across this Microsoft Security Essentials. Once you download and install it in your computer which contains a Trojan infection, soon your computer will be restarting itself automatically. When this happens, it becomes really tough as there's not enough time for you to do anything. Before you can uninstall anything from the computer, it restarts itself again and again.

Would reinstall or format Windows work?

Since you haven't been able to access the computer to do anything because it keeps kicking you out of the system, you may think of reinstalling Windows to stop this self-rebooting. But what about those precious files, pictures and school works inside the computer? Can you get a chance to make a copy of all that? Or you may state that it's a total brand new PC with few files on it, so it's okay to reinstall or format it. But as a matter of fact, the most effective way to deal with this situation is to manually uninstall program files and remove virus registry entries. You can also find a solution here. Why reinstalling isn't a better way? It is said that reinstalling computer too often is not a good manner in maintaining PC's duration. It may even damage the hard drives if you reinstall or format too frequently once in a while. Besides, reinstalling or formatting computer system sometimes cannot completely get rid of the existing viruses inside your computer. Why is that? Sometimes viruses can get very nasty. As soon as they step inside, they will start changing system default settings and bringing more viruses and malware though created security flaws. Infected files could be scattered all over your computer disks and some of them may even turn into fake system files. After that, smart antivirus software may not be able to detect them.

How to maintain a GOOD PC?

You may have installed more than one antivirus software on your computer to protect you from all the threats from the Internet. But most of the threats which aim to steal your money have been given the abilities to bypass the protection from antivirus programs. Thus, to maintain a safe computer, antivirus tools are not enough. Some may still visit porn or hacked sites even though they already know. They believe their legitimate antivirus programs can stop all the dangerous viruses from accessing your computer. Therefore, your online activities also play an important role in keeping a good computer. To be more specific, stay away from those hacked websites and do not download unknown "free" software would help a lot. It only takes a simple click on the hacked link to severely damage your computer. Before you know it, you are landed on places where allow auto download of any kinds of viruses and malware.