Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2009, XP Antivirus 2008, & Others Infect Winlogon
Do you have Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2009, Vista Antivirus 2008, Windows Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2008 Pro, XP Antivirus 2008, Antivirus XP 2008, XP Antivirus 2009, XPAntiVirus, or any other Antivirus-named program variation that you did not consensually agree to download on your machine?
In the past few weeks, we’ve had a high percentage of SpyHunter customers that have experienced trojan infections related to the Antivirus 2008 trojan family. These trojan infections have the ability to infect the System File winlogon.exe and be able to execute drive-by downloads of rogue anti-spyware programs like Antivirus 2008 onto the computer. Winlogon.exe is a crucial file for Windows’ operation so once it’s infected, it makes an automated removal process with a real anti-spyware progam nearly impossible to do.
Most of our customers who tried to use patches or fixes found on the Web to remove the problem had their system practically destroyed. However, our Technical Support team is now able to create a custom fix related to this unique case of Antivirus 2008 trojan family infections, which will completely clean the computer without any data or application loss. Some variations of Antivirus 2008 trojan family demand a complicated removal process which involves several layers of removal, patience, and some human effort from the computer user. ESG’s Technical Support team is capable of helping you every step of the way to remove the trojan infection and prevent it from reappearing on your computer.
Like cancer there are stages related to an infection such as the Antivirus 2008 trojan family. Not every variation of Antivirus 2008 infects the Winlogon part of the system or demands great effort to be removed. Most SpyHunter customers have experienced variants of Antivirus 2008 without it infecting the Winlogon and they have successfully used SpyHunter to automatically remove Antivirus 2008 and its variants. Many customers can do an automated removal but others with unique Antivirus 2008 infections have to resort to our Technical Support team for a personal custom fix.
Why is Antivirus 2008 Trojan Family Difficult to Remove?
As the Antivirus 2008 trojan family increases, computer users, as well as our customers, find themselves having to deal with the constant battle of figuring out how to remove them from their computer.
Antivirus 2008, XP Antivirus and its variants are hard-to-remove applications because of trojans like Zlob, Vundo, and other Trojan.Downloader variations that either hide files in the System32 or generate morphic files to escape detection from legitimate security softwares. These trojans perform several malicious functions such as disabling basic functions of the system like the Task Manager and the Display Properties, changing desktop background, locking homepage, downloading unwanted files in stealth, stealing passwords and credit card information, overwriting admin privileges, displaying pop up ads, and more.
Mostly, the trojan variations’ lock users out of their computers and has several rogue anti-spyware programs appear in a continous loop. Because of the malicious actions that the trojan infection causes to a computer, users end up buying the rogue anti-spyware program to fix the infection, which actually fixes the infection for a short period of time. However, the rogue anti-spyware program continues to add new files in the system and, a few days later, it reloads the computer with a different infection and the user ends up locked in an infinite cycle of infections.
Antivirus 2008 Trojan Family Symptoms
The following symptoms take place after the presence Antivirus 2008 trojan family:
- The Trojan infections will hide the C: Drive icon located in the “My Computer” window. Tip: To be able to see your C: Drive, open a browser and type “C:\” or “My Computer”.
- “VIRUS ALERT!” appears in the system tray (lower right hand corner of your desktop).
- Changes your desktop background to a red hazard alert or a blue background with a yellow alert in the center.
- Screensaver changes to either the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ or the “Bugs” crawling on the screen.
- Start Menu does not list ‘Programs’, ‘My Documents’, ‘My Computer’, ‘My Recent Documents’, ‘Search’, ‘Help’,'Control Panel’ or ‘Run’.
- Pop ups of random rogue anti-spyware programs. The pop-ups displayed are for rogue anti-spyware programs like Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2009, Antivirus XP 2009, XP Antivirus Protection, Spy-Shredder, WinSpywareProtect, and others.
- Windows explorer closes by itself or displays an “Illegal Operation of System” page.
- Computer performs sluggish or it ultimately crashes.
Our Threat Research and Technical Support team are in the mist of finding an automatic solution for customers who have trojan infections (related to Antivirus 2008 trojan family) affecting the Winlogon. If you’re experiencing problems with Anvitirus 2008 trojan family and, in some cases, SpyHunter is not able to automatically remove it, it is advised that customers with those symptoms should log onto Enigma’s website member section and contact our Technical Support team.
View Screenshots of the Antivirus 2008 Variants
Do you have a variation of Antivirus 2008 trojan family on your PC? Take a look at snapshots of Antivirus 2008 variants.
Fake Video Codec Bundled with Trojan
Downloading Fake Video Codec Bundled with Trojan
Red Hazard Alert Screensaver
Computer is Bombarded with Rogue Anti-Spyware Programs
Fake Windows Security Alert Message
Fake Notice Pop-up
Antivirus XP 2008 Pop-up on Task Bar
Fake System Information Pop-up on Task Bar
Antivirus 2008 Pro Program Running
Antivirus 2008 Pro Runs a Scan
Antivirus 2008 Pro Scanning Status
Antivirus 2008 Pro Scan Results
Antivirus XP 2008 Has Found Threats Message
C: Drive is Missing
August 4th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Hi, Even though I spent too many hours this past weekend dealing with this virus, I wnated to thank you for your support and excellent article above. Many of the symptoms you describe are whsat I’m experiencing. So, there’s a weird sense of comfort with this virus knowing that you folks are on it; now it’s just getting rid of it! I sent a message to your tech support mail and will follow their instructions. Thanks, Ed
August 5th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
My compter was and maybe still is infected with this fake antivirus. I am very angry. I am going to submit a report to the Federal Trade Commission so these criminals can be put behind bars forever.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I was on a website–articleblotter.com–and the popup for this malicious program appeared and made accessing the site impossible. Since I have used the site in the past with no problems I tried to contact the webmaster but the antivirus 2009 made it impossible. I learned from bitter experience with winantiviruspro 2007 that the only defense against these programs is to disconnect from the internet as soon as the popup appears. Evidently if you purchase antivirus 2009 they will clean out bank accounts and put false charges on credit cards. Watch out!! The people behind this scam are evil incarnate!
August 9th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
like the previous poster said, i’m glad that you have posted pictures and described, with extensive knowledge, the description and focus of this virus. i have been virus free for near the past decade, and i purchased a new laptop 2 days ago, became overly excited and went down-load happy. spyhunter removed some of the immediate damage (wallpaper now blank, no more pop ups) but there are still fixes to be done (no access to drives, task manager, etc). great work! i have sent a request to the tech team.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I don’t know who to buy or trust to try and remove antivirus xp 2008. Cannot uninstall the antivirus program. It tells me I have 2089 +/_ infections on computer. Never had this before.
What to do?? Please reply.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
One of the sad facts of life is that these people who put out these programs are all but impossible to prosecute. The gentleman who filed suit against the infamous ‘winfixer’ and it’s variants had to drop the suit. The 2 defendants on US soil did not respond to the suit and the government has no interest in prosecuting these criminals. It’s not a high priority for the government. These people usually are located outside the US usually in Russia and the Ukraine, use fake addresses, and are impossible to locate. The only defense against these scumbags is to make information about these programs available and try to educate the public. Blogs, free press release services, can all help to get the word out about these programs as soon as they appear.