www5.antimalware-lab.com

PC users no longer have the luxury of roaming freely on the Internet lest they trip over a dubious and infected link, xxx5.antimalware-lab.com (xxx replaces www and makes it non-clickable) and visit a malicious, germ-laced website that promotes a rogue security program.

Xxx5.antmalware-lab.com is a malicious website because it promotes software that misleads PC users and if installed, compromises their systems. www5.antimalware-lab.com is run by a vicious Trojan that operates as both a web-hijacker or redirect virus and overall common thief. Whether you sought a free online scanner and stumbled upon xxx5.antimalware-lab.com or your PC was infected by other exploits, i.e. software, hardware or human vulnerabilities, this nasty infection can easily worsen by the minute.

Scamming is a billion-dollar business and this brings out the worst in cybercriminals who will use any and everything to find new victims to scam for money. Most of the tools being exploited were invented for good purposes. Rootkits for instance, were initially designed to help music companies control piracy and because of its stealth techniques to evade detection, has become the secret ingredient to hiding malware in the root or core of a PC. This exploit makes finding and removing malware almost impossible for people who are not skilled or experienced in deleting or editing registry or .dll files or expert tools not equipped with an anti-rootkit component.

Another stealth programming tool being exploited by cybercrooks is polymorphic coding. Polymorphic coding helps Trojans who engineer rogue security programs to mutate or alter their file names and skin. Due to this technique, security experts have to update definitions (i.e. name of viruses and their files) more often. Therefore, if you do not have an expert tool that is equipped with an anti-rootkit and that updates definitions around the clock, 24/7, your system could remain under attack, even if you do somehow manage to remove the Trojan hijacker manually off your PC.

The payload or primary purpose of the Trojan behind xxx5.antimalware-lab.com is to forcibly route you to its malicious website so that you will buy its rogue security program called Anti-malware Lab. Anti-malware Lab joins other rogue security programs such as Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011, Vista Anti-Virus 2011, AVE.exe, Palladium Pro, AV Security Suite, Internet Security Essentials, XP Security 2011, Win 7 Anti-Virus 2011, Total Vista Security, XP Home Security 2011, Antivirus Antispyware 2011, Antispyware Soft, Win 7 Security 2011, Total PC Defender, XP Guard, Vista Security 2011, Win 7 Total Security 2011, Antimalware Doctor, to only name a few.

All of these programs have one thing in common:

1. Deceptively infiltrate PC.
2. Simulate a security breach to scare victim into believing their data and system are at risk.
3. Offer to fix problems, but only if the user buys and downloads a full-versioned software.
4. If victim falls for the scam, it capture keystrokes or copy data out of payment form and send by way of http transfer to a remote server and into the hands of a hacker.

Cybercriminals are greedy and have programmed their malware to inflict multiple threats. So while your eyes are busy with some rogue security program fake alerts, warnings, scans and reporting, the Trojan is busy in the background doing the following:

1. Stealing or capturing vital data stored in your cache or off web-based forms (i.e. online banking or purchasing transactions).
2. Spoofing your email account so a spammer can spam all your friends and family.
3. Exploiting a Remote Assistance Tool to give a hacker secret 'root' access so he basically control your PC. Things he might do:
   1. Add your PC to a bot.
   2. Download more malicious malware.
   3. Torture you by manipulating the following:
      1. Change your wallpaper.
      2. Add or delete icons or even files and applications.
      3. Disable your keyboard or other peripheral, i.e. drivers and thus printers, etc.
      4. Tamper with your features, i.e. sound or other options on your control panel.
      5. Lock you out of your own computer.

Timing is key when your system has been compromised, i.e. infected by malware, because these malicious programs use up a lot of system resources and could cause a system crash, damaging your hard drive and possibly destroying your data.

You could waste time trying to access helpful articles or free software on the Internet, to manually remove the stealth Trojan running the xxx5.antimalware-lab.com scam. In the interim, the Trojan is doing what it was programmed to do – work fast. Security experts caution your manual attempts only because most PC users do not understand the risk of deleting the wrong file and having to reimage their system should it become corrupt. If you were smart enough to backup all your data and files and have securely stored the 'keys' and disk of every application, if applicable, the worry may be minimal. However, if this is not the case and you have years and years of valuable, if not just in sentimental value, data on your PC, the risk of losing it all may be that much greater.

Use a reputable anti-malware tool to remove not only all traces of malware off your PC, but to protect it from any future attacks. Cybercriminals and their malware do not sleep and neither should your computer's protection.

So that you do not trip over any dubious link from a malicious website or URL to a germ-laced article, you should use these steps to edit your host file and block them permanently.

1. Using your start menu, open your host file.
2. To bypass the restriction, opt to 'run as administrator', after right clicking on the 'notepad' application.
3. Open your host file (it is usually found here: C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc).
4. Underneath the line that identifies your local host (example below), list the sites you want blocked:

   #127.0.0.1 localhost
   #127.0.0.1 *xyz.com (substitute 'xyz' for the name of the actual site to be blocked)

   Note: the asterisk should block all variations, i.e. www.xyz.com, xyz.com, http:www.xyz.com). If it doesn't, list them individually.

As a safety precaution, you should disconnect or disable your Internet connection to stop any new transmissions of data to a remote server. (Make sure you disable WI-FI connections as well). Find a clean or germ-free PC to change your logins and security credentials for all your online accounts. Finally, use a reputable anti-malware tool to restore order to your PC and wipe the germs of xxx5.antimalware-lab.com away from your machine.