pictured above: false threat detections indicated by a vundo "fake anti-virus" variant.For those that aren’t aware, Vundo appears in many forms-- Spyware Protect 2009, Anti-Virus 2009, Anti Spyware 2009, and AntiVirus 360 just to name a few. I can’t stress enough how persistent this infection is, and removing it can prove to be quite a feat.
Vundo, by design, attaches itself to an area of your system in which its modules are being loaded before you even see your desktop. Its filenames are randomly generated, making a step by step removal tutorial impractical. I have seen many internet security programs fail to remove this threat. Norton and Spybot Search and Destroy are both successful at detecting it, but neither one is effective at removing it. Even the one program that I have been most successful at removing Vundo with, can sometimes be blocked from execution by Vundo’s processes.
Vundo, by design, attaches itself to an area of your system in which its modules are being loaded before you even see your desktop. Its filenames are randomly generated, making a step by step removal tutorial impractical. I have seen many internet security programs fail to remove this threat. Norton and Spybot Search and Destroy are both successful at detecting it, but neither one is effective at removing it. Even the one program that I have been most successful at removing Vundo with, can sometimes be blocked from execution by Vundo’s processes.
The most common denominator in Vundo infections? Limewire. Not that I wish to advocate illegally obtaining copyrighted materials without paying royalties, but in the interests of protecting my potential clients, a little advice for safe downloading on Limewire.
Whenever you search for media, make sure the bit rate and file size make sense.
If you are attempting to download a song that is about 4 minutes long, first, make sure that it has a bit rate, and then make sure the file size is appropriate to that bitrate. Example: 128k bitrate x 240 seconds = 30,720Kbits or 3,840KBytes. You don’t have to do a whole bunch of math, but eventually you will get an idea of how big the files should be.
Avoid results that don’t make sense.
Have you ever heard of a cover band doing Flo-Rida? No! Then, why would you expect to see a “flo-rida right round [rare cover].mp3” file? There are “listeners” that sit on Limewire’s network and match infected file names to your search terms. Sometimes they try to entice further by adding stuff to make the file even more appealing. Which brings me to my next tip…
Try not to use every term in your search.
If you were to search for something like Brandy’s “Full Moon,” try just using the terms Brandy and Moon. That way, when you see “Full Moon” appear in your results despite not searching “full,” you can expect it to be what you want. If you see just “moon brandy” or “brandy moon” expect it to be some garbage.
Finally, Scan your files before you open them.
This is self explanatory. If you don’t have a anti-virus program with on demand scanning, I recommend you get one that does. There are too many free ones out there that will scan a file just from a right click menu
Whenever you search for media, make sure the bit rate and file size make sense.
If you are attempting to download a song that is about 4 minutes long, first, make sure that it has a bit rate, and then make sure the file size is appropriate to that bitrate. Example: 128k bitrate x 240 seconds = 30,720Kbits or 3,840KBytes. You don’t have to do a whole bunch of math, but eventually you will get an idea of how big the files should be.
Avoid results that don’t make sense.
Have you ever heard of a cover band doing Flo-Rida? No! Then, why would you expect to see a “flo-rida right round [rare cover].mp3” file? There are “listeners” that sit on Limewire’s network and match infected file names to your search terms. Sometimes they try to entice further by adding stuff to make the file even more appealing. Which brings me to my next tip…
Try not to use every term in your search.
If you were to search for something like Brandy’s “Full Moon,” try just using the terms Brandy and Moon. That way, when you see “Full Moon” appear in your results despite not searching “full,” you can expect it to be what you want. If you see just “moon brandy” or “brandy moon” expect it to be some garbage.
Finally, Scan your files before you open them.
This is self explanatory. If you don’t have a anti-virus program with on demand scanning, I recommend you get one that does. There are too many free ones out there that will scan a file just from a right click menu
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