keystroke logger malware virus
 

Has anyone had one of these nasty buggers? It appears to be a very sophisticated one and may be in the "kernel" layer of our computer. It has hi-jack our BofA passwords, personal info, used our Verizon broadband aircard to send our information to whoever/where ever and maybe even used our broadband to send spam -- made us go over our 5G TWICE! Also, got a hold of my credit card number and starting charging and sending me "presents". What a mess, but nothing too bad or unresolvable yet...

We are buying a MacBook this weekend since most of these bad guys don't waste their time programming virus' for the Mac, but does anyone know if the GeekSquad at BestBuy is knowledgable enough to rid our PC of this or do we need to find an expert/ex-hacker?

Thanks!

Geeze, what a nightmare!

I recently had a trojan that several well known anti-virus and anti-malware programs could not kill but one product wiped it out without a problem; it was the free version of SUPERAntiSpyware. I was so happy that I paid for their Professional Version.

In case you want to give it a try, here is their website:

http://www.superantispyware.com/index.html

Good luck,

Dan

Dan,

Thanks! I'll check it out. I am absolutely NO expert -- barely a novice -- will something like this work after-the-fact or do I need to have my computer 'cleaned' and then install this?

If you are already running AVG and Malwarebytes, can you downloand Superantispyware and run it.

We do not have AVG and Malwarebytes --We were not SMART and as a friend told me -- our computer was so unprotected it was like leaving our home for a 6 month vacation, with doors and windows wide open and oh yeah btw - you live in a "very bad, bad, bad part of town"

I guess we need to get it cleaned completely. I think we will only use our MacBook for personal info stuff and use this laptop PC for basic fun stuff. Any other advice is welcome!

P.S. 784caroline -- I spoke with hubby last night about Title Insurance after requesting subcontractor doc from developer and we decided to forgo Title Insurance - I've ALWYS wanted to do this and I finally feel GOOD about doing it. We KNOW we will sleep o.k.! Thanks again.

SUPERAntiSpyware claims that it will clean up a wide variety of malware infections so I would download the free version now and let it scan your computer. I don't think that it would hurt anything and it might actually find the infection and kill it. Of course it won't do much for all the information its already collected and passed on to who knows where.

You might want to start notifying any online accounts about the problem and get passwords changed.

Good luck!

Yes, you can install SUPERAntiSpyware with other anti-spyware and anti-malware products.

I also use the MalwareBytes product. It is another very good product but in my case with the trojan that I had, MalwareBytes would find the infection but could not kill it. SUPERAntiSpyware killed it!

O.K. I will begin downloading as soon as I finish typing. We have already notified everyone -- IRS , Social Security, credit cards, credit bureaus, banks, brokerage firm, on and on. So far only one credit card, CapitalOne, had a problem, and they reversed the charges and are investigating the fraud! I have LEARNED MY LESSON!!!! Thanks for the link. Here I go. I let you know if it finds something... those nasty buggers...

Sorry to hear that.

Finding keyloggers is not too difficult, but if you really have a keylogger, you probably have other underlying issues. If you are not an expert and you really believe someone is stealing secrets through your computer, find someone local for help and stop using this computer for anything personal or sensitive until you do.

If you do not want to try and fix, a safe way to fix this is backup your user files, shutdown and reinstall from scratch. Once up, secure the system and check your user files for malware, etc.

There is no doubt Macs have fewer attack vectors, but even on a MAC you still have to use them securely. There are several popular keyloggers for Macs.

You're quite welcome and I wish you the very best of luck.

Here is a thread of folks that may help
 

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...light=computer

Although if the hacker is any good they will read this and soon you will not be able to get to TOTV :Screen_of_Death:

Best of luck....

I heard or the Clark Howard radio show a while back that if you suspect you have a keystroke tracker, you can use the on screen keyboard to put in your passwords and any sensitive stuff and it is not registered as a keystroke. Can be found by clicking Start> All Programs> Accessories> Accessibility> and On-Screen Keyboard. Then you use your mouse to click on the key you want.

JM
First of all get a copy of Malwarebytes from their web site Malwarebytes.org and this is a free program.

You may have to get this from a friend on CD or jump drive if your computer is really infected bad. Next boot your computer in the Safe Mode with network capability. This will only load the necessary programs to run your computer.

Next install and run Malwarebytes while still in the safe mode. Do a complete scan of your system and if anything is found bad or containing a virus delete it. You may want run Malwarebytes again just to make sure. It may come up with some files in your recycle bin that cannot be deleted. Sometimes these files have a virus and are located in a folder under $Recycle Bin/S-1-5-20 or something close to that. You will not be able to open the S- folder but you can delete it.

Next reboot your system in the normal manner and for to the Microsoft Web page and download Microsoft Security Essentials. This is also a free program. Install and run the program to do a full scan.

I have used this process a number of times while I was still working in support and it worked almost every time.

Hopefully this will get everything.

Hi jmitchell,

I hate that this happened to you. It is also a good idea in the future to connect to the internet through a router.

Please let us know if you are able to get rid of the problem and if so, what works. Glad you discovered the problem before more harm was done.

Best wishes,

P

O.K. Let me see if I understand Part 1. boot my computer in Safe Mode -- should I not do this using my broadband air card -- I don't have a network connection.

I did run, per Dan's helpful post, SuperAntiSpyware and it found all sorts of bad guys and killed em'. It also seems to give me a way to "start" my computer in a "Safe" way. Are you familiar with this? Dan -- how about you? I would happily pay you all for this help :beer3:

This can be a hard problem to solve. If you take it in for a repair they will probably erase your hard disk and reinstall your operating system.
Before you log onto the internet with your new computer make sure you set up all the potedtion you need. Copying data from your current computer could add the virus to your computer so be careful. Might want to look for a comuter club and get some advice.

The part about the "no title insurance" was a joke right?! Liens. Survey errors. Fraud. Etc. Etc.

It would be better if you had a hard wired network connection but you can try it with the air card. All of the malware and anti virus programs require that you have some type of internet connection so that you can get the latest definition file.

If it were me in your shoes now I would remove the SuperAntiSpyware and and get Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials and run them and see what it will find. The reason I say to remove SAS is that you want to have only one anti virus loaded on your computer at a time. If you run both of Malwarebytes and MSE it may or may not pick up anything and you should be good to go.

Now you will have a decision to make and that is which one do I keep SAS or MWB / MSE but what ever you end up with you need to run it and update it on a regular basis.

Ont thing about running your computer in the safe mode and that is it will only load the programs and files necessary to run your computer in the most basic format.

One other thing you need to now try and figure out and that is how did you get this virus in the first place. If you never were running some type of anti virus program and your computer was an open door then this is a learning lesson. If you had been going to warez sites, hack sites, usenet newsgroups or even bit torrent sites you most likely got the virus from there. Or just maybe you picked it up from sharing things with a friend.

No matter where you got it you have to look at where you have been so you don't get it again.

Good Luck.

Thanks to you, Dan, I just installed SuperAntiSpyware on my computer. I ran Malwarebytes last nite and it found one threat. SuperAntiSpyware found many more. Thanks for the good tip!!

I downloaded the superantispyware and ran it - it found 699 adware cookies on my computer from most of the commercial websites I have visited. It erased them but they are probably reinfesting my computer as I write this.


.

In the past I have had a problem with a virus that doesn't let you do anything but tells you your computer is infected and you need to purchase their anti virus program. Can't recall the exact name of the virus but it's very frustrating if you have it. In order to get rid of it I started my pc in safe mode and then did a system restore to a date prior to when I got the virus. It worked fine after that, no more virus.

John

If nothing works, call MMD on 27/441 in Lady Lake - (352) 750-3707. They will take care of if for you.

I have been able to successfully help neighbors with a couple of these super viruses but the rest I sent to MMD. With success.

In my opinion do not waste much time. Go to a professional if you waste more that a few hours chasing solutions.

That is great news! It never hurts to run both and let them cross check each other.

Cheers...

Thank you all for the very helpful information. Per Dan I did install the free version of the SUPERAntiSpyware and it found ALL sort of things, including 17 malware threats and a lot of other “bad guys”. I know this is only a temporary fix and as soon as we get to TV which will be in a few weeks (YIPEEEE) per Zcaveman – Thank you! we will visit MMD in Lady Lake for some professional help and ask them about loading Malwarebytes and MSE suggested by Hawkwind and others. In the meantime we are not accessing any personal stuff on this computer! Our MacBook Pro is being delivered tomorrow!

Thanks again so much to all of you. You all are truly what make The Villages GREAT!

Check this out.

http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/104093914.html