How to remove CSRCS.exe virus

Is your pc infected with CSRCS.exe virus? Finding it difficult to completely remove this virus? PC Security Forum has here some good information & steps to Remove csrcs.exe virus.

All you have to do is:-

1. Open Task Manager, locate csrcs.exe (not csrss.exe) under the processes tab and kill the process.
2. Click start -> run and type msconfig in the Run box, and then go to startup tab. Locate this exe file, if any, and then remove it from there to prevent it from starting up.
3. Open windows explorer, click tools -> folder options -> view and check the radio box "show hidden files and folders" also uncheck "hide protected operating system files (recommended)"
4. Go to your system 32 folder by start -> run -> and typing "system32" without quotes. Locate csrcs.exe and shift delete the file. Alternately, you can search the file using windows search in all the drives. Delete all the csrcs.exe instances you find.

For complete details, head over to pc security forum link given above.
Later on, don't forget to run a full system scan using your antivirus and antispyware software and you're good to go.

Bad BitDefender Antivirus Update Crashes Windows again

Bad BitDefender Antivirus Update Crashes Windows based PCs

BitDefender Antivirus is deemed as one of the best antivirus products. However, it is not immune to flaws. My previous experiences with bitdefender haven't been very good. It crashed my Windows xp thrice after updating. Few of my friends reported it slowing down windows systems, therefore they had to switch to something lighter. Here BitDefender is in the news again.

Users of the BitDefender antivirus software started flooding the company's support forums recently, apparently after a faulty antivirus update caused 64-bit Windows machines to stop working.

The company acknowledged the issue in a note explaining the problem, posted Saturday. "Due to a recent update it is possible that BitDefender detects several Windows and BitDefender files as infected with Trojan.FakeAlert.5," the company said.

The acknowledgement came after BitDefender users had logged hundreds of posts on the topic. Some complained of being unable to reboot their systems.

"EVERY file that is trying to run is getting quarantined," one user, identified as lhmathys, reported. "Windows Explorer and even Bitdefender update itself is being quarantined. Someone really screwed this one up."

"We are in a really terrible position now," wrote another user, identified as ufitec. "We have 150 business clients and most of the pcs [on] which BitDefender thinks everything is virus does not boot any more!!!!"

In its note on the issue, posted around 4 pm Pacific Time, the company said it had issued a fix for the problem and offered instructions on how to repair the damage, saying that customers should remove files from quarantine and reboot.

Users who can't do that are advised to either use Windows' Last Known Good Configuration restore or System Restore options. The company has asked its users to disable BitDefender update module until new update is released to fix this.

Read more here:- Yahoo News.

New ESET Online Scanner

Scan and disinfect viruses with ESET online scanner

This new online scanning service allows users to scan and disinfect systems and emails without uninstalling existing antivirus solution.

ESET has announced the availability of a new online scanning service that allows users to scan and disinfect systems, hard disks, compressed files and email - without uninstalling their existing antivirus solution.

Powered by ESET NOD32 Antivirus software, the ESET Online Scanner is a free Web-based service that allows non-ESET users to identify hidden threats, get a "second opinion" on the health status of their computers and determine the strength of their current malware solution.

Based on ESET's heuristic detection technology, ThreatSense, the ESET Online Scanner provides a comprehensive analysis of a computer's malware infection status. It not only detects both known and unknown forms of malware, including viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing and spyware, residing on a computer, but it also cleans the system and allows the end-user to troubleshoot and repair many malware-related problems.

Additional ESET Online Scanner Benefits:

• Fast and Easy-to-Use: The scanner is installed and activated by a single button
• Always Up-to-Date: Uses the most current threat signatures and heuristic detection algorithms available from the ESET Threat Lab
• Deep Scans: Scans inside archive files, runtime packed executables and email messages
• Anonymity: The Online Scanner can be used anonymously as contact information is not required to use the service.

"Not all antivirus and anti-malware products are as effective as they should be and users are starting to understand that the AV solutions that come with their computers may not catch existing malware or protect them from emerging threats," said Paul Brook, Managing Director of ESET UK.

"Despite this realisation, users still rely on these limited solutions for protection, which may lead to potential disaster for them if they become infected and misery for others if their machine is used to distribute malware. Our new online scanner allows any computer user to see very quickly if they have a problem and in many cases help them rectify it too," added Paul Brook.

The ESET Online Scanner is available now.

New Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security

Norton Internet Security - Norton Antivirus 2008 Launches:

Symantec has added new shields against malware and Web vulnerabilities in the latest versions of Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus software.
The 2008 versions of the products include a feature called Browser Defender, a behavioral-based technology that defends against drive-by downloads and other threats targeting vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.
"The notion behind the technology was there's thousands of exploits and the exploits change on a daily basis, but there's only a handful of vulnerabilities—for IE there's 39 vulnerabilities," said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president of consumer products at Symantec.
Other enhancements include Norton Identity Safe, which is aimed at protecting personal information when a user is buying, banking or browsing online. It enables users to control which information is shared with Web sites, and it fills in passwords automatically to thwart keylogging software, company officials said.

Read more here

Security Vendors Challenge Antivirus Tests

Security Vendors Challenge Antivirus Tests

Antivirus software is frequently tested for performance, so picking a top product should be straightforward: Select the number-one vendor whose software kills off all of the evil things circulating on the Internet. You're good to go then, right? Not necessarily.

The increasing complexity of security software is causing vendors to gripe that current evaluations do not adequately test other technologies in the products designed to protect machines.

Relations between vendors and testing organizations are generally cordial but occasionally tense when a product fails a test. Representatives in both camps agree that the testing regimes need to be overhauled to give consumers a more accurate view of how different products compare.

"I don't think anyone believes the tests as they are run now... are an accurate reflection of how one product relates to the other," said Mark Kennedy, an antivirus engineer with Symantec Corp.

Representatives of Symantec, F-Secure Corp. and Panda Software SA agreed last month at the International Antivirus Testing Workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland, to design a new testing plan that would better reflect the capabilities of competing products. They hope all security vendors will agree on a new test that can be applied industrywide, Kennedy said.

A preliminary plan should be drawn up by September, Kennedy said.

One of the most common tests involves running a set of malicious software samples through a product's antivirus engine. The antivirus engine contains indicators, called signatures, that enable it to identify harmful software.

But antivirus products have changed over the last couple years, and "now many products have other ways of detecting and blocking malware," said Toralv Dirron, security lead system engineer for McAfee Inc.

Signature-based detection is important, but an explosion in the number of unique malicious software programs created by hackers is threatening its effectiveness. As a result, vendors have added overlapping defenses to catch malware.

Vendors are employing behavioral detection technology, which may identify a malicious program if it undertakes a suspicious action on a machine. A user may unwittingly download a malicious software program that is not detected through signatures. But if the program starts sending spam, the activity can be identified and halted.

Read more on Yahoo News