I received a phone call from a church member at Lavon Drive Baptist Church in Garland. I had set up his computer with SpyBot and AVG free antivirus. It seems his room mate was surfing the internet and got a warning that "his computer was infected with viruses" and was invited to do a scan. His roommate initiated the (fake) scan, and when Spybot warned that his registry was being changed his roomate authorized the change. This kind of defeats the purpose of having the protection on the computer. There is little benefit to have protection on your computer if you are simply going to over ride it when you are notified some malware or virus program is attempting gain a beach head! I had the user try and start Spybot, but it was beling blocked from running. He was able to start and update AVG. Fortunately, AVG found and removed the malware program (identifying itself as Antivirus 2010). If you are plagued with Antivirus 2010 here is a link with instructions to remove it (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-antivirus-2010).
According to BleepingComputer.com:
What this programs does:
Antivirus 2010 is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Antivirus 2008 and Antivirus 2009. Like its previous incarnations, Antivirus 2010 is advertised through the use of advertisements on the Web pretending to be online anti-malware scanners. These advertisements pretend to scan your computer and then state that your computer is infected and that you should download and install Antivirus 2010 to remove these infections. These rogues are also known to be advertised and installed through Trojans that display fake security alerts in your Windows taskbar stating you are infected. Once you click on one of these alerts, it will bring you to the download page for Antivirus 2010, or even download and install it without your permission.
Once Antivirus 2010 is installed on your computer, it will be automatically configured to run when you logon to Windows. This is done by adding a startup that launches the C:WindowsSystem32wingamma.exe executable. This executable will then launch the AV2010.exe and the fake Windows Security Center. Once running, it will scan your computer and list a variety of infections that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the software. This infection will also randomly display fake security alerts on your computer stating that you are infected or have some sort of security risk. If you click on these alerts, it will prompt you to purchase the software. These fake alerts, along with a fake Windows Security Center that advertises Antivirus 2010, are used to further scare you into thinking you are infected so you purchase the software.
Another new addition to these types of rogues is the creation of a fake Blue Screen of Death. At random intervals, Antivirus 2010 will create what appears to be a Windows crash, but in reality is just a fake screen. These fake crashes are used to further persuade you into purchasing the software. If you receive this crash, you can simply reboot your computer , or try pressing Alt-Tab or Control-Alt-Delete to get out of it.
