What this infection does:
Security Shield is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Security Tool. This rogue is installed through other malware and fake online anti-malware scanners. When installed, Security Shield will be configured to start automatically when Windows starts. Once started, it will perform a scan of your computer and state that there are numerous infections present on your computer. If you attempt, though, to remove any of these so-called infections the program will state that you first need to purchase it. In reality, all of the files it states are infections are legitimate Windows files. Therefore, do not manually delete any of the files it states are infections as you may cause Windows to not operate correctly.
Security Shield screenshot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 7 images you can view.
In order to protect itself, Security Shield will terminate almost all processes that you start. It does this so that you cannot launch any security programs that may have the ability to remove the infection. The message that you will see when you attempt run a program is similar to the one below:
Security Shield
“cmd.exe” is infected with “Worm.Win32.Autorun.bnb”. Do you want to register your copy and remove all threats now?
Just like the scan results, this infection warning is fake and should be ignored.
While running, Security Shield will also display numerous security alerts that are an attempt to make you think that your computer has a serious computer problem. Some of the texts that you may see are:
Security Shield Warning
Spyware.IEMonster activity detected. This form of spyware attempts to steal passwords from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Outlook and other commonly used programs. Click here to immediately remove it with Security Shield.Security Shield Warning
Intercepting malicious software that may violate your privacy and harm your computer has been detected. Click here to remove now with Security Shield.Security Shield Warning
Some of the important system files on your PC were modified by malicious software. It may cause system crashes and data losses.
Click here to prevent non-authorized changes and remove threats (Recommended)Security Shield
Security Shield Firewall Alert
Security Shield has prevented a program from accessing the internet.
“iexplore.exe” is infected “Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent”. This worm has to tried to use “iexplore.exe” to connect to remove host and send your credit card information
All of these alerts are fake and should be ignored. They are just another tactic that is being used to make you think that your computer is infected.
Without a doubt, Security Shield was created to trick you into registering the program. Therefore, do not purchase Security Shield for any reason, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and state that the program is a computer infection and a scam and that you would like to dispute the charge. To remove this infection and related malware, please follow the steps in the guide below.
Threat Classification:
- Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware
Advanced information:
View Security Shield files.
View Security Shield Registry Information.
Tools Needed for this fix:
- Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 – HKCU\..\RunOnce: [<random numbers>] %AppData%\<random numbers>.exe
Guide Updates:
12/07/10 – Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for Security Shield using Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware:
- Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
- It is possible that the infection you are trying to remove will not allow you to download files on the infected computer. If this is the case, then you will need to download the files requested in this guide on another computer and then transfer them to the infected computer. You can transfer the files via a CD/DVD, external drive, or USB flash drive.
- Before we can do anything we must first end the processes that belong to Security Shield so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, please download RKill to your desktop from the following link.
RKill Download Link – (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)
When at the download page, click on the Download Now button labeled iExplore.exe download link. When you are prompted where to save it, please save it on your desktop.
- Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with Security Shield and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a message that RKill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just a fake warning given by Security Shield when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into these infections warnings that close RKill, a trick is to leave the warning on the screen and then run RKill again. By not closing the warning, this typically will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that rkill can terminate Security Shield . So, please try running RKill until the malware is no longer running. You will then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide. If you continue having problems running RKill, you can download the other renamed versions of RKill from the rkill download page. All of the files are renamed copies of RKill, which you can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new browser window or tab.
Do not reboot your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will start again.
- Now you should download Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop:
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware Download Link (Download page will open in a new window)
- Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
- Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
- When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button. If MalwareBytes’ prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
- MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.
- On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Security Shield related files.
- MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.
- When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below.
You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the SecurityShield removal process.
- You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
- A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
- When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
- You can now exit the MBAM program.
- As many rogues and other malware are installed through vulnerabilities found in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:
How to detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Your computer should now be free of the SecurityShield program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future.
If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:
Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help
Associated Security Shield Files:
c:\Documents and Settings\Bleeping\Local Settings\Application Data\<random numbers>.exe
Associated Security Shield Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce “<random numbers>
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