Under Attack by the Vundu Trojan Virus!Help!

[davidtwotrees]

Not sure if this is copecetic as it is a computer issue, if so remove it, admins.
Sunday morning I woke up to find I was under attack by some nasty viruses. They don't seem to harm my computer, but basically will open new windows in Internet Explorer linking to exciting websites for dates, automobiles, and all kinds of wonderful things. I guess my security was pretty lame. So, I beefed up my Norton and that did nothing...........Then I bought SpyHunter and that got to the root of the problem and found all the nasty little viruses. It does a good job of getting them out..........all except one.....the dreaded Vundo.Trojan. It can't remove that one it seems. As a result, Vundo opens the door for all the others to show up again??!! I have an email in to SpyHunter's support, but I'm sceptical on their helping.
I won't mind formatting my harddrive...........if that is the only way.....the few googles I found on removing the Vundo Trojan manually looked like a really geeky process-much more difficult than a reformat.
I wonder if my email is infected, too?

Any thoughts or experiences appreciated. It is very annoying!

 

[Rickster71]

Hi Dave, I feel your pain; I just went through this about two weeks ago.

One thing I've learned, is that shutting off system restore, and deleting all restore points is important.
otherwise the Trojan replicates from the restore files.
Below are a few links that give some info.

http://tweak.us/cms/article_Trojan_Removal.html

http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2004-021914-2822-99&tabid=3

 

[davidtwotrees]

Thanks, Ric, I'll try this. I feel violated.

Not sure if it wouldn't be easier to format hard drive. Anyone know if this will rid me of the virus?

 

[jamie2112]

Thanks, Ric, I'll try this. I feel violated.

Not sure if it wouldn't be easier to format hard drive. Anyone know if this will rid me of the virus?

Yes I have an answer: Buy a Macbook... J/K I feel your pain thats why I gave up PC 5 years ago and (knock on my B&W's..they are wood) and have had zero problems with pop ups or viruses or anything that compromises my info on my Mac. I hope you get this issue worked out quickly....

 

[davidtwotrees]

I'd love to buy a mac.......but they aren't cheap and I seem to spend all my money on my rig!!!

 

[jamie2112]

I'd love to buy a mac.......but they aren't cheap and I seem to spend all my money on my rig!!!

I know that program well too....I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Djizasse]

I would format the harddrive, install the Operating System, and then install and setup security software.

I currently use Grisoft's AVG as the antivirus and recomend it.
I would also recommend switching to Firefox and installing the "No Script" addon, get it here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

Jamie, macs are good, they can even run windows
http://cexx.org/snicker/macpage.htm

 

[mike c]

everytime i try to fix a virus, my pc gets frakked up.

if i do get rid of the virus, basically some other data hard drive has that bugger hiding somewhere.

basically, formatting is the best solution, clean start with the OS. and then install an antivirus - that will catch the buggers that are hiding in the other drives.

 

[davidtwotrees]

THANX! I've been online since January of 1994, and this is my first virus. I will format tomorrow. I don't have tons and tons of stuff on my pc. Basically I surf the net, pay bills, and use MS Word.
I just don't get the whole virus thing. Is it a power trip? Because all it does is open up new windows to crappy websites....like I'd buy something or use a product that the f*&%ing virus linked me to?! I guess it could be worse, like malicious and try to get my bank info or infect all my email contacts or summat. Ah well. Live and learn. Thanks again .

 

[tomd51]

A couple of options...

Hopefully you catch this suggestion and give it a shot before performing a format and re-install/re-image. One of the newer, more agressive spyware/malware (sw/mw) removers that has had some recent positive reviews is Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. It identifies sw/mw differently than most other removal applications and has had very good success in removing some of the more difficult sw/mw that's out there. Download it and give it a whirl before taking the last resort.

On my IBM laptop, I am running Symantec AntiVirus with the latest virus definitions, which for the most part picks off almost every possible intrusion/vulnerability. For additional protection, I also run current versions of Spybot-S&D and Ad-Aware (free version) with the latest updates every few weeks to make sure nothing's slipped through. On my Mac G4 PPC tower, I'll run ClamXav every now and then, but as Jamie hinted on, there's very few viruses out in "the wild" (I love when they use that term for this stuff ) that target the Mac, so it's rarely necessary, at least at this point.

I'd also suggest using a browser such as Firefox or Opera instead of IE (Internet Explorer). There's been countless exploits of IE, more so on previous versions that haven't been kept up to date with security patches. Firefox and Opera also have far more functionality available than IE, but that's a different discussion altogether.

Sorry to hear, dealing with viruses are never fun. Good luck and if you have any questions, let me know... -TD

 

[davidtwotrees]

I guess I do have a question...........I've been avoiding emailing anyone. This adware crap doesn't seem to be malicious.......but am I right in emailing people for fear of spreading this?
The SpyHunter software actually seems to be catching up with it. I have been online for an hour and have only seen two sites pop up........
I'm still mulling it over. This computer could stand for a good cleaning out.....

 

[phlakvest]

A single virus is usually pretty easy to clean if you know what virus you have.
The problem however virus tend to invite their buddies over once they get on your machine. You can clean the origional virus but you have 5 more still there. By the time you get the 5 more cleaned up... well you get the picture.

The only way to be sure you got the virus and all the other freeloaders it invited in is to format the drive. And start from scratch.

I have fixed several virus laden computer through both methods. As anoying as it is to re-install and re-setup a computer, is much faster than cleaning up the virus. And you also get some assurance with it that you actually did get the virus off.

 

[sparky77]

Try A2free, it seems to pull off a lot more stuff than avg does.

 

[tomd51]

I guess I do have a question...........I've been avoiding emailing anyone. This adware crap doesn't seem to be malicious.......but am I right in emailing people for fear of spreading this?
The SpyHunter software actually seems to be catching up with it. I have been online for an hour and have only seen two sites pop up........
I'm still mulling it over. This computer could stand for a good cleaning out.....

According to the Trojan.Vundo description on Symantec's Security Response Center, this is a relatively low level threat and should be fairly simple to remove. It's behavior does not seem to hijack any address books or e-mail applications, so I wouldn't be terribly concerned of this particular virus causing any issue from that perspective. There are several others more malicious that can, but this doesn't seem to be one of them.

I've had approximatey a 98% success rate removing any threats with the aforementioned apps on many machines, ranging from technically saavy users to very basic users. I'd have to agree that doing a compete reformat and re-install will absolutely take care of things, but that's kind of like using a flame thrower as a fly swatter. There are some nasty buggers out there that can get themselves so well rooted and propogate other viruses, but I would definitely give some of these suggestions a shot before dropping the hammer.

Remember, many of these removers can be run during idle/down time on your machine (lunch break, overnight, etc.), so it doesn't impact your productivity... -TD

 

[CitronBull]

I hope you havent reformatted the OS yet. That should be your last option. Go to http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/ they have great moderators that will help you. First follow this spyware/virus removal guide:

http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f51/spyware-removal-guide-osiris-updated-1-12-2009-a-165828/

Its a little bit of work but it is worth it.

 

[Nemo128]

If you have backups of anything important, which you should... a hard drive wipe is option #1, not last resort. The time it takes to sift through the registry, use freeware tools that you think are secure, and run repeated scans of your files dwarfs the time it takes to pop in your restore/OS disc and redo your file system.

I've never seen a PC problem that wasn't a PEBCAK issue... LimeWire, free porn sites, eMule, Bittorent, mySpace... gotta love it. Oh well, keeps me employed. =)

 

[davidtwotrees]

Nemo, you're the first geek that's said that. All along I've been like geez, I'll just reformat and all the geeks want to do is patch and download and upload and do things that they like to do....I still haven't reformatted, yet, and all the scrubbing has gotten rid of the virus', there is still some adware at work, anytime I use a search feature it will open a new screen to a comparable site.
And you are entirely right w/ the problem between the chair and the keyboard. wink.

 

[mike c]

for the record, i said 'format'

 

[alexwakelin]

It sounds like you have a version of Norton that protects against viruses but not adware/spyware. These days adware/spyware protection is just as important as virus protection. Before you go through the trouble of reformatting, I would try downloading hijack this and see if it will remove the trojan. If you don't know what you are doing with hijack this, you can mess things up beyond repair, but it only takes a few minutes to download and run, and if you mess things up you were planning on reformatting anyway. Once you get your computer cleaned up, install a good spyware protection program as well as Firefox or Opera. The ONLY thing I still use IE for is streaming netflix, as it won't work with any other browser.

 

[lsiberian]

THANX! I've been online since January of 1994, and this is my first virus. I will format tomorrow. I don't have tons and tons of stuff on my pc. Basically I surf the net, pay bills, and use MS Word.
I just don't get the whole virus thing. Is it a power trip? Because all it does is open up new windows to crappy websites....like I'd buy something or use a product that the f*&%ing virus linked me to?! I guess it could be worse, like malicious and try to get my bank info or infect all my email contacts or summat. Ah well. Live and learn. Thanks again .

Some teenagers start fires in the back yard. Other terrorize internet users.

Some did both as teenagers.

Now Spy Ware and IE hijackers are far more dangerous than viruses. In fact there aren't nearly as many viruses these days as there is spyware.

Microsoft's fundamental OS design makes it extremely vulnerable to hacking and to malware(viruses, hijackers, keyloggers, etc)

As a result Microsoft is trying to make their new OS's more like UNIX. The problem is that the paradigms of the operating systems are so vastly different that it causes lot's of problems.

For PCs you may consider trying out a Linux distro. I know I used to run a dual boot computer with a shared fat32 partition for common files. That was when the files I kept on my computer mattered to me. I never once had any issues with Linux(exception that Linspire junk)

People point to the amount of users as the cause for that, but I totally disagree that it is the main contributing factor. Unix which is the core of Linux has had very exploits ever reported. And those systems where used in much more hack worthy areas then windows has ever been.

I could go on, but I don't feel like writing an article on what's inherently wrong with Windows.

I conclude if you throw a rock at Windows it will shatter.