WTF is "Found Poweliks" and how do I get rid of it?

[markw]

Make that "Found Poweliks". apparently we can't edit the subject anymore.

This started popping up two days ago, making it through AVG free, which I have been using for years. On a SCAN, AVG Free does acknowledge it, and a few others but seems incapable of doing anything about it. It says they are "secured" but refuses to remove it.

AVG sends up a warning flag in the lower right corner that it blocked and removed it about every two minutes, yet it keeps popping up.

I downloaded Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (trial version) but it doesn't seem to have an effect on it either.

What's a GOOD anti-virus/anti-malware package that will remove this crap and keep it out of my computer. I don't mind paying a reasonable price since this free stuff seems to be failing after all these years.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2014-080408-5614-99&tabid=3

 

[Alex2507]

I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials and laying off the black chick videos. Before downloading MSE I was advised to remove AVG and Lavasoft first. TLS said his computer genius son in law or something recommended it. It's worked fine for years.

 

[markw]

I've since rebooted after posting here about my travails and the warnings and all those problems seem to have disappeared. Hopefully, it'll stay that way since BSA's suggestions confused the bejeezus outta me. I was only an old time applications programmer, not a systems guy.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yea, MS Security Essentials is not bad at all (not perfect, but for free - it's great) I use on my pc's and highly recommend to my clients.

A simple two step way Mark - http://malwarefixes.com/threats/trojan-poweliks/

 

[GlocksRock]

pretty sure I just got the same thing yesterday, so I ran a bunch of anti-malware/spyware programs and it seemed to fix the problem.

 

[rnatalli]

I've had good luck with the free Avast.

 

[markw]

Somehow, it went away. I think the Anti-Malwarebytes took care of it. The next day, and every day after that, the warnings weren't there and system performance was back to normal.

I'm thinking the AVG/Anti-Malwarebytes was blocking it from getting on my system and alerting me.

 

[j_garcia]

That one is really bad. My g/f just had that on her system. Pretty much means SERIOUS excising or reimage/reformat. There is no software that can remove this one, it has to be done manually by someone who knows what they're doing. It is a trojan of the worst order: it appends its code directly into critical system files and registry keys to avoid detection, making removal difficult. We spent some time trying to fix hers and ended up reimaging.

 

[markw]

That one is really bad. My g/f just had that on her system. Pretty much means SERIOUS excising or reimage/reformat. There is no software that can remove this one, it has to be done manually by someone who knows what they're doing. It is a trojan of the worst order: it appends its code directly into critical system files and registry keys to avoid detection, making removal difficult. We spent some time trying to fix hers and ended up reimaging.

Well, that's certainly disquieting. How can I tell if I still have it or not? My computer guy suddenly disappeared after ten years. I think he got sent back to China for hacking or something.

 

[j_garcia]

I didn't really find anything that said how exactly you get this or exactly how to tell if you still have it. We wouldn't even have noticed except for a TON of internet traffic from her machine even when the computer was sitting idle.

 

[markw]

How can I monitor internet traffic from this machine?

 

[j_garcia]

We didn't monitor traffic necessarily, but we noticed the activity on the wireless router and how much data was being consumed, which skyrocketed. I am sure there is a way either on the computer or the router to find out how much activity there is for an attached device, though I don't use something like that. I'll ask someone.

Daughter's fiance is a IT guru. He hasn't had to fix it himself but he did send this info on:

https://blog.malwarebytes.org/security-threat/2014/11/no-more-poweliks/

 

[Rickster71]

Symantec has a removal tool :
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2014-111020-0511-99