Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro is a rogue security program that falsely claims that the affected machine is infected with malware
and encourages the user to buy a promoted product for cleaning the alleged malware from the computer.
Special Note:
Reports of
Rogue Antivirus programs have been more prevalent as of late. These are programs that generate misleading alerts and false detections in order to convince users to purchase illegitimate security software. Some of these programs may display product names or logos in an apparently unlawful attempt to impersonate Microsoft products.
Symptoms vary among different distributions of Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro, however, the presence of the following system changes (or similar) may indicate the presence of this program:
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Presence of the following files, or similar (for example):
"%windir%\sysguard.exe"
"<system folder>\iehelper.dll"
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Presence of the following registry modifications or similar (for example):
Adds value: "system tool "
With data: "%windir%\sysguard.exe",
To subkey: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Adds value: "(default)"
With data: “bho”
To subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{C9C42510-9B21-41c1-9DCD-8382A2D07C61}
Adds value: "(default)"
With data: “<system folder>\iehelper.dll”
To subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{C9C42510-9B21-41c1-9DCD-8382A2D07C61}\InProcServer32
Adds value: "(default)"
With data: "0”,
To subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{C9C42510-9B21-41c1-9DCD-8382A2D07C61}
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Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro is a rogue security program that falsely claims that the affected machine is infected with malware and encourages the user to buy a promoted product for cleaning the alleged malware from the computer.
Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro has been distributed with many different names. The user interface and other details vary to reflect each variant's individual branding. These different distributions of the trojan use various installation methods, with file names and system modifications that can differ from one variant to the next.
FakeSpypro distributions affecting users in the wild:
Installation
Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro may be installed from the program's web site or by social engineering from third party web sites. When executed, Win32/FakeSpypro copies itself to "%windir%\sysguard.exe" and sets a registry entry to run itself at each system start:
Adds value: "system tool"
With data: "%windir%\sysguard.exe"
To subkey: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
It drops a DLL component to "<system folder>\iehelper.dll" and sets the following registry values to load the dropped DLL at Windows start and to register the DLL component as a BHO:
Adds value: "(default)"
With data: “bho”
To subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{C9C42510-9B21-41c1-9DCD-8382A2D07C61}
Adds value: "(default)"
With data: “<system folder>\iehelper.dll”
To subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{C9C42510-9B21-41c1-9DCD-8382A2D07C61}\InProcServer32
Adds value: "(default)"
With data: "0”
To subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{C9C42510-9B21-41c1-9DCD-8382A2D07C61}
It also creates the following registry subkey:
HKCU\Software\AvScan
HKCU\Software\AVSuite
Payload
Downloads arbitrary files
Win32/FakeSpypro may download files from a particular URL. In the wild, it was observed downloading files from the 'spywrprotect-2009.com' domain.
Displays misleading messages and alerts
When the trojan's executable, sysguard.exe, runs it displays the following interface:
The trojan regularly displays false warnings of malware infection:
It may also display pop-ups such as the following:
Moderates Internet use
The DLL, "<system folder>\iehelper.dll", installed by Win32/FakeSpypro is used to moderate the affected user's Internet use. For example, it may modify search results for the following search engines, by appearing to direct users to browser-security.microsoft.com:
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yahoo.com
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google
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msn.com
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live.com
The site, browser-security.microsoft.com, masquerades as belonging to Microsoft, however, it is used to distribute rogue security software. The site may appear similar to the following example:
Modifies hosts file
Win32/FakeSpypro modifies the Windows Hosts file. The local Hosts file overrides the DNS resolution of a web site URL to a particular IP address. Malicious software may make modifications to the Hosts file in order to redirect specified URLs to different IP addresses. Malware often modifies an affected machine's hosts file in order to stop users from accessing websites associated with particular security-related applications (such as antivirus for example).
Win32/FakeSpypro may modify the Hosts file under <system folder>\drivers\etc\hosts, to ensure that users visiting 'browser-security.microsoft.com' are directed to the listed IP address as in the following example:
195.245.119.131 browser-security.microsoft.com
Blocks web browsing
Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro modifies the registry so that the trojan runs as its own proxy server to manage Internet browsing.
Adds value: "ProxyServer"
With data: "http=127.0.0.1:5555"
To subkey: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
The trojan allows the user to run a Web browser such as Internet Explorer, but any attempts to visit Web sites result in the display of a false "Internet Explorer Warning" message such as the following:
Analysis by Wei Li
Take the following steps to help prevent infection on your system:
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Enable a firewall on your computer.
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Get the latest computer updates for all your installed software.
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Use up-to-date antivirus software.
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Use caution when opening attachments and accepting file transfers.
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Use caution when clicking on links to Web pages.
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Avoid downloading pirated software.
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Protect yourself against social engineering attacks.
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Use strong passwords.
Enable a firewall on your computer
Use a third-party firewall product or turn on the Microsoft Windows Internet Connection Firewall.
Get the latest computer updates
Updates help protect your computer from viruses, worms, and other threats as they are discovered. It is important to install updates for all the software that is installed in your computer. These are usually available from vendor Web sites.
You can use the Automatic Updates feature in Windows to automatically download future Microsoft security updates while your computer is on and connected to the Internet.
Use up-to-date antivirus software
Use caution when opening attachments and accepting file transfers
Exercise caution with e-mail and attachments received from unknown sources, or received unexpectedly from known sources. Use extreme caution when accepting file transfers from known or unknown sources.
Use caution when clicking on links to Web pages
Exercise caution with links to Web pages that you receive from unknown sources, especially if the links are to a Web page that you are not familiar with, unsure of the destination of, or suspicious of. Malicious software may be installed in your system simply by visiting a Web page with harmful content.
Avoid downloading pirated software
Threats may also be bundled with software and files that are available for download on various torrent sites. Downloading "cracked" or "pirated" software from these sites carries not only the risk of being infected with malware, but is also illegal. For more information, see '
The risks of obtaining and using pirated software'.
Protect yourself from social engineering attacks
While attackers may attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in hardware or software in order to compromise a system, they also attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in human behavior in order to do the same. When an attacker attempts to take advantage of human behavior in order to persuade the affected user to perform an action of the attacker's choice, it is known as 'social engineering'. Essentially, social engineering is an attack against the human interface of the targeted system. For more information, see '
What is social engineering?'.
Use strong passwords
Attackers may try to gain access to your Windows account by guessing your password. It is therefore important that you use a strong password – one that cannot be easily guessed by an attacker. A strong password is one that has at least 8 characters, and combines letters, numbers, and symbols. For more information, see
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/create.mspx.
This trojan may prevent the infected computer from running applications such as security scanners or other utilities. This threat may make lasting changes to a computer’s configuration that are NOT restored by detecting and removing this threat. Registry data may require manual correction after the malware is removed.
To remove this threat, perform the following steps:
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Restart the infected computer into Windows "safe mode" with networking. For more information about how to start Windows in "safe mode" with networking, see the following instructions:
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Remove the "ProxyServer" setting created by the trojan
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To remove/modify the changes that Rogue:Win32/FakeSpypro has made to your computer, follow these steps:
1) Click Start and then click Run.
2) In the Open box, type regedit and then click OK.
3) Locate and then click on the following registry key:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
4) On the right panel, right-click on the following registry entry:
ProxyServer
5) Select Modify and then click OK.
6) Remove the following incorrect value data (and replace with correct value data):
http=127.0.0.1:5555
7) Close Registry Editor.
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To detect and remove this threat and other malicious software that may be installed in your computer, run a full-system scan with an up-to-date antivirus product such as the following:
