Latest Malware Threat: Remove Windows Stability Center

younghv
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Published:
The purpose of this Article is to provide information for a newly released variant of malware – with the assumption that many EE Members will have need of the information.

According to “Computerworld”, well over one million web sites have been compromised with an SQL injection cyberattack known as “LizaMoon”.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215428/Millions_of_sites_hit_with_mass_injection_cyberattack

That number of infections was as of April 1st (a favorite day for new malware releases), 2011, so we can be assured that the number is much higher by now.

The resultant infection is known as “Windows Stability Center”.
When infected this is the image you will see on your monitor:

  ScreenShot
This infection is yet another version of the common “Scareware” or “Ransomware” infections.

To repair this infection, you will need three free (downloadable) tools.

RogueKiller: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/files/file/413-roguekiller/
OR
RKill: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/rkill

Shell.reg: http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/reg/shell.reg
Malwarebytes: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/malwarebytes-anti-malware

The safest method for getting the files you need is to download them from a clean computer and then burn them to CD (or USB stick if you don’t have that option).

If you don’t have another computer, you can download the files you need after the fake scan is completed.

Complete (detailed) instructions for repairing this infection have been written by “Grinler” at:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-stability-center

Please read the instructions carefully and print them out before starting the process.

I will monitor this Article for any comments from our Members needing additional help.

If you are fighting this infection, please post a link to your EE question and we will do all we can to help you make the repairs you need.

Other recommended EE Articles:
MALWARE - "An Ounce of Prevention..."
Basic Malware Troubleshooting
Rogue-Killer-What-a-great-name
Stop-the-Bleeding-First-Aid-for-Malware
Rogue-Killer-What-a-great-name
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younghv
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Comments (4)

I had a user with it this thursday. Couldn't find anything about it on the web, so I did a re-install... sucks...
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Author of the Year 2011
Top Expert 2006

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Commented:
happyhenrik:
Thank you for posting.
I meant to get this written up yesterday - in the hopes of catching some of the early onset infections.

As a PS member, you have unlimited question points to offer, so I suggest that you always post a quick question in the Virus & Spyware Zones.

We have some Experts who stay pretty up-to-date on the latest malware and should be able to help you work through even the unknown stuff.

I run a repair shop - most of our work is disinfecting computers - and we probably only do 2-3 re-installations a year.

Most stuff can be repaired, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.
I was actually considering posting a question about this, but the affected pc was a pretty standard pc, that was re-imaged within an hour
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Author of the Year 2011
Top Expert 2006

Author

Commented:
happyhenrik:

Thank you for commenting.

I remember the days of having Images (or slip-streamed loads) for all the computers in our Domains, and never having to worry about trying to disinfect/repair. It was certainly less complicated.
:-)

Most of the people I help here on EE don't have that luxury and are just trying to figure out how to get their one home computer functional. The lucky ones have a second computer they can use to post their questions, while they are working on the down one.

My repair business is almost entirely home computers - 99% of which have never had the data backed up - so a format/reinstall is not an option.

FWIW - my typical repair job (using the basic tools above) only takes about an hour.

If you ever do have a malware problem that you need to handle manually, I'll look forward to helping.

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