Anyone familiar with this virus?

[Vareck]

Is this something I should be worried about? Nothing bad seems to have happened so far. I run my AVG virus scan daily.....no results.... Then I run this Spy Eraser and boom this virus shows up..... really odd.

 

[Vareck]

I guess i found my own answer online:

RapidBlaster is an Adware program that is distinguished by its running as a task - Rblaster or Rblast - in the Windows Task Manager. Its primary objective is to monitor a user's web habits, tracking when, where and for how long a user visits certain sites. It then communicates that data to a host server that uses it to conduct market research and, of course, to supply the victim with unsolicited advertisements, like popups.

The nature of RapidBlaster's popups are generally mild, e.g. it only displays ads when the user is online and even then only when he or she visits certain types of sites. What makes RapidBlaster more dangerous is its ability to install one or more dialer programs. These are advertiser-sponsored applications that will alter dial-up settings so that the user will connect to the Internet via a high-rate, premium phone number instead of the default ISP numbers. These high-rate, premium numbers are more often than not the same numbers (or billed under the same contract) as 1-900 numbers, well known to be affiliated with pornographic sponsors. Hence the nature of any dialer-related advertising that may manifest on the computer will often be illicit.

 

[Vareck]

Man that totally freaked me out... I changed all my passwords to everything..... and now it's not a big deal :O

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

That spyware scanning program may find false positives - it is suspected of being rogue.

Find a list of good ones here, run 'em all (many are free):

http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-features.htm

Particularly observe the section about creating a HijackThis! log file.

 

[Vareck]

That spyware scanning program may find false positives - it is suspected of being rogue.

Find a list of good ones here, run 'em all (many are free):

http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-features.htm

Particularly observe the section about creating a HijackThis! log file.

When you say "rogue" does that mean it's almost as bad as the viruses it finds (if it does find a virus)? Should I remove it asap?

 

[Silly Seadog]

Arrrr, rogue can be a-meanin' it might do anything from false positives ta try to convince you to upgrade to a "better" paid-for option, to installing its own infections which 'twill conveniently fail ta detect!

 

[Walkerboh77]

kazaa has been known to be over flowing with spyware and trojans just FYI


get avg....and get spybot...


turn off system restore....

reboot your comp into safe mode

run avg

run spybot

reboot into normal windows mode

turn system restore back on




if i violated any forum rules by posting specific programs forgive me....i'm new here

 

[Nok]

http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-features.htm

Good link.

Arrrr, rogue can be a-meanin' it might do anything from false positives ta try to convince you to upgrade to a "better" paid-for option, to installing its own infections which 'twill conveniently fail ta detect!

Exactly.

When you say "rogue" does that mean it's almost as bad as the viruses it finds (if it does find a virus)?

Worse. There are a lot of rogue security utilities that create false positives in the hopes of selling you something... but modify your legitimate to keep themselves from being detected.

Should I remove it asap?

Immediately. Go with the tried & true known quantities of security... stick with the names you know and are recognized as being legitimate security tools. Like SpyBot Search & Destroy, Webroot Spy Sweeper, and others. Make sure the program engine of your AVG is the latest version, and you have the latest definitions.

 

[T_Amon_from_work]

/agreed

I use AdAware and Spybot as well as Pest Control from CA (part of the free CA package from TimeWarner) - so 3 spyware proggies. About the same for AV stuff with CA and AVG constantly running.

 

[Vyrquenox]

That spyware scanning program may find false positives - it is suspected of being rogue.

Find a list of good ones here, run 'em all (many are free):

http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-features.htm

Particularly observe the section about creating a HijackThis! log file.

yes we all love the anti-virus programs that are in fact viruses themselves and they will fix themselves if you buy them!
(had to spend some time on one my gf's nephew put on her computer...you know the 'your computer may be infected!' so dumbo installs the (virus) program.

talk to these children!

 

[Connor_Graham]

What site did you go to for the definition of the virus?

 

[Doomsday Dragon]

I run Avira Antivir Personal which is free anti-virus similar to AVG but slightly better at catching bad scripts on pages and stopping things from running from remote locations which AVG does not.

I also use Ad-Aware for spyware. But spyware is not usually a problem like viruses can be.

 

[Shamus Turlough]

Theres another neat little removal tool I use all the time. Go to the following link:

http://siri.urz.free.fr/Fix/SmitfraudFix.exe

And download smitfraudfix.exe

Boot to safe mode (press f8 at the black loading windows screen)

Run the fix, it will pop up in a blue CMD window. Use option 2, and reply "yes" when it asks to clean the registry. When that finishes, use option 5. This will also go in and clean any DNS hijacks that have taken place.

This is a great tool. It gets rid of most of the rogue AS/AV programs that change wallpaper, generate popups, etc...

 

[Nok]

I run Avira Antivir Personal which is free anti-virus similar to AVG but slightly better at catching bad scripts on pages and stopping things from running from remote locations which AVG does not.

Ditto. I use Avira's AntiVir Personal too. Excellent anti virus free or paid, and Avira offers both.

Security utilities are tested constantly, many once a month. The best anti virus available... changes every month. One month it is AntiVir, another Norton, then AVG, next Kaspersky, and so on... pick any AV, it's been named best by someone at sometime.

I choose to use AntiVir based on often it is rated to have the best detection rates and top 3 rankings month to month from one year to the next. Look at AntiVir over the long haul, and it is by far the best AV on the most consistent basis. It works.

I also use Ad-Aware for spyware. But spyware is not usually a problem like viruses can be.

Ad-Aware is good, but at least IMHO... it hasn't kept up with other AS utilities (especially A-A's TSR tool, it is weak by today's standards). Webroot's SpySweeper is great, but... is costly (purchase & subs), and is a real resource hog.

I stick with the latest version of Spybot - Search & Destroy (1.6.0 was released recently). It's has the best TSR, light on resources, fast, great detection... and it's free!

Just my 2 pesos.