Jenni Hilton's Posterous

Eternal Thoughts from a Sunshine Mind

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    Warning: Microsoft Privacy Center is a Virus

    The other day my mom called me at work for some computer help. I work at a software company as a marketing and PR manager. This also means that I am my parents' help desk by association. I know just enough about technology to be dangerous. So mom calls and says that MS privacy center is running on her computer and the voice of a British woman is talking in the background. So while she was on the phone, I searched MS Privacy Center and discovered that it was a rogue virus, malware to be exact. And it's not pretty. It took over her computer by autorunning and scanning her computer and she could not do anything else. It also prompts for you to buy the software and enter credit or debit card payment. DO NOT DO THIS. She hit control-alt-delete and was able to go to the task manager. From there, we were able to disable the .exe file under the processes tab and then I sent her an email to download the malware remover software. This took about a half day but was worth helping my mom out. Here are instructions if this happens to you. If you see this or if it happens on your system, follow these steps: Disable the exe file in the Processes tab of Task Manager (filename: pc.exe) Download this link and run the malware remover software: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link Here is another explanation to remove the virus. Be careful out there!
    • 29 May 2009
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  • Jenni Hilton's Space

    Jenni is a B2B marketer and writes about marketing, PR and social media. She is a wife and mom of two sweet girls and two crazy dogs. Jenni loves pop culture, especially the 1980s. She is an Auburn University alum and loves football season. She cannot go far without her iPad, iPhone and MacBook Pro. She loves the internet and has been a digital citizen ever since she discovered she could shop online. She can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.

  • About Jenni Hilton

    Jenni is a B2B marketer and writes about marketing, PR and social media. She is a wife and mom of two sweet girls and two crazy dogs. Jenni loves pop culture, especially the 1980s. She is an Auburn University alum and loves football season. She cannot go far without her iPad, iPhone and MacBook Pro. She loves the internet and has been a digital citizen ever since she discovered she could shop online. She can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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