Thank You Malwarebytes Team

[Rich.M]

I just wanted to thank the Malwarebytes Team for making a great anti-malware program. I am a very infrequent poster (as you can see), but I do visit the forum regularly.

As a testimonial, yesterday I had a client call me with problems he was experiencing with some very nasty malware on his machine. From the description of it, since I was troubleshooting via telephone, was a mixture of spyware, adware, and at least two or three vundo and/or smitfraud infections! He wasn't even able to access a single icon on his desktop, not even the start menu, and his mouse was more or less useless because of its erratic behavior! I have worked on computers for several years and this infection ranks pretty high on my worst list! To be honest, I was highly skeptical that he would be able to fix this type of problem on his own, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

I instructed him to use safe mode with networking so he could download Malwarebytes, and after much time spent blocking and stopping pop-ups and trying to prevent something akin to Winantipsyware from installing, we finally downloaded and installed the Malwarebytes program. After running the program in safe mode and finding over 700, yes 700 infections he was finally able to enter normally into Windows and almost all of his issues had been resolved! With the help of a few other utilities I believe his pc is finally clean. I only wish I had his log to post!

This speaks volumes not only for the programs performance which is amazing, but also the intuitive, straightforward GUI! This person needed little-to-no help in navigating the program which says a lot! He was simply amazed by how much "stuff" he found on his machine and how a couple of scans with this program remedied the vast majority of his problems so that his computer was at least functional outside of safe mode!

Thanks once again Malwarebytes for your great product! Keep up the good work! I will be sure to recommend you to ALL my clients!

[GT500]

I'm sure I speak for everyone who helps with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware when I say we are glad that you have found it so useful, and that we appreciate your recomendations of MBAM to your customers.

[JeanInMontana]

Hi Rich and welcome to Malwarebytes. Thanks for the recognition to the team.

I hope your client was instructed to get a complete analysis to be sure the machine was completely cleaned up and then given instructions on how to prevent reinfection. MBAM does rock but even it does not find all the newest stuff and some things take more than one tool to get all of it. He really should have someone look at the system with a HiJack This log and the scan logs from MBAM and another AV.

[Rich.M]

Hi Rich and welcome to Malwarebytes. Thanks for the recognition to the team.

I hope your client was instructed to get a complete analysis to be sure the machine was completely cleaned up and then given instructions on how to prevent reinfection. MBAM does rock but even it does not find all the newest stuff and some things take more than one tool to get all of it. He really should have someone look at the system with a HiJack This log and the scan logs from MBAM and another AV.

Oh yes, Malwarebytes took care of the majority of his issues, but I did have him run SuperAntispyware and a Free Online Scan at Trend Micro Housecall. I also got him to update the Avira antivirus that he already had on his machine. After a few scans with these other utilities everything was coming up clean. So as a final precaution I got him to run a HijackThis Log from Trend Micro and email the results to me. Everything looked okay. I just didn't want to explicitly advertise the other products on this website that is why I just broadly noted them as "other utilities." Malwarebytes was able to clean enough of the trojans, adware, spyware, vundo, and smitfraud infections so that the other utilities had a fairly simple cleanup! I think he understands the importance of antivirus and antispyware scanners at this point, especially after being essentially locked out of your own computer, so I don't think he will have any problem using them!

[GT500]

... I just didn't want to explicitly advertise the other products on this website that is why I just broadly noted them as "other utilities." ...

I don't think any of us would consider listed other security products that were used to be advertising them. Besides, most of us have great respect for Avira, and I personally consider it the best of the free anti-virus products.

[JeanInMontana]

Thanks for your consideration Rick. I use Avira and SAS is a good program.

My point is just having these programs is not enough to prevent. Below is a section of the canned speach I use for closing a HJT thread. If you mean you had the OP use the online analysis of the HJT log, it is not reliable. I don't mean to sound like I'm criticizing your assistance either, it's just I have seen so much of this stuff even as good as MBAM is, rarely is it the only thing needed to clean a system as badly infected as you describe. There is always the risk of root kits without looking for them.

Many of these infections can be avoided with an added layer of prevention. All recommended programs are free and easy on system resources. You should install them as part of your protection arsenal. Keep Spybot Search & Destroy and always immunize when you update. You will also need at least one other scanning program AVG is good and there are several other excellent programs with free and paid versions. Read the overviews of what each program below does so you have an understanding of their importance and how to use.

A firewall and antivirus are also essential. The Windows firewall in XP is not sufficient.

Preform Windows Updates monthly on the second Tuesday or use automatic updates, and use your scanners weekly at the least. Always update before you scan.

SpywareBlaster from Javacool Software

WinPatrol by BillPStudios

SiteHound by FireTrust

RogueRemover

hpHosts

The windows firewall is not sufficient to protect. It doesn't monitor outgoing traffic and this is a must. I use and recommend Online Armor Free

Also the full protection of MBAM is offered at a very low price. Give it a trial using the link in my signature.

[Rich.M]

No problem Jean. I appreciate ALL the help and advice you have offered! I understand precisely where you are coming from; one can never be "over-protected!"

Cheers!