Critical Update! Free Tool to Remove the CoolWebSearch Trojan Keylogger! 8/11/2005 - 4,623 views, 7 Comments
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Sunbelt Software, who last weekend discovered the CoolWebSearch trojan keylogging software which is right now stealing bank account, username, and password information from thousands of Windows users, has just released a free tool to detect and remove the keylogger, it has announced. “This is a very dangerous piece of spyware and we urge users to scan their computers immediately to see if they are infected,” Sunbelt’s president, Alex Eckelberry, said in a press release today. Definitions for the keylogger have also been added to Sunbelt’s anti-spyware programs, and, in addition, Sunbelt is sharing the necessary information with other anti-spyware vendors so that they can update their definitions too. In an exclusive interview with Aunty earlier this week, Eckelberry promised that “We will be coming out with a patch in the next 24 hours which will be shared with AV security vendors, so keep your AV program updated. Knowing if you are infected is pretty difficult at this point – we had one user who was very sophisticated and ran a number of scans with various products to no avail. We’ll be posting more information as we disect this thing and will make it available on our blog as soon as we get it.” Sunbelt has definitely come out as the good guys on this one, sharing the information with competitors, and offering the detection and removal tool free of charge to all comers. So don’t wait, and definitely don’t take a chance. Download the CoolWebSearch trojan keylogger detection and removal tool now.
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Read more:
» Millions of Windows Users at Risk by Massive ID and Bank Account Theft Piggybacking on CoolWebSearch
» Free Tool from Microsoft Removes Malicious Software, Recommended for All Windows Machines (KB890830)
» Spyware: The Top Ten Most Prevalent and Insidious
» Microsoft Issues 7 Security Updates for Windows, 2 Critical
For additional similar stories check out our archives on Good Guys, Security, Spyware & Adware, Windows
It’s interesting to note that on this page with the keylogger warning are four ads for keyloggers who ya gonna trust. As for Sunbelt Software they sold out to Micro$oft with a program that wasn’t that good to begin with and Micro$oft made it worse. Why oh why didn’t I buy an Apple instead of a PC all those many years ago.
Comment by John Belanger — 8/12/2005 @ 5:36 am
Via Lockergnome:
Hello Aunty,
This is the first time I have ever found three pieces of spyware on my machine (having found three incl the Trojan keylogger you mention.
Working in I.T. (Support) I’ve cleaned more machines of spyware then I’d care to think, even so to find it on my own has become a bit of a shock.
I’m running Norton Internet Security 2005 and Microsoft Antispyware, both of which have done me well. Even so I’m in the middle of scanning my PC with CounterSpy, but I’d appreciate someone elses opinion on this bit of software before I hand my life over to it to continue to keep my PC clean. Oh yes, looks a bit too much like MS Antispyware to me!
Regards
Brendon
Comment by Brendon — 8/12/2005 @ 8:35 am
You should call this page Auntys Ad Patrol, you search among the blue fonts looking for the link that the page is all about. Do click on one of the Google ads so Aunty gets paid.
Comment by Ron Rub — 8/12/2005 @ 8:37 am
Hi!
Something about Sunbelt that I was impressed with was that, after finding the keylogger’s database, they picked up the phone and starting calling the people that were most likely to get attacked next - on their dime, on their time. That was far beyond what 99.8% of the businesses in the world would have done and was way, way beyond what would have meen motivated by business interests. It certainly puts the people at Sunbelt in a class, a very high class, where they might not be alone, but there are so few that they are all on first-name basis. I hope that they are setting an example that, eventually, becomes the norm. We could truly use that on our little world!
By the way, I have really come to look forward to the Aunty Spam posts in the Lockergnome feed. Keep up the great work!
My best,
Dave
Comment by David Cloyd — 8/12/2005 @ 10:53 am
It is not true that “As for Sunbelt Software they sold out to Micro$oft …” as stated in #1 above. Microsoft bought Giant Software, not Sunbelt Software.
I’m not sure what I’m about to write s completely accurate in every detail, but it’s close. An anti-spyware program was initially jointly developed by Sunbelt Software and Giant Software who then each continued to develop their own version, but share spyware definition files. Microsoft then bought Giant Software and turned its version of the product into Microsoft AntiPyware (beta). So, yes, CounterSpy and Microsoft AntiSpyware (beta) probably do look similar because they have a similar ancestry, but they are now separate except that Microsoft is obligated to continue to provide its spyware definition files to Sunbelt for another year or two due to a contractual obligation assumed from Giant Software.
While I don’t claim to be qualified to make an independent judgement of the value of various antispyware programs, CounterSpy has consistently ranked very high in reviews. See the Security Baseline section of any of the newsletters avaliable at http://www.windowssecrets.com/.
Comment by Robert Coleman — 8/12/2005 @ 7:31 pm
I have a nasty suspicious mind.
It interests me that after down loading the free keylogger cleaner and running it it did in fact report the key logger was found and deleted..
Oddly enough it did exactly the same thing the next three consecutive times I ran the utility.
And the more information link takes you to a home page that is an ad for the companys spyware product.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM!
Comment by Dan Pelletier — 8/15/2005 @ 4:26 pm
I just want to say thanks for being there for us. I would have never known about this key-logger, otherwise. I enjoy your newsletters a lot. I have learned a lot from your newsletters. Thanks again…
Kind regards,
Matthew
Comment by Matthew — 8/17/2005 @ 10:45 pm