BitDefender 2011 is a rogue anti-spyware
program from the same family as BitDefender 2011. This computer infection is named after, but should not be
confused with, the legitimate antivirus programs program from BitDefender.
This rogue is promoted through web sites that pretend to be online anti-malware
scanners, but are instead advertisements that when finished state your computer
is infected. This fake scanner will then prompt you to download and install
BitDefender 2011 on to your computer in order to protect it. It should be
noted that these fake online scanners are just an advertisement that have absolutely
no way of knowing what is running on your computer. In fact they will show the
same infection results to anyone who visits the page. Therefore, do not be concerned
by what these online scanners show you.

BitDefender 2011 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 6 images you can view.

When BitDefender 2011 is installed it will be configured to start automatically when
Windows starts. Once started it will perform a scan on your computer and when
finished state that it is infected with a variety of malware. If you attempt
to use the program to remove any of the malware it finds, though, it will state
that you first need to purchase the program before it will remove anything.
This is a complete scam as the scan results are all fake and many of the listed
files are actually legitimate files that if removed could cause problems for
your computer. Therefore, do not manually remove any of the items it displays
in its scan results.

While BitDefender 2011 is running it will also display alerts and warnings that attempt
to scare you into thinking your computer has a serious computer security problem.
These alerts will state that personal information is being stolen, active malware
has been found, or that you are using unlicensed software. The text of some
of these alerts are:

Warning!
Virtumonde is an adware program that tends to monitor your Internet browsing
habits and may display targeted advertisements onto your computer screen.
Virtumonde may also create a malicious DLL file in order to log your keystrokes
and send the recorded information to a third party website. Virtumonde is
an unwanted application and recommended to be removed.

Warning! Identity theft attempt detected!
Attacker IP: <random IP address>
Attack Target: Microsoft Corp. Keys
Description: Remote host tries to get access to your personal information.

Warning! New virus detected!
Threat Detected: Keylogger.iSnake.Pro
Infected File: C:\WINDOWS\system32\asr_ldm.exe

BitDefender 2011 also creates a new column in the Windows Task Manager that will display the word Infected next to various processes. It does this to further scare you into thinking that you have malicious processes running on your computer.

BitDefender 2011 will also attempt to protect itself by not allowing you to run
various programs that may assist in removing it. When you attempt to run these
types of programs, BitDefender 2011 will terminate it and then state that the file
is infected. The text of the infection alert is:

Warning! Active Virus Detected!
Threat Detected: Backdoor.Poison.BQA
Infected file: <random file name>
Action taken: Application Blocked
Description: This backdoor arrives as attachment to email messages spammed by another malware or malicious user. This is a backdoor component of the Darkmoon RAT (Remote Administration Tool), via this backdoor hackers attempt to control your PC.

Just like the fake scan results, all of the above security alerts are fake
and only being shown to scare you into purchasing the program.

Last, but not least, BitDefender 2011 will hijack Internet Explorer, FireFox,
Chrome, or Safari so that a different program is launched the displays a security
alert. The text of the alert is:

About Internet Explorer Emergency Mode
Your PC is infected with malicious software and browse couldn’t be launched

You may use Internet Explorer in Emergency mode – internal
service browser of Microsoft Windows system with limited usability.

Notice: Some sites refuse connection
with Internet Explorer in Emergency Mode. In such case system warning page
will be showed to you.

Just like the fake infection warnings, alerts, and scan results, these browser
messages are all fake and your normal browsers will be restored when you follow
the steps in the guide below.

Without a doubt, BitDefender 2011 was created for one reason; to scare you into
thinking your computer has a security problem so that you will then purchase
the program. It goes without saying that you should not purchase this program,
and if you already have, please contact your credit card company to dispute
the charge because the program is a scam and a computer infection. Finally,
to remove BitDefender 2011 and any related malware, please you use the removal guide
below.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View BitDefender 2011 files.
View BitDefender 2011 Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 – HKCU\..\Run: [BitDefender 2011] C:\Program Files\BitDefender 2011\bitdefender.exe

Guide Updates:

04/20/11 – Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for BitDefender 2011 using Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware:

1. Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is
   open later in the fix.

2. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking. To
   do this, turn your computer off and then back on and immediately when you
   see anything on the screen, start tapping the F8 key on your
   keyboard. Eventually you will be brought to a menu similar to the one below:

   

   Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select Safe Mode with Networking
   and press Enter on your keyboard. If you are having trouble
   entering safe mode, then please use the following tutorial: How
   to start Windows in Safe Mode

   Windows will now boot into safe mode with networking and prompt you to login
   as a user. Please login as the same user you were previously logged in with
   in the normal Windows mode. Then proceed with the rest of the steps.

3. It is possible that the infection you are trying to remove will not allow
   you to download files on the infected computer. If this is the case, then
   you will need to download the files requested in this guide on another computer
   and then transfer them to the infected computer. You can transfer the files
   via a CD/DVD, external drive, or USB flash drive.

4. Before we can do anything we must first end the processes that belong to
   BitDefender 2011
   so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, please
   download RKill to your desktop from the following link.

   RKill
   Download Link – (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)

   When at the download page, click on the Download Now button
   labeled iExplore.exe download link. When you are prompted
   where to save it, please save it on your desktop.

5. Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe
   icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
   BitDefender 2011
   and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various
   malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will
   automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a
   message that RKill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just
   a fake warning given by
   BitDefender 2011
   when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into
   these infections warnings that close RKill, a trick is to leave the warning
   on the screen and then run RKill again. By not closing the warning, this typically
   will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that RKill
   can terminate
   BitDefender 2011
   . So, please try running RKill until the malware is no longer running. You
   will then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide. Do not reboot
   your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will start again.

   If you continue having problems running RKill, you can download the other
   renamed versions of RKill from the RKill
   download page. Both of these files are renamed copies of RKill, which
   you can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new
   browser window or tab.
   

6. Now you should download Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following
   location and save it to your desktop:

   Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware Download Link
   (Download page will open in a new window)

7. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including
   this one.

8. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe.
   This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.

9. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue
   with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings
   and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the
   Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch
   Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish
   button. If MalwareBytes’ prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.

10. MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that
    you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically
    update itself after the install, you can press the OK button
    to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.

    

11. On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform
    full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan
    button to start scanning your computer for
    BitDefender 2011
    related files.

12. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can
    take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically
    check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the
    image below.

    

13. When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image
    below.

    

    You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with
    the
    BitDefender 2011
    removal process.

14. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should
    click on the Show Results button.

15. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown
    as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different
    than what is shown in the image.

    

    You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove
    all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry
    keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM
    may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message
    stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer
    has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the
    steps.

16. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and
    display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad
    window.

17. You can now exit the MBAM program.
18. As many rogues and other malware are installed through vulnerabilities found
    in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use
    Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on
    how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:

    How to
    detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
    

Your computer should now be free of the
BitDefender 2011
program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through,
you may want to consider purchasing the
PRO version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to protect against these types
of threats in the future.

If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:

Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help

Associated BitDefender 2011 Files:

c:\Program Files\BitDefender 2011\
c:\Program Files\BitDefender 2011\bitdefender.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\BitDefender 2011\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\BitDefender 2011\BitDefender 2011.lnk
%AllUsersProfile%\Start Menu\BitDefender 2011\Uninstall.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\BitDefender 2011.lnk
%Temp%\srvED4.ini
%Temp%\srvED4.tmp

File Location Notes:

%UserProfile% refers to the current user’s profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\ for Windows 2000/XP, C:\Users\ for Windows Vista/7, and c:\winnt\profiles\ for Windows NT.

%Temp% refers to the Windows Temp folder. By default, this is C:\Windows\Temp for Windows 95/98/ME, C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\ProfileName\LOCAL SETTINGS\Temp for Windows 2000/XP, and C:\Users\ProfileName\AppData\Local\Temp for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

%AllUsersProfile% refers to the All Users Profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users for Windows 2000/XP and C:\ProgramData\ for Windows Vista/7.

Associated BitDefender 2011 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\EVAEC2
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MonEC2
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “ProxyEnable” = ’0′
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “BitDefender 2011″ = ‘C:\Program Files\BitDefender 2011\bitdefender.exe’
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\chrome.exe “Debugger” = ‘msiexecs.exe -sb’
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\firefox.exe “Debugger” = ‘msiexecs.exe -sb’
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\iexplore.exe “Debugger” = ‘msiexecs.exe -sb’
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\opera.exe “Debugger” = ‘msiexecs.exe -sb’
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\safari.exe “Debugger” = ‘msiexecs.exe -sb’
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform “WinNT-EVI 21.04.2011″

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