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My boss' computer has become infected with something called "Security Sphere". When googling for information on how to remove it I get many pages that have been optimized for the term "Security Sphere removal", usually trying to sell their own spyware removal tool. So I thought I would turn to a source I trust.

How do you remove Security Sphere specifically or malware like it in general? My boss is running windows 7.

Kevin
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    Have you scanned it with any antivirus products? If so, what product did you use and which signatures did it trigger? – Iszi Oct 31 '11 at 14:56
  • My boss had the trial version of Spy Hunter 4 installed. It had detected 61 things. Rouge.AVG Antivirus 2011 and Rogue.Security Sphere 2012 among others. Is Spy Hunter a respected program? I'm not familiar with it. – Kevin Oct 31 '11 at 15:37
  • Kevin - as this stands, the question isn't that good a fit here, being very localised and specific to one particular scenario, so is in danger of being closed. A more general question on removing malware (like your final sentence) is much more appropriate - as it will provide value to visitors in the future. If you amend the question accordingly, that will help. – Rory Alsop Oct 31 '11 at 16:08
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    @Kevin - I've never heard of "Spy Hunter 4". The top search results for it in Google are mostly torrents, cracks, and some other people questioning whether it's legitimate. I'd suggest installing Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast! Antivirus, and running a scan with one of those. You may want to augment this with Spybot Search & Destroy, but be aware that some of Spybot's findings are intended to be handled by advanced users only. Still, if your infection is a rootkit of some kind, running a local scanner after-the-fact may be futile. – Iszi Oct 31 '11 at 16:25
  • I guess the better question would be what websites are best for getting the latest information on malware/spyware/viruses. Should I just post a new question and let this one close? – Kevin Oct 31 '11 at 16:30
  • Installing and running Avast in safe mode worked. I would mark this as the answer but I don't think it will let me since I was not logged in when I posted the question. Thanks for the help everyone. – Kevin Oct 31 '11 at 20:39
  • @Kevin, welcome to [security.se]! I hope you stick around. I moved your answer to a comment, since it's not really an answer... And I merged your users for you. – AviD Nov 01 '11 at 08:22

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There are plenty of free AV solutions that can cleanup common malware, links to two below.

Security Essentials AVG Free

Make sure to read the EULA as I do not think AVG Free can be run on business computers, I think Security Essentials allows it.

Cleaning it off is the first step. You will be chasing your tail without determining how it got there in the first place. Run the computer through Secunia Online Software Inspector to determine if there is unpatched software on the computer.

securityishard
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