Fake antivirus attack

There seems to be rash of antivirus malware at the moment. The objective appears to be to get computer users to pay money for so-called antivirus software, which is in fact a fake.

The first thing the user sees can be a screen similar to those shown in this article . Other screens and pop-ups look quite official, as if they may come from Microsoft or a proper antivirus software company.

The malware seems to arrive through browsing of infected websites or web adverts, and can bypass anti-virus software running on your computer. It uses a variety of names, usually variations on Anti-Virus 2011 - one is even rather cheekily called AVG Anti-Virus 2011.

Typical symptoms are:

1. Unable to run Task Manager
2. Unable to browse the internet.
3. Some other programs may not start, or if running, may close
   
   and, in effect, the computer becomes unusable.

If confronted by a malware attack of this type, we would suggest forcing the computer off immediately by holding the On button. Unless you are a computer expert, it is probably best then to call for specialist help. There are a lot of variations of this malware, and there is no one set of instructions that covers clearing all of them.

As it is the user profile that gets corrupted, you may be able to use the computer normally if you log on using another user id. This might help you keep going until the issue is cleared.