Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[Fritchdog]

NIS did not catch this malware which places incessant popups based upon urls visited.  The file is called "SMAD".  It was located in C:\users\"User Name"\app data\local\temp\.  When I ran a quick NIS check on this file, NIS reported that it was OK and behaving normally.  My internet surfing was certainly not normal, with random popups appearing to have some connection to the sites I visited.

[lmacri Super Phishing Phryer · Accepted solution]

Hi Fritchdog:

You could try installing the free version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (MBAM) here and running a scan.  I find MBAM occasionally catches malware that isnt' detected by my NIS 2011.

Forum administrator Tony Weiss has also posted some hints here about troubleshooting suspected malware not detected by your Norton product, and there are links there with instructions on how to report suspected malware.

I've heard of instances where files in the ...\AppData\local\temp folder were just residual files from an installer (e.g., an installer that came bundled with an Ask.com toolbar or some other junk you declined during the installation).  Sometimes just purging your temp files (e.g. Windows Disk Cleanup) removes the file from your hard drive.

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Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * NIS 2011 v. 18.6.0.29 * IE 9.0 * Firefox 6.0
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

[lmacri Super Phishing Phryer]

Hi Fritchdog:

I noticed you marked my post as a solution, but I wanted to make sure that you were able to clean this SMAD adware off your system.  I did a bit more research and according to the Trend Micro site here, SMAD.exe does indeed appear to be legitimate malware.

Be sure to post back with more info (e.g., your NIS version #, OS, default browser and further details about the behavior of this adware) if you have any concerns.  Someone with expertise in rootkit and malware removal will be able to provide more help.

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Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * NIS 2011 v. 18.6.0.29 * IE 9.0 * Firefox 6.0
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS