Infected RAM

[ROY ALLISON]

Browser, version and OS: Firefox 109.1

 

Steps to reproduce/what were you doing before it happened? NORTON 360 Updates Download

 

 

What happened? PC rebooted and lost all access to administrative privileges, regedit, msconfig and cmd prompt all are blocked..!

 

 

What did you expect to happen?

 

 

Link to a page where it happened, if applicable: https://updatecenter.norton.com/

 

Screenshots of the issue, if applicable: 

 

Any other relevant details: On Thu, 1 Dec at 10:24 AM I am running Win 7 Ultimate on my PC workstation with NORTON 360 set to aggressive actions; however, on an update download reboot up my PC my administrative privileges were turned off and are no longer accessible by me.

 

I am no longer able to access either, msconfig, regedit or cmd prompt.

A colleague advised me to run, "Integer Analyzer" which discovered RAM chips had recent Hacker Embedded keylogger plus a browser redirection hack.

I notified NORTON but only got a call center warbler's goofy ignorance.

I called and finally got through to an IT Tech who said that they did have a NORTON 360 had an add-on app that prevents RAM and Bios Hacks but this

information was not furnished to me when I purchased NORTON 360 for 10 systems.!

 

My question is; how long after CMOS erase / RAM chips are removed do the RAM chips discharge and lose corrupt data?

 

A cloud-flare error, what was the ray ID from the bottom of the error page? Does Not Apply..!

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just unplug the thing for a few hours to let the ram chips lose their data

[Middcore]

FYI, the "forum bugs and issues" section is for reporting bugs with the forum itself, not problems with your PC. Don't repost it, the moderators will move it to where it belongs, but just so you know in the future. 

 

Now in regards to your actual issue... I'd say the root of your problem is running Windows 7 and Norton in 2022, which is a bit like walking into a lava flow and thinking you can prevent your feet from getting burned by spraying them with a bottle of caustic acid. 

[Blue4130]

40 minutes ago, ROY ALLISON said:

My question is; how long after CMOS erase / RAM chips are removed do the RAM chips discharge and lose corrupt data?

Instantly. Ram can not retain data after power is lost.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 hour ago, Middcore said:

Now in regards to your actual issue... I'd say the root of your problem is running Windows 7 and Norton in 2022, which is a bit like walking into a lava flow and thinking you can prevent your feet from getting burned by spraying them with a bottle of caustic acid. 

op seems to have gotten tricked into downloading a virus or something atleast thats what i can tell from the description, running w7 doesnt really help either but i dont really think newer windows would save them from a mistake like this, i mean apparently the virus infected the ram.

 

Unsure of how good norton is at stopping viruses like this from infecting a pc

 

2 hours ago, ROY ALLISON said:

however, on an update download reboot up my PC my administrative privileges were turned off and are no longer accessible by me

You problaly got tricked into downloading a virus from a fake site or something like that

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, ROY ALLISON said:

My question is; how long after CMOS erase / RAM chips are removed do the RAM chips discharge and lose corrupt data?

RAM cant be infected as RAM is temporary storage. The things in RAM are currently being used by the PC and the code is being moved between the RAM and the CPU. The data stored in RAM is constantly refreshed by the PC. The second your PC is powered off, as in SHUT DOWN, the contents of the RAM is deleted. Your infection is on the hard disk/ SSD that Windows is installed on. When you power your machine back on, the virus will load its self back in to RAM and be executing in the background. 

 

There is a good possibility that your Windows installed is just hosed based on those screen shots. If it were me, Id just reinstall. Making sure you reformat the drive. 

 

2 hours ago, ROY ALLISON said:

Win 7 Ultimate on my PC

Support ended for this version of Windows years ago. If you're going to run a unsupported OS, is advisable that your hell of careful. Somewhere down the line you likely downloaded this virus. 

[Cyberat]

Running windows 7 currently no problem. I am a computer expert however.

The biggest Antivirus is not Windows 20, but your Brain.

You need to run at least 3 anti-virus programs to get clean, may take awhile but since this virus is quite active here's a list:

1) Start with RKill & Kaspersky's TDSS (short).

2) Go on with McAfee Stinger, MBAM and SuperAntiSpyware. (long, can run side by side if SSD drives)

3) ESET Online if they still offer that for free.

4) Finally a full scan of whatever AV you bought and paid for (not scanner.exe).

5) Empty all your temp folders, look in services for malicious names (check internet if in doubt) and disable & stop them, Admin. Command Prompt: sc delete <badservicenamehere>.

6) Look in startup menu for malicious names and disable them from startup.

Like always reboot after deleting the bugs, you should be clean.

[Cyberat]

Don't approve "updates" of your PC apps. & internals when they come from a WEB BROWSER.