>>>>>I got hit by this virus today. Scary when you can't do anything or see anything. Until I used Ctrl-Alt-Del -> and selected to Log off. Can't even bring the Task Manager. So much for MS Security Essential protecting my computer :(.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Sorry to hear that. Lot's of guys have been hit by that virus on the Guitar Forum I belong to. Some guys said they had to spend $36 to get software to get rid of it. Perhaps the guys selling the software wrote the virus!
>>>>
>>>>I use Norton. What do you use?
>>>
>>>I use the MS Security Essential but it was not much help in preventing this virus. Right now I don't know what to do; whether to buy another AV or wait for MSSE to be updated and recognize this virus.
>>>As to who wrote this virus, this drives me nuts. They must be so talented but the effort is so misplaced.
>>
>>At this time, most infections are caused by visiting an infected website. An infected site will host code that will probe your system for vulnerabilities. A typical exploit kit might probe a dozen vulnerabilities, if just one of those is unpatched on your system, you get compromised. Besides Windows vulns, the most popular and numerous exploits at this time are in Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Java. You need to keep these patched as well as Windows itself.
>>
>>Some of the exploits may be newly-discovered "zero-day" exploits, which neither MS nor AV vendors know anything about. The "payload" (spam server, remote-access backdoor, ransomware etc.) is usually encrypted or obfuscated so AV engines don't recognize it, even if it is a variation of something already known.
>>
>>So, there are lots of potential cases where no AV from any vendor will be able to protect you.
>>
>>Besides keeping patched and being vigilant, you can be proactive by disabling active content such as scripting and Adobe/Java as listed above, by using FireFox with the NoScript extension. It's always good to be retroactive too, by having good backups.
>>
>>/ SET SOAPBOX OFF
>
>You seem to know a lot about this, Al ;-)

At least a Bachelor's degree at the School of Hard Malware :(