Malware Name/Aliases: Swen, Swen.A, w32.swen@mm, Gibe
Icons: None
Most Dangerous During: 2003 – 2007

Although no longer as severe a danger, The Swen worm is a malicious threat that shuts down AV (anti-virus) programs and disables firewalls. Of course, being a worm, it also deviously spreads itself to other systems largely by exploiting a user’s file sharing. By both blocking programs and spreading itself to other systems, Swen is relativity difficult to remove.

I am compelled to say this to all of my clients: if you notice that something is wrong with your computer, do something! The famous cliché “the sooner, the better”, certainly applies to computer repair. Even with the best technical defense, however, crafty little bugs like the Swen worm may still invade your PC.

How do you know your PC has been infected with the Swen worm?

Symptoms Include: Phony MS Security Update dialog box, phony software installations and/or updates, phony MS Windows patch

NOTE: The majority of the symptoms are unnoticeable to the average computer user.
Please be aware that once the worm has infected your PC, it will look for email extensions in order to locate every email address it can find. Once it finds those email addresses, it will send itself to them.

Recommended Treatment:
WARNING! Follow these step-by-step instructions only if you are an advanced computer user. Attempting to remove a virus if you don’t know what you’re doing can make the situation even worse! You may not want to spend the money, but it will be well worth it – as opposed to completely and irreversibly destroying your hard drive.

Remove the infected computer from your network if it’s connected to one. This worm will definitely spread to other PCs on your network.

Disable System Restore.

Download and run dedicated removal tools for this worm. Dedicated removal tools work for specific malware and ensure that all variations of the worm will be eradicated.

Known locations of infection: Primarily social networking sites, some lesser known online retailers, random dating sites.

This may be an old worm, but it still has a nasty bite. Be sure to scan for it regularly and take immediate precautions if you believe your PC has been infected.