Malicious Software Removal Tool
Microsoft surprised me two nights ago.
I turned on our home computer to find that Windows Update had downloaded a new update. Nothing unusual there. Expected a patch for something. Anything. Just give me some patches… 
Anyhoo, it turns out that the new update is called the Malicious Software Removal Tool. After accepting its licence agreement, it installs and… seems to do nothing. Yay for Microsoft.
What the tool actually does is scan your PC for a bunch of nasties, removes any it finds and then removes itself from your system. The parasites it removes are as follows:
- Berbew — steals passwords
- Blaster, DoomJuice, Zindos — try to kill Microsoft websites
- Gaobot (Agobot) — tries to kill your antivirus program
- Mydoom — tries to kill your network/internet
- Nachi (Welchia) — tries to kill Blaster but kills your network/internet instead
- Sasser — slows down your system
The tool is also able to be run online from the Microsoft site if you’re not sure it ran, or if you’d like to run it again. Please note that it will probably only run when using Internet Explorer.
The list of parasites it removes is very limited, but I guess it’s a start.
Blessings, Steve
FYI, The update was released on the 11th of January, but we’re still on a dialup connection at home, so we’re a bit behind… 
[Listening to James Brown, Star Time — Papa's Got A Brand New Bag]
