I got hit with a virus over the holidays. It is called “Internet Security 2010”. Unlike the Norton and McAffey products, this is a hoax which will take control of your PC.

While pretending to be an anti virus product, it pops virus warnings and does a fake virus scan of your machine. After it does the scan, it wants $49.95 to get the full version of the product which it claims will rid your machine of the viruses that it found.

In all actuality, it doesn’t remove any viruses other than the fake ones that you never had in the first place. But, until you pay your $49.95, it will lock you out of your “Task Manager”, the “Run” function and your “Desk Top” manager.

Removing this product is extreme difficult. While I did it manually, it took me several days to complete. There are programs that will do it for you but you will have to purchase them. I was fortunate in finding a program that restored my Task Manager for me and the Run function. From there, I was able to shut down and delete the offending modules.

This virus starts as a screen pop asking if you want to be scanned for viruses. If you answer “yes”, it will load and hold you hostage. If you answer “no”, it will load and hold you hostage. I should have pulled the plug on the PC with out responding to the pop up but I wasn’t paying attention.

Unfortunately, we live in a Microsoft world.