Malware

Yes WSA is a Anti-Malware which covers everything: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware
 
If you feel you have a infection just Submit a Support Ticket and they will be happy to look into it for you!
 
Thanks,
 
Daniel 😉

Hi there, 
Just got a new computer today and to my dismay i had a similar problem within 30mins of starting up and connecting to the net. 
I was recieveing an error in Mozilla saying your computer is locked, call microsoft for help with the audio of a lady saying dont switch off your computer your computer has been locked contact microsoft. 
After ignoring and ending the task, I installed webroot (purchased through another device), ran a scan and webroot and it didnt pick up on anything. About 10 minutes later the same thing error happened in mozilla. I then downloaded the free version of malwarebytes and it found the files and i was able to quarantine them. 
I am a bit confused as i thought webroot provides anti virus and malware protection. 
Can you advise why the free version of malwarebytes was able to find something webroot couldnt and whether there  are any setting which should be changed, i am not very tech savy? 
 
Thank you 🙂

Hi Angela27
 
Welcome to the Community Forums.
 
That might be a virus or it might be a non-malware program we commonly refer to as a PUA (Potentially Unwanted Application).
 
These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-ups, redirect your browser home page, and other behaviour that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but they are not actually doing anything bad like damaging files or stealing information. Often, they are installed intentionally by you the user as browser add-ons for various tasks such as quick search tools. But they also come with the result of added annoying pop-ups and ads. Other times they 'piggy back' with other software that you installed, or try to 'sneak' onto your system entirely.
 
The key to avoiding them is to make sure that when downloading apps one does so from the author's own website or one that they have recommended, and not 3rd party downloading site.
 
WSA does detect and remove many PUA's, and more are being added, but WSA does not detect all of them. A simple browser add-on with PUA behaviour that is easy to identify and easy to remove is not likely to be detected and removed by WSA. Those that are intentionally difficult to locate and remove are. Please see THIS LINK for more information regarding Webroot's stance on these annoying programs.
 
To make sure that your WSA is checking for PUAs proficiently, it sometimes helps to reset the PUA detection within WSA's settings. For PUA's that had previously been scanned and determined to be OK, but have since been added to detection/removal, you may want to complete the following steps:
 

• Open Webroot SecureAnywhere
• Click on ‘Advanced Settings’ from the top right
• Select ‘Scan Settings’ from the left side
• Unselect the option “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
• Click on the Save button (you may have to enter in a CAPTCHA)
• Reselect the option to “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
• Click on the Save button
• Run another scan with Webroot and remove any items that get detected.

 
If that does not helps and you feel or consider yourself technically proficient then you can try these steps to remove it from your system.
 
And if that does not work or you do not feel technically capable then the best thing to do is to Open a Support Ticket & ask Webroot Support to take a look and remove these for you.  There is NO CHARGE for this for valid WSA license holder.
 
However, given what you are saying about the issue, it is also possible that the installation of a suitable ad/popup blocker will sort this out. Many of us here have these installed. Below is the advice we usually provide in these circumstances:
 
For Internet Explorer, Ad Block Plus: https://adblockplus.org/
 
For Firefox, uBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/?src=ss or Privacy Badger: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/privacy-badger-firefox/
 
Google Chrome, uBlock: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en or Privacy Badger: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-badger/pkehgijcmpdhfbdbbnkijodmdjhbjlgp
 
Personally I use uBlock Origin as I find that it performs best.
 
Give one of those a try with your browser(s); one for each browser you use...and should that not sort this out then try the advice on PUAs, and if no joy there then open the suipport ticket.
 
Hope that helps?
 
Regards, Baldrick

These are typically just scare tactic pages that can be blocked by adding an extension to your browser called uBlock or AdBlock that will lessen these substantially. Most of the time I have the customer just hard boot the system and everything is just fine from there.