The PC had Norton AntiVirus software running. However, the virus signature subscription had expired. Microsoft Anti-Spyware software was loaded and running fine although it clearly was not up to the challenge.

1. First I Attacked the Viruses
I ran the trial versions of BitDefender, CA's eTrust, AVG Anti-Virus, Trend Micro's PC-cillin Internet Security, and F-Secure Anti-Virus. Each time, I unloaded the previous anti-virus software before loading the new anti-virus software. I did not try a new version of Norton AntiVirus because it has rated so poorly in recent reviews and I have found it to be a real resource hog. If you take this course, always unload Norton AntiVirus before attempting to load another anti-virus software solution; failing to do so will likely lock up your PC. BitDefender was first and could not get everything; although it saw a lot of the viruses, it could not get them out of memory. Each successive product found more viruses. Only F-Secure software removed everything. F-Secure from F-Secure Corporation is a top-rated product that combines anti-virus with top-rated anti-spyware software, an idea that is long overdue. To the best of my knowledge, it is also the only one of the top-rated products that also spots rootkits. I am extremely impressed with this product. You will find the report after a scan very useful.

2. Spyware
Microsoft's free Anti-Spyware product appears to be inadequate at this point, at least in extreme situations like this one. This is consistent with what trade publications have been saying for the past four months. Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software, Inc. has been the top-rated product in many recent reviews and did find 7,721 incidences of spyware that Microsoft Anti-Spyware missed. However, F-Secure found even more. None of the products removed all the browser helper object (BHO) add-ons to Internet Explorer.

3. Windows Update Took Forever
I had to load five patches before Windows Update would even run, and another 36 patches before Service Pack 2 (SP2) would load. I then loaded dozens of patches after SP2 loaded. To Microsoft's credit, everything went smoothly. It just took a lot of time. That is the user's fault (not Microsoft's) because she did not follow Microsoft's recommendations with respect to patches.

4. BHO Add-ons to Internet Explorer
There were so many that it was taking over 30 seconds to open IE and often it would not open without rebooting the computer. The add-on manager in IE will not delete add-ons and requires you to turn them off one at a time — an unreasonable task when you have more than 1,500 add-ons. Using newsgroup postings (use Google to search groups and not Web pages) I found a product that Microsoft most valuable professional (MVPs) recommend — a product called ToolbarCop. It was a great tool that allowed me to select multiple add-ons and disable the entire group or delete the entire group. Unfortunately, it would not load until I cleaned up the registry errors.

5. Registry Errors
Upload more than 1,700 errors were identified, including a lot of stuff that was preventing programs (like ToolbarCop) from loading properly. Once again, newsgroup recommendations provided a good solution. The Registry Clean Expert software did the job. It is an excellent product. It not only fixes registry problems and cleans the registry but also provides an excellent interface for managing startup dynamic-link library (DLLs). This is highly recommended. Be sure and go to registry-clean.net and not registry-clean.com.

The PC now runs great (at least until the user gets it back). It was a good learning experience. In retrospect, I should have flattened the PC and started over.

Conclusion
These issues were nuisances (rather than a danger) because the PC belonged to a college student who does not own a credit card. The level of the mess was clearly exacerbated by the way the computer was being used. However, all the threats are real and are security threats that business users face daily. Trojans and key loggers can capture and communicate to hackers sensitive and confidential business data, passwords, credit-card information. Reasonable assurance in the area of security can only be achieved if everyone (including end users and not just IT staff) is trained and involved in keeping their computer systems safe and clean.

Will Fleenor, CPA, Ph.D., the CFO of K2 Enterprises has conducted seminars for more than 40 state CPA societies, as well as conducting training for other organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He has spoken at numerous accounting technology conferences, including the AICPA Information Technology Conference, for the past 14 years. Will is a past chairman of the AICPA Information Technology Conference and past chairman of other conferences and professional committees. Fleenor is a co-author of the Practitioners Publishing Company’s “Guide to Installing Microcomputer Accounting Systems” and has had numerous articles published in professional journals, including the Journal of Accountancy, CPA Journal, and others.

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