Article by George Norman

On 18 Feb 2010

If you booted up your computer one day and found yourself staring at what looks like a security software application called Security Central, then malware snuck onto your computer and installed this program without your consent. Once installed, Security Central automatically runs at startup – so when you boot up your computer the rogue shows up and performs a fake system scan which naturally detects a whole bunch of made-up security threats. You may have noticed that I used the word rogue back that there. That’s what Security Central is – a rogue security software application.

This means it cannot detect, remove and protect against any type of malware. It only claims to be able to do all these things to scam you out of your hard earned money. The fake system scan Security Central performs is meant to scare you into thinking your system is infected. If that is not enough to scare you, Security Central will bombard you with popups and phony security alerts and will hijack your browser. Once you’re nice and scared, Security Central offers to remove the infection it detected. The rogue says it can remove the infection, but only if you pay for a Security Central license.


Do not pay! You would be paying for a fake security software application that tricked you into thinking your system is infected. Ironically enough your computer is indeed infected – by Security Central.



Automatic removal guide
Step 1. If you have a printer, make sure to print out this tutorial. If you do not have a printer, save this tutorial, go out to a copy center and print it out there. If you do not have a printer and do not want to go out, then use the pen and paper method: grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down the instruction presented in the steps below. In the process of eliminating Security Central from your machine you will need to shut down the browser. And since this will also shut down the tutorial, you need to know what you should do next.

Step 2. You will have to install Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. In this regard you need to download the software’s setup executable. Just click this link and save the .exe file on your computer (preferably on your desktop).

Step 3. Double click the Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware setup executable. It should be on the desktop under the name mbam-setup. This will launch the installation process. If you already know how to install a piece of software, proceed to step 4. If you do not know how to do this, we’ll walk you though it all:



- The Select Setup Language window should have popped up. By default, the language in which the software will be installed is set to English, but you can change this. The software provides support for 30+ languages. After selecting the language of your choice, click OK. It would be best to just leave it set to English though.



- The Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware Setup Wizard will now popup. Just click Next.



- You will be presented with the License Agreement. Click I accept the agreement and then click Next. If you do not accept the agreement you will not be able to continue.



- Keep clicking Next until you get to the Ready to install window. Now click Install. After the installation process completes click Finish. Do not uncheck the boxes next to Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware or Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware.















Step 4. The Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware application will launch automatically. The Perform quick scan option should be checked by default – if it isn’t then check it and then click Scan. You are well advised to close all running apps before clicking scan. This will ensure the scan for Security Central will complete swiftly.



Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will start scanning your files for signs of Security Central. This may take a while, so be patient. It all depends on how powerful your computer is and how many files Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has to scan.



When the scan for Security Central is complete you will be presented with a notification box. Click OK to close the notification box and go to the main Scanner screen. Click Show Results and you will be presented with a list of all the infected files Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected.





Step 5. Click Remove Selected and Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will remove all the infected files it has detected. It may be necessary to restart your computer in order to remove some of these files. After Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is done removing all the infected files, it will open Notepad and present the scan log to you. You can review the log at your leisure – save it If you want.



Step 6. Close Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and you’re done. No traces of Security Central should be left on your computer.

Manual removal guide

Stop and remove the processes:



Access the Windows Registry Editor and delete the following registry keys:



Locate and delete the following files:



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