Is it possible that somebody has compromised my system and has access to my hard drive?

Question

First off, just want to say that I am in no way computer illiterate, but by the same token I am not a 1337. So if one of you leets out there could help me it'd be much appreciated as well as 10 points for the most helpful answer.

I had a search engine redirect virus the other week. I downloaded a bunch of anti-malware stuff that claims to be able to get rid of the damn things but they sure don't mention you have to pay for them until they find and expose the infections. Anyway, I'm not sure if this virus is still in my system and is just dormant because I am no longer being redirected, but firefox is running extremely slowly and freezing up quite a bit. And I noticed that as soon as I unplugged my ethernet cable the computer started operating more responsively. I have process explorer and have taken two screen shots that I will include in the Additional info section showing all the processes that are currently running. Is there anything on there that looks suspicious? Also, when I opened up Task Manager it showed 7 svchost.exe's running. That definitely worries me. I currently have the free version of AVG 8.5 and HijackThis. So to group my questions together:

1. Is there anything suspicious running on the screenshots?
2. Are these two programs alone enough to protect my computer from security threats/viruses?
3. If not, what free programs would do you recommend?
4. Is scanning in Safe Mode and then deleting the files manually using regedit an effective method?
5. Is it possible for somebody to hack my system remotely and gain access to my accounts, passwords, etc.?
6. Any other advice about cleansing my system and protecting it in the future would be appreciated.

Process Explorer Screenshots:
http://imgur.com/EQqI1.jpg
http://imgur.com/grFhD.jpg

stup1dng33ky · Accepted Answer

1: Nope. To me everything is all good. (Other than that it shows you have something from Adobe, like photoshop, an EPSON printer, RealPlayer, iTunes, you use a wireless , etc. Nothing suspicious.

The bunch of SVCHOSTs are OK, they usually run like that

You have NORTON too, AVG and Norton Antivirus together won't go nice. You have to uninstall any one of them. Either Keep NORTON or AVG, but you can't have both of them. That could slow down your PC.

2:Not really, you need a firewall, and AVG is not really that good by the way, but it will do. A free firewall and antivirus without any crap --> http://www.comodo.com
You'd get alerted if any unknown connections pass, and it's your duty to block em.

3:Comodo with Antivirus and Firewall (or Comodo Internet Security)---->http://www.comodo.com

4:Not a good idea unless you are true 1337.

5:Not that possible, unless you are damm infected.

6:Get a popular antivirus (trial), scan your system with it.
like ESET NOD32 from http://www.eset.com , Malwarebytes , Spyware Doctor from http://www.download.com

In the first place, why would you download those scanners that claim to remove everything from ads? Don't download ANY scanners that you see on ads. They're likely to be spyware and all that dark stuff.

And one more thing, use Firefox with Adblock plus and WOT (web of trust plugin), this should help you avoid any nasty stuff in the future. Your web experience WILL be changed like damm super :D

I hope I helped

Harley Drive · Answer

what is the eebsvc.exe do you know? Thats a lot of programs running do you need them all? I would imagine they would slow down your boot time and your program speed. How much memory do you have? Firefox can go up to 300Mb but there do seem to be a number of problems with FF3 - FF3.5 running slowly, freezing and crashing. Try another gecko browser or Opera if that works Ok then the problem is Firefox. also search Yahoo for rootkit sounds like what you have got.

R · Answer

Hijack This doesn't help you unless you know how to read the logs and deal with the results. AVG has no anti-rootkit capability. Try Malwarebytes or Superantispyware. If that doesn't work try Dr. Web which usually catches everything that the other two don't. These are all free. Also, don't forget to scan with Secunia to make sure your applications are up to date.

? · Answer

Are using more than one firewall?
Are you using Symantec antivirus. Your screen shot shows two anti virus running.  Two antivirus programs running will cause problems. Can you explain what the Symantec proccesses are?

Anonymous · Answer

Very possible. Just get whatever operating system you want and install it on the 250 GB HD computer, when you are installing an operating system, it will always ask if you want to format the drive, which completely erases everything. Then after you install the operating system, install your old smaller hard drives into the new computer. You can then transfer mostly everything, but anything that was actually installed, or had something written to the registry will not be able to be transferred, but movies and music will still work.

Anonymous · Answer

You're OK except for the 2 AV processes. Delete one or both of them and maybe consider some of the options below.

You do need both Anti-Virus and Anti-Spy/Malware solutions. Not all products cover all of these areas so you need to pick and choose to get COMPLETE coverage. Most of the FREE products need the PAID upgrade to get the more complete coverage features, both anti-virus and anti-malware features. 

HIGHEST RATED BASED ON INDEPENDENT TESTING: Kaspersky, Nod32, Norton, McAfee
RATED ABOVE AVERAGE:  Avira, Avast, BitDefender, F-Secure, eScan
RATED AVERAGE:  AVG, Sophos, OneCare

NOTE:  Those products that reported higher “false positives” received a more negative weighting in the final results even though they may have detected a high-percentage of malware, etc…

As to the FREE products, Avira's Antivir has a detection rate of over 99%, includes "root-kit" protection, and uses less system resources. Avast detection rate is around 97.8% and includes "root-kit" protection. Avast Anti-Virus is good if people suggest that, Avira is just slightly better. 

Many people praise AVG, but AVG’s detection rate is less than 85% for Script Malware and General Malware, and does NOT include "root-kit" protection in the FREE version…plus, slower scan speeds and a higher number of "false positives".

A good FREE mix could be Avira and Malwarebytes, with McAfee Site Advisor (FREE) installed as well.  

Or, a good BUY/FREE mix could be Kaspersky and AdAware (or Malwarebytes), with McAfee Site Advisor. 

Avira: http://download.cnet.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html
Avast:  http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
Kaspersky: http://download.cnet.com/Kaspersky-Internet-Security/3000-2239_4-10012072.html
Nod32: http://download.cnet.com/ESET-NOD32-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10185608.html 

For your spy/malware solution:

Free - Malwarebytes - Good at removing malware, and acting as a back-up program and scanner.: http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Free - Ad-Aware - Anti-spyware program that, unlike other free anti-spyware packages, has a live-protection module: http://download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Anniversary-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html

Also, after everything is fixed, download (FREE) and install McAfee Site Advisor. Site Advisor updates you on approved sites (as you surf and google) that have been previously verified:  McAfee Site Advisor: http://download.cnet.com/McAfee-SiteAdvisor-for-Internet-Explorer/3000-2144_4-10508464.html 

Finally, I recommend Secunia PSI (free). Secunia actively monitors all of your software and its latest patches to make sure you are up-to-date with the latest security patches on your computer (Firefox, Adobe, Flash, etc…): http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

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Is it possible that somebody has compromised my system and has access to my hard drive?

6 Answers