-FUNPIC.ORG-

Beware of this website. If you ever come across a link that has "funpic" in the URL, DO NOT click it. The reason for this is that funpic.org posesses a type of adware that will put itself into your computer when any of it's pages are viewed. I have come to this conclusion because shortly after accessing funpic.org on a different computer, an adware showed up. The problem was soon removed with Norton Antivirus.

Just recently, I have used my funpic account to upload an Acmlmboard and use it. By accessing this website, I found the same adware that was in the other computer, and my viewers got this, too.

This adware is formally called PurityScan. In antivirus programs, it shows up as adware.purityscan. In my own opinion, I believe that this adware is very malevolent because of it's nature and what it does. Many different antivirus programs are not able to detect this adware, and therefor aren't able to remove it. As far as I know, Norton Antivirus is the only thing you can use to rid your computer of it.

PurityScan is adware that downloads other adware programs onto your computer, sucking up memory and cause mass popups. In my experience, I've seen by far popups such as these:

http://www.35mb.com/ around 80% of the time
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/ around 15% of the time
Other~ around 5% of the time

By far, this has to be one of the most interesting adware problems I have had. It seems to have a mind of its own, and is always one step ahead. I figured that I could shut off the process that this adware runs off of, and delete the harmful exe file off my harddrive. Well think again. As I opened Task Manager, this adware gave a signal to shut it off almost immediately after it was opened. I also tried deleting this mischevious adware, but I was denied access to deleting it. The file is actually a fake Internet Explorer application. You can locate it here:

C:\WINDOWS\system 32\iexplorer.exe

The reason I assume that this is the virus is because Internet Explorer exists in Program Files, not system 32. Also, the file properties for File Version, Company, and so on, come up as randomly typed jumble.

This adware was pissing me off to no end, of how it restricted my usage of the Task Manager. I took it to the next step and did what I should have done before: Get a decent Antivirus program.

My first try was for download AVG Antivirus. I did a Google search, and voila, the site showed up. I clicked the link, and as soon as I arrived onto the webpage, my browser, Mozilla Firefox, was prompted to close. My settings for Firefox are set to prompt me when I try to close it when multiple tabs are open. The thing is that when I got onto the AVG Antivirus website, Firefox was acting as if I were trying to close it:

You are about to close 5 tabs. ARe you sure you want to continue?
[x] Warn me when I attempt to close multiple tabs
(Close tabs) (Cancel)

Of course I did click Cancel, but the process just repeatedly went on. The funny thing about this is that PurityScan knew that I was on a webpage that had something on it that would threaten it. I also received the same problem when accessing forums that talked about how to remove adware. It was very interesting.

I was able to click the Downloads section and download AVG Antivirus with rapid clicking of the Cancel button and such. The next thing I did was run the setup. About 10 seconds into the setup process, AVG was prompted to close, and the program disappeared. The window had a prompt, and make a ding sound, then disappeared 1 second later to reveal another prompt window that said the same thing. The process continued and all I heard was "ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding" over and over again. The Yes and No buttons did not function either.

Lets observe what this adware can do already.

Disable Access to Task Manager.
Disable Access to Adware Removal Webpages.
Disable Access to Antivirus setups and programs.

By now, you would think I am pretty much screwed because there is nothing I can do. Well the salvation to this is that Norton Antivirus Setup can run, and has a feature that would prevent this adware to close it. If Norton and PurityScan were people, it would be Norton shoving a pool cue up PurityScan's ass. With Norton Antivirus, you are able to remove Purity Scan. But do not always rely on this, because if you have the free trial version of Norton, and you have already used all 15 days, you are completely done for unless you have Limewire.

Now that you know about how deadly this is, think again before you decide to not have security measures running on your computer at all times.

(c) 2007 KPhoenix

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If you disagree with any of this, and have a more reliable answer, let me know and I'll edit this post.

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