If you are a computer technician and you are still using TDSSKiller as your primary rootkit detection method then you need to change your methods immediately. For months TDSSKiller has gone down hill dramatically and is probably the least effective tool I have at this point. Now don’t get me wrong TDSSKiller is a very fast scan and there is nothing wrong with including it in your procedures. All I am saying is to depend on it is currently a very bad idea. Some day in the future TDSSKiller may improve but for now do not depend on it!

Another program technicians are still recommending is Microsoft Security Essentials. Unfortunately Microsoft Security Essentials has fallen pretty hard in the last year and I honestly see no reason to use it over Avast or another antivirus solution. As computer repair technicians it is our responsibility to keep up with the best methods and to know when its time to change our policies. Don’t be that technician that sits there and sticks to some premade list with no adaptation. If you do that you are no better than the technicians at (insert large company chain here).

You should always be keeping up with the latest threats. Listen to what other technicians are talking about. For example if malware is wiping out safeboot entries then include that as one of the first steps in your procedures. Redirect viruses are so popular these days that it is literally the first thing I check for. I find that keyword “SEO” will almost always have redirects regardless of what ad/click network the virus is using so that’s one of the first things I try to test for redirection.