Smart Fortress 2012 is a client I have gotten to know well. The malware client is not new. This particular strain is new but it’s the same basic malware client just under a different name.

It’s near imposible to track down and punish the makers of these rouges. Smart Fortress 2012 is really not all that hard to remove. A good place for information is this http://www.removevirus.org/smart-fortress-2012

The most frustrating thing this virus does is block other program like AV clients from running. Almost all programs are blocked from running. Because of this some individuals will find the threat hard to remove. If you are able to download and install an antivirus clieint then that is the simplest way to remove this threat.

Helpful Hinst to Remove Smart Fortress 2012

Windows has a System Restore for a reason, this is the perfect time to use it. Doing this will un-install the malware client on the computer and chances are it will get you back up very quickly. After the restore you need to run a full AV scan to make sure you are no longer infected.

If the system restore does not work for you then you can most likely install an antivirus client while in safe mode with networking. I have tested this option out a few times and it seems to work for many antivirus clients, not all but many.

You do always still have the option of doing a manual removal of Smart Fortress 2012 as well. Once you stop a single .exe file on the system the program will most likely stop running and you can then delete the rest of the virus traces and take back your computer. This process sounds a lot hard then it is.

What I would do is browse to this file path C:ProgramData\. Now your task is to sort the files by date. View by the most currently installled files first. Then compare the file dates to when you got infected. There should only be a few folders from the date you were infected. Basically the folder name will not make any sense. That file will be the one or will contain the file you need to stop. Open the folder and re-name the files in it. Now you should re-boot your computer and the virus should no longer load.