Support Forum » Style Master

keylogger found in installation

(9 posts)
  • Started 2 years ago by marzipana
  • Latest reply from Storyman

  1. marzipana
    Member

    I am running Spyware Detector by MaxSecure, and after installing Style Master, running an anti spy scan brings up Keylogger.Guardian. If I quarantine, or delete it, Style Master stops working...trying to open it causes the exe file to try and reinstall the program, and I get error messages saying it can't find the correct path for the exe file.

    In my report log in Spyware Detector, I get:
    KeyLogger.Guardian File C:\WINDOWS\system32\vbalFlBr6.dll#@#9FDB8A72D927888796A4E6A14560CC5F Scan

    If I repair/reinstall Style Master, it runs properly again, but another spyware scan detects the keylogger again. My anti virus program also prompts me with a message about "hidden data sending".

    Has anyone else had issues with spyware detectors or anti virus programs and Style Master?

    This is worrying me.
    Thanks,
    Tamara

    Posted: 2 years #
  2. JohnAllsopp
    Member

    Hi,

    We've never had any kid of problem like this in nearly 10 years, although some "security" software can be over zealous in detecting supposed security problems.

    That seems to be the problem here

    http://fbmsoftware.com/spyware-net/process/vbalFlBr6_dll/2760/

    reports that the file vbalFlBr6.dll

    "This is a component of Guardian Monitor. Guardian monitor is a monitoring tool that can be abused and used to capture and record keystrokes"

    It's also very widely used in many many applications, and is available from here.

    Many "security" software packages flag commonly used components of spyware, regardless of how widespread they are in other applications - a bit like the use of "racial profiling" by "security" agencies.

    We'll look into whether there is anything we can do to stop such errant warnings occurring,

    I hope that clarifies matters, and thanks for bringing it to our attention

    John
    Thanks

    john

    Posted: 2 years #
  3. marzipana
    Member

    Hi John,

    Many thanks for taking the time to reply. I checked out the link you provided...basically, my anti spy software is able to remove Guardian Monitor, although I've no idea where it comes from - I never purchased Guardian Monitor and I'm realy the only person who has access to my pc...at least, physically.

    As I mentioned, however, if I delete it, it stops your software from running properly, which is a problem.

    I don't quite understand why the anti spy software seems to relate your program and Guardian Monitor together.

    Thanks for your time, once again,
    Cheerio
    Tamara

    Posted: 2 years #
  4. marzipana
    Member

    Hi again John,

    I just ran a search on my system for C:\WINDOWS\system32\vbalFlBr6.dll

    It brought it up in Windows Explorer, and when I hover my mouse over it, it brings up info saying it's created by vbAccelerator.

    I went to their website, http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/index.asp and see that it's a site to do with coding. So is it somehow related to your Style Master software?

    Should I be worried, or not?
    Thanks
    Tamara

    Posted: 2 years #
  5. marzipana
    Member

    Hmmm...well, from Windows Explorer, I sent vbalFlBr6.dll to the Recycle Bin, and tried to Open Style Master, just to see what happened. Again, it tried to reinstall itself...clicking Cancel about 20 times to stop the installation finally gets rid of that, and Style Master seems to run...but it's annoying having this happen every time I want to use it.

    So, I went to the Recycle Bin and clicked "Restore", tried to open Style Master, and voila, no problems.

    So, the file in question causing the issue is definitely vbalFlBr6.dll, so I assume that's something that installs with your software?

    I'm curious to know whether everyone who uses Style Master has this on their system, and whether it's required to make Style Master function properly?

    Thanks,
    Tamara

    Posted: 2 years #
  6. JohnAllsopp
    Member

    Hi,

    almost all software you use will use many components -some supplied by the system, many written by the developers of that software, and some written by third parties - who may be companies or individuals, and the components software may be open or closed source.

    In this case, Style Master uses a very commonly used third party component by VBAccelerator, which provides the functionality to browsers and select folders as well as files on Windows.

    You'd find hundreds if not thousands of pieces of software use this component. Sadly, so too does some malware. So, in their "wisdom", some "security" companies decide that since this is a component used by some malware, it is evidence of malware, and removing it will stop the malware in question working. Which it does. But also it stops a lot of legitimate software too.

    Sometimes the situation is worse - Norton Security flags the use of some system functionality, which even Microsoft uses as a security problem - because it is also commonly used by Malware.

    So, it is worrying for users, and it is frustrating to say the least for developers, which is why I use the term security in quotes - it seems like in other spheres of our lives these days, these companies are more interested in security "theatre" rather than real security.

    Now, that's not to say that we don't take these issues seriously - we do, and always try to address in detail any such issue.

    One great site to visit for security issues - whether computer, airport, banking, and many more is Schneier on Security

    http://www.schneier.com/blog/

    Thanks again for flagging this, and hopefully others who might see this problem in future

    john

    Posted: 2 years #
  7. marzipana
    Member

    Hi John,

    Many thanks for your reply, that certainly clarifies things for me. All I really wanted to know was whether the file was dangerous or not, and you have now relieved me of my concerns. :)

    I've been thrilled with Style Master, until recently I wasn't even aware that such a program existed for CSS - I have always used Dreamweaver and am recently starting to learn CSS. A friend put me onto your program and I knew it was a "must have".

    Thank you very much for a top program, and wonderful support!
    Tamara

    Posted: 2 years #
  8. JohnAllsopp
    Member

    You are most welcome Tamara,

    thanks

    john

    Posted: 2 years #
  9. Marzipana,

    Putting the key-logger issue aside...I'm competent on both Dreamweaver and GoLive. Have the full version of the software DW uses for CSS. About 99% of the time SM is the only CSS program I use. The other 1% is GoLive, but that is only if someone has given me an X/HTML page and one or more DIVs are misplaced/missing--but that is really not what SM is suppose to handle anyway.

    Posted: 2 years #

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