SpySheriff is malware

Malware

Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...

 that disguises itself as an anti-spyware program. SpySheriff is also known as Brave Sentry, Pest Trap, SpyTrooper, and SpywareNo. The program attempts to trick the user of an infected computer into buying the program by repeatedly informing them of false threats to their system. SpySheriff is difficult to remove from an infected computer; attempting to remove it using the "Add/Remove Programs" applet in control panel does not remove all components, and SpySheriff's components may be in the System Restore folders. However, SpySheriff can easily be removed using anti-malware tools.

Websites

SpySheriff used to be hosted at www.spy-sheriff.com. However, this website is now defunct. Several typosquatted

Typosquatting

Typosquatting, also called URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting, and possibly brandjacking which relies on mistakes such as typographical errors made by Internet users when inputting a website address into a web browser...

 websites also attempted to automatically install SpySheriff, including a version of Google.com (Goggle.com). As of 2007, these sites are no longer active.

Problems caused by SpySheriff

• SpySheriff reports false malware infections and uses poor heuristics to detect real malware infections.
• The desktop background may be replaced with an image resembling a blue screen of death
  Blue Screen of Death
  To forse a BSOD Open regedit.exe,Then search: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\i8042prt\ParametersThen make a new DWORD called "CrashOnCtrlScroll" And set the value to 1....
  
  , or a notice reading: "SPYWARE INFECTION! Your system is infected with spyware. Windows recommends that you use a spyware removal tool to prevent loss of data. Using this PC before having it cleaned of spyware threats is highly discouraged.".

External links

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic22402.html
• http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Entry.aspx?Name=Program%3aWin32%2fSpySheriff