Smeet

Smeet is a worm that primarily spreads via peer to peer-downloaded files. Smeet adds icons to certain messaging programs and will run without your permission. There are no obvious ways to uninstall Smeet, which may transmit your personal information to anonymous criminals, enable remote attackers to control your PC or corrupt native files. Smeet is rated to be a severe threat, and as such should be removed by an appropriately sophisticated and high-quality anti-malware application.

Smeet: Not That New, but Still Seeing Action

Smeet is an older worm that was first documented in 2006. Despite its age, Smeet is still circulating through p2p files that are widely distributed among PC users. Smeet and similar threats may pretend to be codec updates or they may be hidden inside of legitimate installation files. Smeet may also be distributed by spam email.

To protect yourself from Smeet, keep updated anti-malware software active at all times and scan risky executable files before you open them. Worms like Smeet: are also capable of infecting new computers through network-shared resources and storage devices that are shared between computers.

Avoid these vectors for infection if you think a secondary computer has a Smeet infection. Any contact can result in Smeet infecting your PC, even if you don't open any files. If you have your preferences set to see Hidden and System files, you may be able to notice additional Smeet and Autorun files on your hard drives.

Why You Shouldn't Underestimate This 2006 Worm

Smeet will create icons in various messaging applications, most notably Windows Messenger. In addition to this, Smeet may attack your PC in any of the following ways:

• Smeet may run without your permission as a hidden memory process, taking up system resources and hindering system performance.
• Smeet may steal information on your computer, particularly sensitive information like account passwords or your online browsing or search habits. Such information may be transmitted to remote criminals without your permission.
• Smeet may change your firewall settings or otherwise attack your computer's security. This can be the start of a remote attack that takes control over your PC or simply a way to let Smeet send out the data it wants to send out without your consent.

Like all worms, Smeet is capable of creating many copies of itself. This makes the task of deleting Smeet a tough one unless you have anti-malware software to help you finish off each copy of Smeet. However, as long as you use Safe Mode or another controlled boot environment (such as a non-Windows operating system or a boot from a removable device), then removing Smeet should go off without a hitch.

Since Smeet is considered a severe-level threat, it's strongly recommended that you grab appropriately powerful anti-malware software to take care of any Smeet problems as soon as possible.