PUP.Optional.TotalAV

Short bio

PUP.Optional.TotalAV is Malwarebytes’ detection name for a specific system optimizer published by TotalAV for Windows systems.

Symptoms

Users may have seen this type of warning during install:

They may see these icons on their desktop, in their taskbar, and in their startmenu:

and these warnings during operations:

Type and source of infection

PUP.Optional.TotalAV is a potentially unwanted program marketed as a system optimizer. These so-called “system optimizers” use exaggerated scan results or sometimes even intentional false positives to convince users that their systems have problems. Then they try to sell you their software, claiming it will remove these problems. PUP.Optional.PCProtect is usually installed by users themselves under false pretences and can be downloaded from their website:

Protection

Malwarebytes blocks PUP.Optional.TotalAV

Remediation

Malwarebytes can detect and remove PUP.Optional.TotalAV without further user interaction.

Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop.
Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
Click on the Get started button.
Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
Click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.

Malwarebytes removal log

A Malwarebytes log of removal will look similar to this:

Malwarebytes
www.malwarebytes.com

-Log Details-
Scan Date: 5/24/18
Scan Time: 10:28 AM
Log File: 733c844c-5f2c-11e8-a5f1-080027235d76.json
Administrator: Yes

-Software Information-
Version: 3.3.1.2183
Components Version: 1.0.262
Update Package Version: 1.0.5228
License: Premium

-System Information-
OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1
CPU: x64
File System: NTFS
User: {computername}\{username}

-Scan Summary-
Scan Type: Threat Scan
Result: Completed
Objects Scanned: 240341
Threats Detected: 14
Threats Quarantined: 14
Time Elapsed: 3 min, 0 sec

-Scan Options-
Memory: Enabled
Startup: Enabled
Filesystem: Enabled
Archives: Enabled
Rootkits: Enabled
Heuristics: Enabled
PUP: Detect
PUM: Detect

-Scan Details-
Process: 2
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\SecurityService.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\TotalAV.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228

Module: 2
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\SecurityService.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\TotalAV.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228

Registry Key: 2
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\SERVICES\SecurityService, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\UNINSTALL\TotalAV, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228

Registry Value: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Data Stream: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Folder: 0
(No malicious items detected)

File: 8
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\ROAMING\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS\TOTALAV.LNK, Quarantined, [4635], [500322],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\USERS\{username}\DESKTOP\TOTALAV.LNK, Quarantined, [4635], [500324],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\PasswordExtension.Win.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\SecurityService.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\TotalAV.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\uninst.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\TOTALAV\Update.Win.exe, Quarantined, [4635], [503743],1.0.5228
PUP.Optional.TotalAV, C:\USERS\{username}\DESKTOP\TOTALAV_SETUP.EXE, Quarantined, [4635], [503750],1.0.5228

Physical Sector: 0
(No malicious items detected)

(end)

Add an exclusion

Should users wish to keep this program and exclude it from being detected in future scans, they can add the program to the exclusions list. Here’s how to do it.

Open Malwarebytes for Windows.
Click the Detection History
Click the Allow List
To add an item to the Allow List, click Add.
Select the exclusion type Allow a file or folder and use the Select a folder button to select the main folder for the software that you wish to keep.
Repeat this for any secondary files or folder(s) that belong to the software.

If you want to allow the program to connect to the Internet, for example to fetch updates, also add an exclusion of the type Allow an application to connect to the internet and use the Browse button to select the file you wish to grant access.

Traces/IOCs

You may see these entries in FRST logs:

(TotalAV) C:\Program Files (x86)\TotalAV\TotalAV.exe
S2 SecurityService; C:\Program Files (x86)\TotalAV\SecurityService.exe [4371592 2018-04-28] (TotalAV)
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\TotalAV
C:\Program Files (x86)\TotalAV
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\TotalAV.lnk
C:\Users\{username}\Desktop\TotalAV.lnk
TotalAV (HKLM-x32\...\TotalAV) (Version: 4.6.19 - TotalAV)