security alert shield--why?

[Jo-Anne]

Today, on one of my two WinXP computers, I have a red security alert shield
in the system tray. I checked Microsoft Update, and there are no updates
being offered. Is this a "legitimate" red shield rather than malware
masquerading as a Microsoft notice?

If it's legit, is it likely to be the Fix it for Security Advisory 2749920
that I read about at the Microsoft Security Response Center (by way of
Google Reader):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2794220

Should I click on the Fix it button "Microsoft Fix it 50971"? Should I open
the Security Center from the red shield instead?

I'm confused about why I have the shield on only one computer, when both of
them are running IE8. The only difference I know of between the two
computers is that the one with the shield is using WinXP Pro and the other
one WinXP Home. I've never had the red shield before and want to make sure I
do the right thing...especially since Microsoft normally presents its fixes
with a yellow shield and an update at the Update website.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Jo-Anne" <Jo-...@nowhere.com>

Please capture a screen showing this Red Shield Pop-Up and post a URL which
shows the picture.

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

[Jo-Anne]

"David H. Lipman" <DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote in message
news:0rGdnSCuWIoQInjN...@giganews.com...

Thank you, Dave! I restarted the computer (should have done it before, I
suspect), and the shield is gone--so far. But here's the image, which I took
with Faststone Capture, before restarting:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/redshieldinsystemtray.jpg/

Jo-Anne

[SMA]

The red alert shield is a notification from Security Center to let you know
that your system could be at risk. This could be triggered by auto-updates
being disabled, AV being disabled, firewall disabled, and etc. A reboot may
have fixed the issue and would be why the red shield disappeared. I would
still be careful though as the red shield icon is a favorite amongst
ransomware infections as well.

--
SMA

[Jo-Anne]

"SMA" <sma...@shortmail.me> wrote in message
news:775280517378956593.483...@ssl-us.astraweb.com...

Thank you, SMA. The possibility of malware is what worried me. Auto-updates
isn't disabled, my AV isn't disabled, etc. Interestingly, tonight I do have
a high-priority update at the Microsoft update website--one that wasn't
there earlier, when I had the red shield in the system tray:

Update for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (KB2798897)
Date last published: 1/3/2013
Download size: 160 KB

But at the moment I have no yellow shield either...

Jo-Anne

[VanguardLH]

Jo-Anne wrote:

> Today, on one of my two WinXP computers, I have a red security alert shield
> in the system tray.

And when you clicked on that tray icon to show a window, what did the
window tell you?

> I checked Microsoft Update, and there are no updates being offered. Is
> this a "legitimate" red shield rather than malware masquerading as a
> Microsoft notice?
>

<snipped the FixIt stuff - don't even know if it applies yet>
<snipped the stuff about IE8 - nothing to do with anti-virus software>

Well, did you ever install any anti-virus software? If so, whose?
Maybe it expired.