I have already used Win10XPE to remove the "Affected items" shown in the attached screenshot. I just want to know why Windows Defender failed to stop the active threats from running on my device. When I clicked on "Action"-->"Remove", nothing happened, so I had to use Win10XPE, which allowed me to remove them.
Most likely Windows Defender tried to stop the threat but was unable to do so. There are no guarantees. Malware has become VERY sophisticated in recent years and has developed methods to prevent it from being shut down, or in some cases from being detected at all. It is war between malware and anti-malware products and each side is continually trying to gain an advantage over the other.
A competing anti-malware product may have been able to do so, or it may not have detected it. Each product has it's own strengths and weaknesses. And that situation is continually changing as each product is updated.
Matthew,
Were you, by any chance, using an Admin account whilst online & with UAC at its default setting? Several attacks rely on those conditions but can be thwarted by setting UAC to maximum.
Denis
I have set it to "Never Notify".
Then any malware that manages to get into your computer can assume Admin/System privileges and install whatever it wants without any indications that you would notice.
Denis
If I recall correctly, the culprit was UC Browser portable: "ucbrowserportable-7.0.185.1002-6cbe750.exe". Is it allowable to post the link here? Three days ago, I could download it. Now, Chrome has blocked it, but I can still download it via Opera.
VirSCAN.org - Free Multi-Engine Online Virus Scanner v1.02, Supports 47 AntiVirus Engines! says "Scanner results:8%Scanner(s) (4/49)found malware!".
Since your conclusion is that it contained malware it would seem to be inappropriate to post a link to it.
You could submit it as a sample to MS: -
Windows defender,
Virus & threat protection,
Virus & threat protection settings - Manage settings,
Automatic sample submission - Submit a sample manually.
Denis
I have just submitted it. I am not sure whether it contains malware because I might have clicked on something else by mistake just before downloading it a few days ago. I cannot remember clearly.
The download is "ucbrowserportable-7.0.185.1002_98ebffb.iso", which contains "ucbrowserportable-7.0.185.1002-6cbe750.exe". I just mounted the ISO file and got the following:
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