Why did Bitdefender let AltrusicaService virus run amok on my PC?

This PC started running extremely slow. I looked into the resource monitor and found the "AltrusicaService" was using nearly 100% of the CPU, continually.

I did bitdefender scans, quick and system. It didn't detect a problem.

I ended up googling solutions, and installed another (FREE TRIAL) app called SpyHunter. I do NOT want to pay for TWO protection suites. I had faith and trust in BitDefender, but it let me down in a big way today. What gives?

Find more posts tagged with

remove virus

malware

Accepted answers

All comments

Gjoksi

Hello.
First, scan (and disinfect, if needed) your PC with Bitdefender Rescue Environment:
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/29132/
Next, restart your PC and see if the issue has been solved.
If the steps provided above didn't help, do the following steps:
First, take screenshot(s) of the issue.
Next, create a log file on your Windows device using Bitdefender Support Tool, by following these steps:
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1733/
and
create a log file on your Windows device using BDsysLog, by following these steps:
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1922/
Finally, contact Bitdefender Consumer Support by e-mail:
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/
with short description of the issue.
After that, you will get an automated reply by the Bitdefender Customer Care Team, with your ticket number.
Now, in reply to that automated reply, you can send the screenshot(s) you already took and the log files you already created in the first step.
Since you are all done, just wait for the support engineers to investigate your issue and find a solution to fix the issue.
Remember that the screenshot(s) and the log files will help a lot to the support engineers for better and faster investigation on your issue and finding a solution.
NOTE: If any of the log file is larger than 25MB, you can upload the log file here:
https://upload.bitdefender.net/
After the upload is done, you will get a notification with the file's URL and then you can share the file's URL with the Bitdefender Consumer Support.
Regards.

Alexandru_BD

To add here, based on the information available on the web, that's a trojan coin-miner, specifically part of the Altruistik/Altruistics malware family. It basically hijacks your computer’s CPU to mine cryptocurrency without your consent, usually running at full throttle (80–100% CPU), leading to overheating, performance slowdowns, and potential hardware damage..

How did this evade detection? Bitdefender detects about 99.51% of viruses in the wild, so it is possible, although very unlikely, that a virus will get past its filters. In cybersecurity this is called a "false negative", a situation where the security software fails to detect an actual threat..
This being said, I think no antivirus can claim 100% detection rates all of the time. This is mainly because new malware is released continuously and there is a time gap between when a virus is created and when detection is added for it. This may sound disappointing at first, but it doesn't change the fact that Bitdefender is probably the best antivirus on the market today.
The exact circumstances of how this miner got to your PC are of course unknown to us, and this should be further investigated, to establish if all security modules were operational at that time, and assess the chain of events to understand what happened and how it got there in the first place. Normally, Bitdefender's Cryptomining Protection module SHOULD have kicked in, IF your subscription includes this of course, and IF it was previously enabled. But there are other modules which I think should have normally detected it at specific stages during the infection.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/94783/

NOTE: This threat can be highly persistent, it installs itself as a system service, plants scheduled tasks, modifies registry autostarts, disguises files and resists removal, so as Gjoksi suggested earlier, you should contact Bitdefender Support for a more in-depth investigation and specialized anti-malware assistance on this one..

Regards