Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!

What is msmsger.exe?

Question:

I discovered that I have a program installed called msmsger.exe. I
don´t know where it came from and to what it might be associated. From
time to time my personal firewall tells me that the program msmsger.exe wants
to access the internet. I have blocked such request.

I did a Google-search but found only 4 forums (in languages I do not
understand) where it is mentioned. Neither my antispam software nor AV virus
software detects it as bad. I have no Microsoft Messenger software
installed.

Any idea what this piece of software does or is?

I believe this is a great example of something we see all the time:
malicious programs trying to “look like” other programs so you’ll be uncertain
about their maliciousness.

And, yes, even though your anti-malware programs don’t flag it, I believe it
is malware. Which brings up another very important point.

Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!

One of the ways that malicious software tries to hide itself, or at least
confuse people, is by taking a name that is very similar to a legitimate piece
of software.

The name “msmsger”.exe is very similar to msmsgs.exe (Windows Messenger) or
msnmsgr.exe (MSN Instant Messenger), but of course that actually means nothing.
Just because programs have similar names doesn’t mean that they’re related at
all.

And yet, it’s easy to think so and easy to misread the imposter’s name as
one of the others if you’re not paying close attention.

And, of course, that’s exactly what malware authors have been relying on for
years. Consider that “lsass.exe” is a legitimate and important system process.
But “isass.exe”, and even “1sass.exe” look very similar. They are not.
They are viruses that have caused a lot of people a lot of grief.

So my first inclination when I see a program that has a name similar but not
quite the same as a legitimate windows program is to consider it suspect.
Choosing a name that is close to the name of a real, legitimate program is a
frequent sign of malware.

“… none of the anti-malware programs give you 100%
coverage.”

“But,” (I hear you saying), “my anti-virus program didn’t flag it!”

True enough. And, to be honest, that’s important data. But not enough to
call the file legitimate either. (As an aside, I’m assuming that your
anti-virus and anti-spyware packages are getting regular database updates to keep
track of new threats that are constantly emerging. Without those updates, best done
daily or at least weekly, they won’t catch new malware.)

The sad fact is that not all anti-malware programs catch all malware. Good
ones will catch a lot; even most of the malware that’s out there. But none of
them are 100% accurate.

I’ll say that again: none of the anti-malware programs give you 100%
coverage.

Sucks, doesn’t it?

In the case of msmsger.exe, I did find at least one anti-spyware vendor that
and only recently explicitly lists is as a
threat
but provides very little detail. It’s difficult to determine just
how much of a threat it really is.

My first recommendation is to run additional spyware and virus scans using
some of the free or trial versions of scanners that are currently
available.

If they show nothing, my next recommendation is to delete the file
(following the steps in Is it
safe to delete this file?
), and see what happens.

But the fact that it’s named similarly to a legitimate program and that it’s
trying to access the internet most definitely have me concerned, and almost
convinced, that it’s a virus or other malware of some sort.

Do this

Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

I'll see you there!

8 comments on “What is msmsger.exe?”

  1. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
    Hash: SHA1

    That comment, unfortunately, illustrates one of the reasons that malware
    authors use names that are so similar to other thing.

    The article here talks about “msmsger.exe” – the article on
    audiymypc.com doesn’t mention “msmsger.exe” at all. Many similar names,
    but NOT the exact same name.

    That’s important. Make sure you are carefully examining the correct
    information for the exact name you you’re seeing.

    Leo
    —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—–
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

    iD8DBQFFw3YjCMEe9B/8oqERAgAQAJ0TKqD+MmLFoGwGTjieULFG6QrbAwCdErRL
    5pC3bsr0aKdWsFDNrGYpvzI=
    =Z/YK
    —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

    Reply
  2. I recognized the similarity to a line in my computer when I was trying to trim my startup programs, so I was relieved to find from checking here that mine was the ‘good’ one. But if I hadn’t already read the article, I wouldn’t even have known that there was anything to check. An index of topics you’ve answered would be helpful. Do you already have one, and how do I access it? If not, I’d be willing to help set one up, which I have done in the past, but just on paper, never on a computer. I think an indepth index would be helpful, so let me know–with instructions–if I can be of help. BombayGranny

    Reply
  3. A while back my firewall informed me that msmger.exe was being blocked and asked me what I wanted to do with it. I didn’t know what it is so I told the firewall to ask me again later. Then my system started lagging badly while trying to web surf. As soon as I removed msmsger My system started running good again. This thing is a malware so if you get it remove it.

    Reply
  4. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
    Hash: SHA1

    Again, folks, the the filename in that previous comment is not the same
    as the filename that started this article. >>Pay careful attention to
    the filename

    Reply

Leave a reply:

Before commenting please:

  • Read the article.
  • Comment on the article.
  • No personal information.
  • No spam.

Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.

I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.