Inspiron 3656, secure boot violation

Does your Dell Inspiron 3656 have:

1. The Computrace feature in BIOS, and is it Activated with a Subscription?

2. The new SupportAssist feature in BIOS and is it Enabled?

PS. Be sure to answer questions on both of my posts.

There are specific malware that cause "“Secure Boot Violation, Invalid Signature Detected"

Time for scorched earth erase and reinstall.

Malware

I am not with my PC right now, but I will be later tonight. I do remember seeing "Computrace" but I didn't touch it.

Should I alter it/setting?

SupportAssist? I don't recall seeing that, but I'll check tonight. If it's enabled, should it not be?

Ouch! I need to remove my HD and move my files over to my other PC, etc.. first?

I don't want to lose my files.

Nope. Nothing at all. My PC was fine and has been fine. I have a firewall, anti-virus, etc... always on/running.

I haven't made any changes at all.

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@kahoolawewrote:

1. I am not with my PC right now, but I will be later tonight. I do remember seeing "Computrace" but I didn't touch it.

2. Should I alter it/setting?

3. SupportAssist? I don't recall seeing that, but I'll check tonight. If it's enabled, should it not be?

 

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1. If you were paying for a Computrace account, you would know it.

2. no

3. Computrace and SupportAssist are both authorized Boot-Kits (but not Root-Kits). You could try Disabling them.

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@kahoolawewrote:

Nope. Nothing at all. My PC was fine and has been fine. I have a firewall, anti-virus, etc... always on/running.

I haven't made any changes at all.

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Then either:
1. Your hard-drive is failing, or
2. There is a good chance that your computer is infected with a Root-Kit virus.

Either way, I would suggest a full Nuke and Pave

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General/fixed/td-p/5627124

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@kahoolawewrote:

Ouch! I need to remove my HD and move my files over to my other PC, etc.. first?

I don't want to lose my files.

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You could try:

- Disabling SecureBoot
- Go into Windows (preferably in Safe-Mode and with Windows Defender still running)
- Backup your data files (as few as possible) to a single flash-drive.

After the machine is fixed, and SecureBoot is back on, be very cautious with this flash-drive. Scan it and these files thoroughly before trusting it/them and restoring them. You don't want to bring back the RootKit, RansomWare, or Virus.

It would have been MUCH-MUCH BETTER if your data-files would have been backed-up BEFORE all this started. In that case, you could have just formatted and nuked the whole drive away more safely.

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@speedstepwrote:

There are specific malware that cause "“Secure Boot Violation, Invalid Signature Detected"

Time for scorched earth erase and reinstall.

Malware

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Yeah, I didn't want to jump to conclusions at that early stage, but this is where I was going ... definitely a possibility.

Cool you found a hosted-pic of it.

Now that I think about it, I guess it should know the difference between hard-drive failure and a true SecureBoot Violation. That just leaves:

1. An unintentional BIOS update that incorrectly revoked the Boot-Kit authorizations for Computrace or SupportAssist. This is a long-shot.

2. Or more likely, SecureBoot working as designed ... to alert the user to a Root-Kit infection. I've never seen one in "real life" but if genuine, this is one of the first documented cases I've seen (here anyway).

If this is real/genuine ... I would be very careful, cautious, and thorough cleaning it up.

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@kahoolawewrote:

1. I can't get to windows or safe mode.

2. Disabling Secure Boot didn't work.

3. I'm likely calling Dell tonight and paying the darn fee for their assistance.

 

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1. That's unfortunate.

2. Interesting

3. I kinda doubt they will help you recover your data-files in this instance (or, if it's even possible). As for the full-wipe and clean-install (Nuke-and-Pave) ... I already posted the link, and have written other tips (in other posts) and helped many other users do it. 

But yeah, do whatever you think is appropriate.

And to top it all off, the Dell "system restore" thing will not work either. Can't get it to move to a USB drive.

It may think I've used my Service Tag number already or something. And I haven't.

I wish I could! I would have already move my files to my external drive.

I can't get to windows or safe mode.

Disabling Secure Boot didn't work.

I'm likely calling Dell tonight and paying the darn fee for their assistance.

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@kahoolawewrote:

And to top it all off, the Dell "system restore" thing will not work either. Can't get it to move to a USB drive.

It may think I've used my Service Tag number already or something. And I haven't.

 

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Yeah ... I'm not sure what any of that means.

Stay calm. :Smile:

I was having the same issue... I eventually took off the disabled the secure boot... Then File Browser add boot option... then chose the HDD.. Boot... efi… boot64... then it asked to name the file and I named it boot, save and exit and my computer booted...