Technical Note 28
Trojan Virus Ludicrouz.M Warning or Vanishing BassBox 6 Pro
There have been a couple of reports that BassBox 6 Pro is infected with a trojan virus called Ludicrouz.M. Fortunately, this is not true. The problem seems to be centered on Microsoft Defender (a.k.a. Windows Defender), a Microsoft antivirus program. As far back as 2016, various users reported to Microsoft that its antivirus program was giving false positive warnings of Ludicrouz.M infection in various programs when they were actually not infected. Microsoft appeared to fix the problem for a time. However, the “fix” seemed to be intermittent because the problem continued to come and go. Microsoft rolled its Microsoft Defender app into Windows Security for Windows 10. And, unfortunately, some Windows 10 users have reported that they are getting a Ludicrouz.M warning for “BassBox 6.exe”, the BassBox 6 Pro program. And it's possible this problem could recur in Windows 11.
The problem may manifest in a couple of different ways. Users who download a BassBox 6 Pro maintenance update from our website may receive the Ludicrouz.M warning when they update BassBox 6 Pro. Users who do a fresh install of BassBox 6 Pro from their installation CD may not receive a warning, but the program simply disappears after installation. The on-screen manual and HT Merge program will still be there, but BassBox 6 Pro has simply vanished. The reason the program vanished is because Windows Security quarantined it.
Why is this happening? It is our belief that Microsoft's virus definition for Ludicrouz.M is too broad and this is causing it to catch some uninfected programs in its net (like BassBox 6 Pro). Other trusted security, antivirus and antimalware programs are not having this problem.
Solution
The solution is to add an exclusion to Windows Security so it will not include BassBox 6.exe in its scans. Microsoft provides illustrated instructions at their website here. We'll repeat the steps below:
- Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
- Under “Virus & threat protection” settings, select “Manage settings”.
- Under “Exclusions”, select “Add or remove exclusions”.
- Select “Add an exclusion”, then select the BassBox 6 Pro program file. The full path and file name should be: “C:\Program Files (x86)\HT Audio\BassBox 6.exe”.
If a similar problem occurs with BassBox 6 Lite and/or X•over 3 Pro, add a similar exclusion for them. The path is the same. The program file for BassBox 6 Lite is “BassBox 6L.exe” and the program file for X•over 3 Pro is “Xover 3.exe”.
Is Ludicrouz.M a real threat?
Yes, Ludicrouz.M is a real trojan virus and it is a legitimate threat. It's sad that Microsoft's Windows Security (and Microsoft Defender) is still giving false positives because this creates uncertainty. In effect, Microsoft is crying “wolf” when there is no wolf. Therefore, users won't know when a wolf is truly present. Fortunately, there is a trusted source you can go to for verification: The VirusTotal website (located here) is an independent and trusted source for malware (malicious software) and virus scanning. You can upload a file to them and they will scan it with over 70 antivirus programs and their own proprietary toolset. If you upload BassBox 6.exe to them, you'll see that it is free of all malware and viruses.
Because the threat of malware is real and because of the problem with Windows Security (specifically, the Microsoft Defender part), we recommend that users disable the antivirus portion of Windows Security and, in its place, employ a trusted third-party security program to protect their PCs. Choose security software from a company with an established good reputation and the resources to quickly respond to new risks as they arise. We use Norton Security for our base-level protection, but there are several good security programs to choose from. We also do not rely on a single security program, we deploy other antimalware programs as well.