LSASS Error - What is it?
Lsass is a program Windows uses to determine what kind of user you are whether Administrator, Limited User, or Power User. It also verifies the validity of user logons. The lsass program is what keeps you out when you accidently type in the wrong password, or misspell it. The acronym LSASS stands for Local Security Authority Services System, which is just a fancy name for a very important part of your computers defenses. A corruption in the lsass program will prevent any user from logging on and getting to the desktop.
All Windows programs rely on a bit of underlying code, a .dll and the lsass program is no exception. Most .dll codes are used by more than one program, and this can be one of the causes of a lsass.exe error. If the .dll the lsass program relies on is corrupted or missing it cannot work properly. The accidental corruption or deletion of a .dll file is fairly simple. Deleting old programs can corrupt the .dll file, or may delete it entirely. Any program depending on that particular .dll file will not work properly, or may not work at all.
A second cause of a corruption in the lsass program may be the premature halting or terminating of the program. The lsass program is so critical that under no circumstances should it be prematurely halted, terminated or disabled. This could cause a corruption in the lsass program and will most likely cause it to malfunction.
This program is also a prime target of Trojans, viruses, worms, spyware, adware, and keyloggers due to the critical nature of the lsass program. The lsass program is the first line of defense against unwanted users and a corrupted lsass program can prevent any user, even an authorized one, from accessing your files and data.
One of the most infamous worms targeting the lsass program is the Sasser worm. There have also been a few worms that copy the Sasser worm. This particular worm is extraordinarily vicious in its attack and exploited a security weakness in Windows. Microsoft has since patched this weakness closing the hole the Sasser worm used.
There is one way to determine what is causing an lsass.exe error. The most sure sign of an infection like the Sasser worm is a PC that shuts down and attempts to reboot every minute or so. The error message caused by these worms will indicate a problem with lsass.exe.
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