The Rise of Rogue Anti-viruses
By Gina on April 28, 2010 | Computer Security, Rogue, Anti-virus, anti-spyware, Google, vulnerability, malware, Windows, security tool
On Tuesday Google released its study report about malware spreading all over the Internet. The rise of rogue anti-virus programs shows that scammers use social engineering to get the parasite onto user's computer rather than get benefit of vulnerable softwares.
Rogue anti-virus programs represent 15 percent of all malware that Google detects on web pages. Niels Provos a principal software engineer at Google said: „That's a five-fold increase from when the company first started its analysis.“
Furthermore, rogue anti-spyware applications characterize half of all malware delivered via advertisements. Google made an analysis of 240 million websites and uncovered more than 11,000 domains involved in fake anti-virus distribution for the study.
At the report is stated:"As early as 2003, malware authors prompted users to download fake AV software by sending messages via a vulnerability in the Microsoft Messenger service. We observed the first form of fake AV attack involving Web sites, e.g. Malwarealarm.com, in our systems on March 3, 2007."
Fake anti-virus programs is easy money for scammers. It is difficult to get rid of the malware, because it floods your desktop with various annoying pop-ups, blocks security applications and hijacks browser to deceptive web pages that sell registered version of the program. That is why it's difficult to uninstall, because you can't run Windows updates anymore or install other anti-virus applications.
It is recommended for users to monitor their credit card accounts, because scammers can use the credit card information for identity fraud. It is also needed to make sure your computer is protected with a reputable security tool that can help to avoid the malware.
More Computer Security news
39 flaws are fixed by Apple
Apple released OS X Lion 10.7.4 in order to fix 35 security holes as well as 4 vulnerabilities in the Safari web browser. The problem with Time Machine in OS X Lion is fixed with the new update. These flaws could enable a remote attacker to access a user's backup credentials. An issue is solved with Directory Service which could allow exposing sensitive data by the attacker. Read more.- Apple fixes Java flaw (April 2012)
- Google releases Chrome 17 update
- More patches for Flash Player (March 2012)
- Enterprises do not trust cloud computing, claims study
- Flash bug removed; Adobe released 7 patches
- Adobe news: Sandboxed Flash Player for Firefox released
- How to get PDF secured?
- 'Nazileaks' site is hacked by hacker group Anonymous
- Spywared.com wishes you happy holidays!
- Silent IE updates
