Trojan Horses, Virusses, Malware and ScareWare
Especially the Windows PC owning/using group should be VERY careful (this includes VM Windows):
If you get a popup like this: "YOUR SYSTEM IS INFECTED, BY (name of threat), DL THIS (Antivirus 360, Antivirus XP, Windows Antivirus, Golden Antivirus, Spywaredoctor, etc, etc. pp.) TO FIX IT!"
This potentially dangerous and completely useless software is called "ScareWare". Do NOT download and or install it! It is ALL fake, without exception! Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scareware
Quote: "The brazenness of the criminals' claims are astounding: On a PC running a pristine, just-installed copy of Windows, Stewart said that Antivirus XP "found" and "disinfected" more then 300 non-existent threats."1
Installing ScareWare programs will lead to your system being unstable, ScareWare is hard, sometimes impossible to get rid of and in the end may facilitate to infect your system with trojans and virusses, the very thing you tried to avoid. And, of course, the same people will offer you their phony services to rid you of this new evil ... for a fee, again. And again, and again, and ...
Here is an extensive but far from complete list of ScareWare: (Scroll down for list)
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
In the US theses crooks are now actively pursued by the law:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7645420.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7779223.stm
Details: http://www.itworldcanada.com/a/Enterprise-Infrastructure/d57dde22-8366-422c-99a4-a6f1ca641c26.html
Do I have to worry?
- If you own and use a Mac and OS X exclusively .. Relax, you are fine. Just CLOSE those popups and use a browser with popup blocker (FireFox) from now on.
- If you own a PC and Windows, DO NOT EVER react to these popups in ANY way. Close them down, use a browser with popup blocker (FireFox) from now on (add the AdBlock Plus add-on and never see ads again)
- If you are STILL using Internet Explorer, ignoring all the warnings from, well, everybody, really, watch this video and analysis of a real life IE "drive-by-infection" (with added root-kit infection bonus) to be cured forever. Just going to an infected site, not clicking on anything infects the entire system. Want to be NOT infected w/o clicking on anything? Use FireFox.
- If you own a PC and Windows and were ... less fortunate in your decision making process ... and caught one of these ScareWare apps, use Spybot Search and Destroy to try to get rid of them.
Note: They will not uninstall completely by themselves! Part of their tactic is to leave active residue, which will try to coax you into downloading and paying for other ScareWare. Those people are crooks, but very clever crooks.
Use only this URL to get SpyBot Search and Destroy for your PC:
http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html
Warning: There are FAKE Spybot Search and Destroy sites out there,
providing you with nice Trojan Horses instead of the real deal. Those people know that this program will be suggested to remove their ScareWare, they have taken precautions.
How do differentiate between bogus warnings and legit ones:
- Use your common sense! If your AntiVirus/Firewall pops up and warns you, THEN it is legit. if anything else pops up, how could it be?
- If you do not know, how or what the specific popups of your AV system should look like, visit the home page of your product's vendor. They always have screenshots, most often describing in detail how it will react in case a threat is detected.
- If you are still unsure, ask somebody who is more knowledgeable.
- Look on Google for "<name of program advertised> spyware", example: Type into Google "Antivirus 360 spyware" (without the quotes).
The meaning of this is crystal clear. This IS Spyware/ScareWare.
But: Be very careful! Those crooks are smart. They sometimes offer OTHER ScareWare/Spyware to get rid of the one you typed in. Again, use common sense. This is a millon dollar business, they are sufficently motivated to try again and again.
- Check these sites (or other trustworthy sites) FIRST:
www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum55.html
malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php - Don't be fooled by products and/or popups trying to mimic legit products, like Norton Antivirus. Example below: Looks like Norton, but is not. Funny detail: See all the bad stuff this "thing" found? This has been done on a fresh, pristine Windows installation from an original Windows XP SP2 CD with NO connection to the Internet. Strange, huh? Somebody is lying ...
