[ insider_reports_insider ]
Scareware Becoming A Bigger Threat
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2010-04-28
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Most people have been there: your antivirus software alerts you to a problem, you say something unprintable, and then you click whatever button offers the best chance of resolving the matter. The problem is, fake antivirus programs are becoming more common and trickier.
 | | Scareware Becoming A Bigger Threat |  |
The scenario involving scareware is a little different. In this case, a popup might tell a site's visitor that something is wrong, but instead of asking the visitor to use his or her existing antivirus software, it'll encourage the person to download something new. Which is, of course, a bad idea.
Brian Krebs noted yesterday, "Beginning in June 2009, Google charted a massive increase in the number of unique fake anti-virus installer programs, a spike that Google security experts posit was a bid to overwhelm the ability of legitimate anti-virus programs to detect the programs. Indeed, the company discovered that during that time frame, the number of unique installer programs increased from an average of 300 to 1,462 per day, causing the detection rate to plummet to below 20 percent."
This is something folks should be very careful of, then. The nature of the scheme is designed to help malware authors prey on people who think security is a good idea (everyone, in other words), but don't know much about the specifics (which still leaves a lot of people).
Krebs stressed, "The key is remain calm and avoid clicking on any prompts generated by the scareware."
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
More insider_reports_insider Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Archive
