Computer Tips and Tricks

Fake anti-virus (AV) software is spreading at such a pace that it could grow past all other types of malicious software. It seems to be everywhere right now. Sophos Software is now seeing 15 fake AV sites a day now up from 5 a day last year. Panda is saying that Fake Antivirus will account for over 30 milion pc infections a month.

The rogue program convinces the user that they are infected with malware when they are not, and the user agrees to install the software to remove the non-existent threat. They look similar to the above image. The user willingly hands over anywhere between $29 and $79, without the bogus software having to do anything that would cause an anti-virus program to intervene. If you do give them money, they still do not do anything about it, which doesn’t even qualify for extortion.

The bad thing is that the programs look legit often using that same interface and basic code that the real programs use. So, if you all of sudden see a hard drive scan that finds you have 139 viruses on your machine, just kill the program anyway you can. If you have questions, just contact me. If you do get caught in one of these scams, the sooner you get help, the better off you will be.