McAfee Cautions Users about Spoofed Antivirus Software

McAfee has issued a warning to Internet users that they should be wary of a fake security software, which pretends to be a flagship antivirus package of the company. The rogue program called 'AntiVirus Pro,' displays McAfee's application icons to dupe end-users so that they think that the software belongs to the security vendor, researchers at McAfee said.

They also said that rogue security software employ deceitful techniques like fake warnings and scans to make users believe that malware has infected their systems. Following the purchase of such software, the program either does little to safeguard the computer or loads more malware on it.

Abhishek Karnik, a researcher at McAfee, stated that the fake software by masquerading as McAfee's security tool tried to exploit the company's long-standing trust among users, as reported by SCMagazine on September 18, 2009.

Karnik added that the present time saw malware commonly spoof resources of program files like company information or icons of other genuine applications.

He also stated that computer users, who were less skilled, easily regarded software as genuine after seeing its file properties or icons. In fact, these features enabled malware to conveniently pass unhindered.

Commenting on this point, security specialists stated that there was nothing new about rogue antivirus software, especially with rise in their activity over the recent few months.

According to them, the situation was so perhaps because it was also the period when legitimate security companies releasing their most recent software updates and cyber criminals were capitalizing on the trend. However, for users who got infected, it was bad news as their updated editions of antivirus software were in reality threatening their computers.

There was similar news of online criminals who recently cashed in on well-known personality Patrick Swayze's death to market bogus antivirus software and to contaminate PCs with malware, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald on September 16, 2009.

Hence, the specialists recommended that users properly examine security programs and not rely on downloads simply on the basis of their file property details or any icon.

Related article: McAfee Alerts Windows about Accessibility Hole in Vista

» SPAMfighter News - 10/8/2009