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Advertising Toolbar Composes Kaspersky’s Top 20 Malware Threat List

Security firm Kaspersky lately released a list of leading malware threats for December 2009. The list finds a new malware called GamezTar.a, the Gameztar browser toolbar which occupies the sixth place in the malware list.

According to Kaspersky, this malware is offered as a toolbar for famous browsers that helps in quickly accessing the online games. Obviously, it also presents irksome advertisements. Apart from this, numerous applications that operate autonomously of the toolbar and hinder the online activity, whether it is navigating or showing content, are installed by the malware.

The reports claim that the security experts criticized the toolbar's destructive influence on system's performance, inability to offer any games, generation of infuriating pop-ups and numerous unverifiable charges that it has tricked users into malware installation.

Security experts opined that people adores free games, which is perhaps the reason why Gameztar has become so rampant in just few weeks.

It is remarkable that not only Kaspersky but other anti-malware companies also view the toolbar as a danger. Norton's Safeweb explains Gameztar as potentially malicious; Sunbelt Labs also regard it as a dangerous adware and McAfee SiteAdvisor categorizes the Gameztar site as a possible security danger.

As per the security experts, the toolbar is infamously tough to remove. Generally, the security experts suggest not installing extra toolbars, as they hardly ever add anything to the browser except mess.

In the meantime, two fresh malware that emerged in the Kaspersky's list are Trojan.Win32.Swizzor.c and Trojan-GameThief.Win32.Magania.cpct.

Trojan.Win32.Swizzor.c got the tenth position and is a next of kin of Swizzor.b, which entered the malware rankings in August 2009, and Swizzor.a, which was there in May 2009. The people behind this cleverly obfuscated code do not dependent on their success and regularly develop new kinds. The real function of this Trojan is very straightforward - it downloads malicious files from the Web.

Besides this, Trojan-GameThief.Win32.Magania.cpct stood eleventh in the Kaspersky's top 20 malware list. In December 2009 only, Kaspersky discovered 42,676 systems infested by this malware.

Related article: Advertisements from EyeWonder Result in Security Flaws

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