Microsoft Releases its Latest Report for 2H-2009

On April 26, 2010, Redmond Company based software leader Microsoft came out with their eighth Security Intelligence Report (SIR), which collects data for the second-quarter of 2009 gathered from 500 Million computers in 26 countries.

The report states that rogue security software or bogus anti-virus (FAKE AV) shows phony or deceptive alerts about vulnerabilities or infections on the user's system and offers to repair the particular problem. This has become one of the frequent ways of cheating users to steal their money. This fake anti-virus software is also called scareware.

The report informs that in 2H-2009 Microsoft security products found and eradicated rogue security software based malware on 7.8 Million systems, against 5.3 Million systems in 1H-2009, representing a rise of 46.5%. This indicates that fake security software has been offering its distributors with huge payoffs relative to some other, less rampant kinds of threats.

According to the report, Win32/FakeXPA, a rogue security software family, was the third most widespread threat found by Microsoft desktop security products around the world in 2H-2009. Also, Win32/Yektel, Win32/ FakeSpypro, and Win32/Winwebsec occupied the eleventh, fourteenth and seventeenth positions respectively.

Moreover, another fascinating feature highlighted in Microsoft's report is that fake security software infection is restricted to some geographic areas. Most of the rogue security software is usually written in English, so the social engineering methods they employ are likely to be more effectual in English-speaking areas.

Further, the report reveals that US dominates the list for the location that required the maximum cleaning after computers had been hit with fake antivirus software. This number stands at 4,267,754. The UK rounded out the list of rogue anti-virus infections at 402,161, followed by Canada at 242,682, France at 97,926 and Korea at 88, 846. These are the leading five countries linked with fake antivirus.

Lastly, Microsoft has posted new videos designed to help IT managers teach users about the scareware threat. In addition to this, information aimed at helping computer users to avoid clicking on supposed rogue security products is also being issued.

Related article: Microsoft Patches Live OneCare to Tackle Quarantined E-Mails

» SPAMfighter News - 5/7/2010