Scareware Represents 25% of the Entire Malicious Software

A prominent company for Internet security cautions that bogus anti-spyware and anti-virus software, together called scareware, acts as a force that drives the market for cyber-criminals, while accounting for almost 25% of the total malicious software.

Reveal data obtained in this connection that from the 150,000 malicious web-links spotted during March 2009 to May 2010, 23% were created to spread scareware.

Typically, scareware deceives Web operators into thinking their PC has a virus so they must buy an anti-malware or anti-virus application offered for cleaning the system, security specialists at McAfee elaborate. The software is an especially sinister threat as one can easily mistake it to be a real anti-virus program, which's capable of deceiving even those Web-surfers who are technically savvy.

With scareware, cyber-criminals accomplish twin objectives - contaminating the victim's PC with malware and sometimes acquiring his credit card details along with other private information.

One technique, distributors of scareware prefer is BHSEO (Black-Hat Search Engine Optimization) wherein results obtained from widely-used search phrases are poisoned with malevolent web-links. One more method involves the pretense of an ad firm to deceive genuine websites into allowing ads promoting scareware on their Internet sites, a process called malvertising.

A last technique is using spam mails, which pretend to be vital messages from well-known Internet firms or services. The messages that appear very genuine actually have web-links that take users onto a scareware site.

State the specialists that the most dangerous aspect is that these fake security software programs are now such lucrative ventures that cyber-criminals are setting up intricate business operations for the proliferation of their scams. Thus they create multinational firms, often altering names as well as web addresses, while providing customer care services too for defrauding victims.

Hence, the specialists suggest users, who've been victimized with a scam of this kind, towards instantly contacting their bank, asking for a charge-back as also withdrawing their payment card.

Moreover, users are suggested to deploy a full suite of security software comprising a firewall, anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to safeguard their PCs against such attacks, while keeping their software up-to-date, and conducting routine computer scans.

Related article: SecureWorks Identifies Bank and Information Stealing Trojan Coreflood

» SPAMfighter News - 11/6/2010