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Online Crooks Utilizing Bogus Charlie Sheen Links for Disseminating Malware

According to Invincea a software security company, bogus web-links have been created that though claim to take onto videos and websites of American TV and movie star Charlie Sheen, in reality, they divert end-users onto a malicious website. Examiner.com reported this on March 3, 2011.

Recently, during the 1st week of March 2011, cyber-criminals and other miscreants, perceiving that people are clicking randomly on Charlie Sheen links connecting to videos, websites as well as Twitter featuring the actor, may attempt at enticing Web-surfers for following a web-link on search engines, but this can prove perilous.

Stated an Invincea spokesperson, the web-link might seem it was taking the user onto a Charlie Sheen video, while in reality it diverted him onto a malevolent website. Often the said website was a scareware site, wherein end-users believed they were contaminated, but executing the AV scrutiny was what planted the malicious program on their systems, the spokesperson explained. Examiner.com reported this on March 3, 2011.

In the meantime, according to investigator Dave Marcus at Security Company McAfee Labs, the most risky personality on search engines is Cameron Diaz, however, as per Barracuda Networks, the company for data protection and content security, the most risky is Jenni J-Woww. MSN reported this on March 3, 2011.

Stated Invincea founder Anup Ghosh, everybody required knowing that authors of malicious programs had gotten extremely skilled in using SEO (search engine optimization) technique and making sure that their malevolent web-links appeared on higher ranks among Google search results. MSN reported this on March 3, 2011.

Mr. Ghosh added that importantly consumers shouldn't give into downloading alternatively executing software -whether out of fear or otherwise- they didn't consider loading onto their computers.

Meanwhile, scareware meaning bogus AV (anti-virus) campaigns worked essentially via frightening end-users into loading, executing, and occasionally making payments for false security applications by deceptively indicating there were viruses on their PCs. Thus, when such false security warnings appeared on anyone's computer, its operator should click on "cancel" or "remove all" to end the bogus program rather than run it for that would in real infect his computer, Mr. Ghosh explained.

Related article: Online Card Fraud Shows Greater Tendency Than Chip and Pin

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