Dr. Kaushal Vaidya

The online scamsters are getting smarter by the day and since the internet penetration is growing at an unprecedented rate, the threat is magnified thousands of times!

The latest arsenal being used by the unscrupulous elements now include fake antivirus software!

As reported by PC Authority, more than 485,000 rogue security samples were detected for the year 2009 – an astoundingly large figure by all means. Considering the fact that the number is more than double the statistical total for the year 2008, it won’t be too difficult to see why the ruse of these rogue software seems to be working.

Generally, web surfers are prompted to download rogue security software via an advertisement that pretends to offer authentic anti-virus or spyware scanning tools.

5 rogue security software titles to avoid:

• SpySherrif – also goes by the names of System Security, SpywareStrike, SpyShredder and Spybot
• WinFixer – also goes by the names of WinAntiSpyware, AVSystemCare, WinAntiSpy and Windows Police Pro
• MacSweeper – also goes by the names of KiVVi Software and Cleanator
• Green Antivirus 2009 – also goes by the name of Green AV
• MS Antivirus 2009 – also goes by the names of Windows Antivirus, Win Antivirus, Antivirus Pro and Antivirus Pro 2009

Payroll processor PayChoice is said to be investigating a breach in which customers received targeted e-mails purporting to be from the company but were designed to trick people into downloading malware.

Workers received e-mails last week that directed them to download a browser plug-in or visit a Web site so they could continue accessing the Onlineemployer.com PayChoice portal.

The Malware in the download and on the Web site turned out to exploit security holes in Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, and Adobe Reader.

The e-mails were targeted to individuals and included their user names, login IDs, and partial passwords, thus increasing the chance that recipients would be likely to fall for the ruse.