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A
dangerous new virus is making the rounds pretending to be a
legitimate antivirus program. Going by such genuine sounding names as
"Antivirus XP 2008" and "XP Antivirus 2009," this malware,
as described in a recent Computer Associates advisory, succeeds by
looking like
a legitimate Windows program. These
are
often distributed in spam emails disguised as something else, such as a
“greetings
ecard for you” with a link that, instead of displaying the ecard, takes
you to
an automatic download of the “antivirus” installing program. There are even reports of
this scam being
distributed through infected websites.
These websites can be
innocent sites that have been hacked to include
the bogus programs as an automatic download when you visit the site.
With
such aggressive methods afoot to fool even
security-minded users, how do you know when an antivirus product is
legitimate?
Use the following guidelines to ensure that the security products you
download
are legitimate.
Be
careful how you select a security vendor. Just because
you see an ad for a vendor or product on a highly reputable site
doesn't mean
the advertiser is reliable.
Conversely,
an ad for a reputable product or service on an
unfamiliar site doesn't mean that you can trust the site.
Advertisements are
often distributed by third parties beyond the editorial control of the
hosting
site. That's why you may find ads for untrustworthy products on
legitimate
sites, and ads for legit products on bogus sites.
Never
visit a shopping site by clicking a link in a spam
message. Even if the message claims to be pitching a known reputable
product,
the link may actually take you to a counterfeit site.
There
is an increasing trend towards these nasties arriving
through infected or hacked websites, for which there has been little
protection. AVG’s
paid antivirus
products include a “safe-surf” feature which scans every web page you
go to
before it can get into your system. This is done real-time, so if an
innocent
site is hacked today, you get warned off.
If the same site has
been cleaned by its webmaster tomorrow, it is
displayed in your browser without problem.
Unfortunately,
no product is perfect as the virus writers
are always one step ahead of the antivirus writers.
So a fast spreading
virus can get around and
do alot of damage before the antivirus writers can update their
products to
deal with it.
If
you have any doubts, or want good advice on how to keep
your computer protected, contact your local Computer Troubleshooters
franchise.
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