The Dangers of Fake Antivirus Software

Fake antivirus software, known as rogue security software, is currently one of the greatest threats to computer users. This software poses as an application designed to locate and neutralize viruses and other threats. Fake antivirus software is especially difficult to remove and can often trick people into giving money to the creators of the fake antivirus software. Oftentimes rogue security software will cause computers to act in strange and erratic ways, and can even prevent you from installing or running software. The fake antivirus software informs users of non-existent threats and tells them to pay a sum of money in order to remove the problem.

There are many different kinds of fake antivirus software on the internet. Close to 50 percent of the malicious content on the web is some form of rogue security program. Oftentimes, users are tricked into installing something that they are led to believe is beneficial software, or users are told by a pop-up window that they are required to take action by pressing the accept button. Once installed, the rogue software will proceed to do a variety of things. Some software corrupts files and simply prevents a computer from running at all, while other rogue software will request you to pay for an upgrade required to fix whatever problems are occurring on your computer. The rogue software can even install other malicious software that can steal your personal information while remaining completely undetected.

A rather well-known form of fake antivirus software is called TotalSecurity. When this malware attacks a computer, it prevents all software from launching except for a web browser, effectively shutting the computer down. To make the removal of the malware as difficult as possible, it modifies its signature constantly, making the job of an actual antivirus scanner all the more difficult.

Most fake antivirus software relies on naivety and ignorance in order to fool computer users into installing it. Oftentimes, the rogue software will rely on a name such as Antivirus XP 2008, which insinuates that Microsoft or one of its subsidiaries produced the software. Sometimes fake antivirus software will claim that a portion of what their service charges goes to some form of charity or good will operation. For instance, Green Antivirus is software that surfaced in 2009 that entices people to buy the product by claiming that the company gives two dollars from each purchase to environmental protection efforts. The Microsoft logo is often used by fake antivirus software in an effort to fool people.

There was a sudden increase in malicious software that took on the appearance of antivirus protection somewhere around 2007 and 2008. Since then, this specific form of malicious software has become easily the most common form of malware, and continues to pose a significant problem to internet users. Like most viruses, fake antivirus software relies on fooling the user with false advertising, so the first step in avoiding dangerous software is to be aware of them. A firewall is also an excellent method to help provide security against unknowingly encountering fake antivirus software.

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