3
http://arstechnica.c...ony-reviews.ars
Some excerpts..........
Quote
New malware attempts legitimacy by spreading phony reviews
Scareware has found itself a new flavor in Anti-Virus-1, possibly in response to court cases and investigations launched against Antivirus XP last year. In this case, the program is a bit malware, a bit scareware, and generally bad news. It doesn't just yammer at the user with false positives, it'll also hijack your browser and aim it at phony positive reviews—of itself.
Once run, the program installs its particular Trojan of choice (Zlob and Vundo are apparently popular options), then makes certain modifications to the hosts file.
Scareware's obvious Achilles' heel is the fact that money directly changes hands; consumers who believe they are buying legitimate PC protection are actually paying for infectious software. In addition, the scareware initiatives we've typically seen to-date all leverage the brand recognition of legitimate companies.
Scareware has found itself a new flavor in Anti-Virus-1, possibly in response to court cases and investigations launched against Antivirus XP last year. In this case, the program is a bit malware, a bit scareware, and generally bad news. It doesn't just yammer at the user with false positives, it'll also hijack your browser and aim it at phony positive reviews—of itself.
Once run, the program installs its particular Trojan of choice (Zlob and Vundo are apparently popular options), then makes certain modifications to the hosts file.
Scareware's obvious Achilles' heel is the fact that money directly changes hands; consumers who believe they are buying legitimate PC protection are actually paying for infectious software. In addition, the scareware initiatives we've typically seen to-date all leverage the brand recognition of legitimate companies.
