Fake Antivirus Solutions Invasion

Supposed antivirus solutions spread out massively and annoy the users with their imaginary warnings. Avira AntiVir protects your computer against such teasers.

Tettnang, 29 August 2008 - Cybercrime makes use of more and more aggressive methods, to tempt innocent users with false antivirus solutions. And it really succeeds with inexperienced computer users, which become victims of this scheme, in ever increasing numbers.

A fake antivirus solution, such as "Antivirus XP 2008", annoys users with permanent security warnings, it changes the desktop background and reports supposedly active malware to the system. Surprisingly, other antivirus solutions do not detect these infections, which is rather strange, because the false solution creates garbage files in the Windows or System folder, which they later report as malware. To remove the fake malware, the user is supposed to buy the full version of the false antivirus solution.

The false security program reaches the computers via so-called drive-by downloads. When the user is visiting a hacked website, it exploits security holes in the web browser or in old installed software, such as Flash Player, QuickTime, RealPlayer or in other plug-ins. In this way, malware is installed on the computer, without the Internet surfer's knowledge.

Avira detects the current versions of false security programs, as members of the Trojan family TR/FakeAlert. You should keep your systems up-to-date, in order to stay protected against this form of unwanted software. It is not enough to install all Windows updates provided by Microsoft. You must also update all your software that comes in contact with Internet data.