LKN PC Tune-Ups
Computer Troubleshooting in the south Lake Norman area since 1998 Over 1000 PCs serviced in Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson

This Week's Top 10 Spyware Threats

It may be flying just under our Top 10 but I thought it very important to mention should you come across it.

It's called Antivirus 360 and it is a Rogue Security Program. These are the ultimate bad guys as they pretend to scan and detect malware or other problems on the computer, but then dupe you into purchasing the program by presenting you with intrusive, deceptive warnings and/or false, misleading scan results. Rogue Security Programs use aggressive, deceptive advertising and are usually installed without adequate notice, consent, and often through exploits.

It is important to be alert about such things. If you have not heard of a company don't use it without doing some checking. You can also look it up here, we have created a master list of these rogues:

http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/I7AVP0/090218-Rogue-Antispyware <=== worthwhile going to.

Here are this week's Top 10 Malware "products".
Virtumonde: Adware (General)
Zango: Adware (General)
Adware.NetAdware.Gen: Toolbar
Explorer32.Hijacker: Hijacker
Hotbar: Toolbar
WhenU.Save: Adware (General)
Hyperlinks Rotator: Browser Plug-in
WinBudget: Browser Plug-in
Hotbar.ShopperReports: Toolbar
ClickSpring.PuritySCAN: Adware (General)

Scareware is on the rise Today even the least tech savvy computer users know that they need some sort of anti-virus and anti-spyware protection when they connect to the Internet. "Scareware" makers prey on that little bit of knowledge and large dose of fear to trick users into buying their products. We're not talking about legitimate ads from real security vendors warning of the dangers of going unprotected - these are the folks who exploit users' desire to do the right thing in order to get them to install programs that are supposed to be protecting them - but in fact are malware.
Below are Fake Alerts...Scareware! If you see one of these, your PC is infected.
FakeAlert#1	FakeAlert#2
FakeAlert#3	FakeAlert#4
FakeAlert#5	FakeAlert#6
FakeAlert#7	FakeAlert#8
FakeAlert#9	FakeAlert#10
FakeAlert#11	FakeAlert#12
FakeAlert#13	FakeAlert#14
FakeAlert#15	A screenshot of the fake spyware suite installed by Conficker appears above (if you see this, you definitely have Conficker.) It was discovered recently that the Conficker worm is downloading and installing a fake anti-spyware program called 'Spyware Protect 2009.' It appears that the goal is to trick users into purchasing a cleanup routine for $49.95 - this is a complete scam. A sure way to check to see if you have Conficker is to try to access www.trendmicro.com - if you can not access this site it is very possible that you do indeed have Conficker
Above are Fake Alerts. If you see one of these, your PC is infected.