Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 06:35
Business IT -
Security
Page 2 of 3
According to the study, 93 percent of the software
installations for the top 50 rogue security software scams were
intentionally downloaded by the user, and as of June this year,
Symantec says it has detected more than 250 distinct rogue security
software programs.
“The initial monetary loss to consumers who
download these rogue products ranges from $30 to $100. However, the
costs associated to regain ones’ identity could be far greater. Not
only can these rogue security programs cheat the user out of money, but
the personal details and credit card information provided during the
purchase can be used in additional fraud or sold on black market forums
resulting in identify theft,” Trilling warns.
“To make matters worse,” says Trilling, “some rogue security software
actually installs malicious code that puts users at risk of attack from
additional threats,” adding that “as a result, installing these
programs can lower the security posture of a computer while claiming to
strengthen it.
“For example, rogue programs may instruct the user to lower or disable
any existing security settings while registering the bogus software or
prevent the user from accessing legitimate security websites after
installation. This, in turn, leaves users exposed to the very threats
the rogue software promised to protect against.”
According to Symantec, there are several methods employed to trick
users into downloading rogue security software, many of which the
security firm says, rely on fear tactics and other social engineering
tricks. Apparently, rogue security software is advertised through a
variety of means, including both malicious and legitimate websites such
as blogs, forums, social networking sites, and adult sites. While
legitimate websites are not a party to these scams, Symantec cautions
that they can be compromised to advertise these rogue applications, and
that rogue security software sites may also appear at the top of search
engine indexes if scam creators have seeded the results.
CONTINUED page 3
LATEST HEADLINES FROM YOUR IT
